Minorities of the War ‖ Special Fighting Forces

Goals & Objectives

Goal: Students will understand how minorities proved themselves to be capable fighting
forces.

Objective: Students will be able to list and explain historical events showcasing the success
of the U.S. special fighting forces.

California State Content Standards

11.7 Students analyze America’s participation in World War II.
3. Identify the roles and sacrifices of individual American soldiers, as well as the
unique contributions of the special fighting forces (e.g. The Tuskegee Airmen, the
442nd Regimental Combat Team, and the Navajo Code Talkers).

Common Core Literacy Standards

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.9 Integrate information from diverse sources, both primary and
secondary, into a coherent understanding of an idea or event, noting discrepancies among
sources.

Driving Historical Question

How has the image of these fighting groups changed over time, and what has contributed to
this change?

Lesson Introduction (Anticipatory Set/Hook/Accessing Prior Knowledge) ‖ Time: 7-10

Minutes
Students will list what they know (if anything) about the minority fighting groups, then
share this information with their seat partner. Students will also write a journal entry from
the perspective from one of the special fighting forces of the United States.

Vocabulary (Content Language Development) ‖ Time: Accounted for within Lesson Plan
The key terms listed here will be discussed during the lesson and reinforced with a short
quiz following the end of the lesson.

Key Terms: Navajo Code Talkers, Tuskegee Airmen, 442nd Regimental Combat Team, Lost
Battalion

Content Delivery (Method of Instruction) ‖ Time: 15-20 Minutes

Students will complete a Webercise activity which will require them to visit provided
website links and answer a mix of comprehension and higher-order thinking questions.
This will provide students an opportunity to work individually or with one another to learn
the information with complementary help from the teacher, rather than a standard lecture.

Student Engagement (Critical Thinking & Student Activities) ‖ Time: 30 Minutes

Students will work in small groups to analyze a few primary source documents and answer
higher-order thinking questions based on the primary sources and information from the
earlier activity.

Lesson Closure ‖ Time: 15 Minutes

Students will individually write a short essay (minimum 2 paragraphs, 4-6 sentences each)
which compares and contrasts at least 2 of the minority groups discussed during this
lesson.

Assessments (Formative & Summative)

Formative Assessment: Students will be given a quiz following the completion of the lesson,
it will utilize a variety of question to test students’ retention of the key terms and
information regarding the special fighting forces.

Summative Assessment: Upon completion of the unit, students will be required to create a
short movie which depicts the struggles of a minority group during WWII; the minority
groups discussed in this lesson will be options for this assessment.

Accommodations for English Learners, Striving Readers and Students with Special Needs
This lesson utilizes the Think-Pair-Share strategy and small groups; therefore, students
have a level of assistance before asking for help from the teacher. In addition, most, if not
all, of the activities in this lesson plan can be adapted for online use. As a result, students
who are not strong writers, have physical difficulties with writing, and/or have trouble
expressing themselves and their ideas by speaking can have an easier time with the
assignments. Students can also use technology to clarify unknown terminology or look up
more information, if needed. Lastly, since these activities are easily adaptable for online
use, they can be posted to online educational forums (e.g. Google Classroom) so they can be
easily completed by students who are out of the classroom when this lesson is being taught.

Resources (Books, Websites, Handouts, Materials)

Students will have physical copies of primary sources and the necessary handouts for this
lesson. In addition, digital copies will be made readily available for students to access either
in the classroom or at home.