Alabama Social Studies SS24.5.9c
The Standard
- SS24.5.9
- Describe the reasons for the United States’ entry into World War II and identify its contributions toward the defeat of the Axis powers.
Explain the significance of major events in the war, including Pearl Harbor, internment of Japanese-Americans, D-Day, the Holocaust, Victory in Europe (VE) Day, the development and use of the atomic bomb, and Victory over Japan (VJ) Day.
2024 Alabama Course of Study: Social Studies
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students put major wartime events in order and explain why each mattered. They describe both changes in the fighting and the harm done to civilians.
What Mastery Looks Like
- They explain why Pearl Harbor brought the United States into the war and how D-Day helped lead to Germany's surrender on VE Day. They distinguish the Holocaust, Nazi genocide, from the U.S. government's incarceration of Japanese Americans. They explain that the United States developed and used atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki before VJ Day marked Japan's surrender.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may think VE Day ended the entire war or that D-Day was the day Germany surrendered. Some mistake incarcerated Japanese Americans for prisoners of war. Others treat the Holocaust as a battle rather than the murder of millions of people.
How to Assess It
- Exit ticket: Choose Pearl Harbor or D-Day, then choose the Holocaust or Japanese American incarceration. For each choice, write what happened and why it mattered.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs event cards and a paper timeline; have them place dated events and draw spans for the Holocaust and Japanese American incarceration.
Read an excerpt from a Japanese American child's camp diary, then ask students which freedoms incarceration took away.
Play a matching game with event cards and consequence cards, including D-Day, VE Day, the atomic bombings, and VJ Day.
Show a photo of the World War II Memorial's Atlantic and Pacific arches; ask which victory day each represents.
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Related Standards
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Describe the experiences of Japanese Americans in World War II, including their internment on the home front and military contributions in Europe to Allied vict...
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- SS24.US2.7a
Develop an argument supporting the thesis that major battles of World War II in which the United States was involved were turning points of the war and outline ...
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Trace the progression of events and policies leading to World War II and the United States’ entry into the war.
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