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APU SINGLE SUBJECT LESSON PLAN FORMAT

VITAL COURSE INFORMATION

Subject(s): U.S. History

Topic or Unit of Study: Isolation vs. Intervention- World War 2

Grade/Level: 11th

CCSS Standards/NGSS/K-12 SACS/CA State Frameworks:

 11.7.1 Examine the origins of American involvement in the war, with an emphasis on the
events that precipitated the attack on Pearl Harbor.
 CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.7
Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and
media (e.g., visually, quantitatively, as well as in words) in order to address a question or
solve a problem.
 CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.1
Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources,
connecting insights gained from specific details to an understanding of the text as a
whole.
 CURRICULUM FRAMEWORK- CA HISTORY (PG. 400)
o Americans Participation in World War 2

 Why did Americans not want to join World War II before the bombing at
Pearl Harbor?

Corresponding Big Ideas:

 America and War
 Isolationist vs. Interventionist
 Government opinion vs. People’s opinion

Corresponding Essential Questions:

 If the United States is the most powerful country in the world, do we have an obligation
to intervene in conflicts in other countries?
 How should the United States respond to wars in other countries?
 Why didn’t the United States want to join in World War 2 before Pearl Harbor?

IMPLEMENTATION

Learning Context:
 This unit is part of the interwar period between World War 1 and 2. We have just
discussed the Great Depression in detail and the New Deal with it’s successes as well as
failures. This lesson is designed to be part of the introduction the World War 2 unit. The
class prior we discussed the rise in power of Hitler and Germany with their pact with the
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Soviet Union as well as the current struggle in the Asian countries including Japan. This
lesson is specifically devised to highlight the conflict the United States was facing with
entering World War 2 and whether or not we should’ve entered the war before Pearl
Harbor.

Learning Objectives Matched to an Essential Question:

 Given a list of key terms based on events happening prior to Pearl Harbor, the student
will be able to define five terms describing the US current status prior to involvement in
World War 2.
 Given the economic, political, and social status of the United States prior to Pearl Harbor,
the learner will be able to write a first paragraph of a persuasive essay being either for
against the US entering World War 2.

Instructional Input:
(Include all required Direct Instruction lesson plan components.)
1. Anticipatory Set:

a. Activating Prior Knowledge (APK): From what we have been talking about in
class with the New Deal addressing the problems in the United States but not fully
solving them is where we will be picking up in class for this lesson.
b. Purpose: I will tell the students that the goal of today is to discuss America’s
position of power in the world today and to discuss whether that power makes us
liable to be involved with war. Then I will explain to them that we as a country
have always struggled with this decision since World War 2. Tell them there have
always been two sides with dealing with foreign wars or struggles. I will also tell
the students that the reason they are filling out the Venn diagram is to organize
their thoughts based on the reading and the analyzing of the primary sources.
Then I will tell them the purpose of the essay is for them to put those organized
thoughts together to build literacy and to practice their persuasive arguing skills in
a short, concise manner that incorporates the subject matter for the day.
c. Engage- Technology incorporation: We will only be watching up until the 5:30
mark because that is all that we are talking about for the day’s lesson. This is a
crash course video about the topic we are discussing for the day on Isolation vs.
Intervention. This video is important because it lays the groundwork of what the
position of the United States in between World War 1 and 2. The guy who does
these videos is also comical and adds animation that I think the students would
enjoy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Objoad6rG6U

2. Input- A PowerPoint presentation

a. Vocabulary Strategy- Personal Glossary of terms that are important based on the
overall concept of the period we are discussing but also major pieces of
legislation prior to World War 2. These terms are meant to show the stance of the
United States and their actions in the time period. The personal glossary is
important because these terms will be effective when they are filling out their
reading comprehension worksheets as well as their pre-writing worksheets.
1. Isolation
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2. Intervention
3. Lend- Lease Act
4. Neutrality Act of 1935
5. Neutrality Act of 1937
6. Neutrality Act of 1939
7. Charles Lindbergh
8. Good Neighbor Policy
b. Reading Comprehension-
i. I will explain the T-chart for entering the war. One side is going to be
the pros for entering to war and the other are the cons of entering the
war. These three- branched diagrams should be a start to shaping an
argument for the paragraph they are going to be writing in the second
half of the class.
1. The students should have knowledge of the current economic
status of the United States from previous lessons including the
status of the New Deal within the Great Depression.
2. They should also be considering a possible threat of war to
national security
3. There is also a morality factor that is something important to
consider when going to war so
3. Modeling-
a. I will show them how I want them to fill out the T-Charts; I will give the students
a few primary sources for them to put n either the pro or con section of their
diagram. They will have to determine which concept goes in either section by
analyzing the primary sources.
i. I will display a speech from Charles Lindbergh who was arguably one of
the most famous celebrities of the era and the source will be a speech on
his opinion of the war.
ii. I will demonstrate analytical observations of his speech and his reasons
for being against the war
iii. I will then model how I would use an argument like his by incorporating
it into my essay
iv. There will a key portion of the speech selected for the students based on
this speech http://www.charleslindbergh.com/pdf/speech7.pdf
b. Later I will model for them an outline for a persuasive essay and how they use
their graphic organizer for exactly what I’m looking for in the five paragraphs.
4. Guided Practice-
a. As a class we will look at two more primary sources that are positions for and
against the war
i. This image is a cartoon by Dr. Seuss who was a political cartoonist
during the war and this first image will access prior knowledge by
thinking about Dr. Seuss and his opinion on joining the war effort.
https://reimaginingmigration.org/dr-seuss-political-cartoons/
ii. This is another image from Dr. Seuss that uses a metaphor of not sharing
a bed with Europe by which it is saying there’s no chance of catching the
sickness they are all sharing.
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https://history204group3.wordpress.com/2013/10/04/wwii-political-
cartoon-primary-source-analysis-mia-richardson/
iii. Then after we as a class have analyzed the sources, I’ll have the students
write in their T-charts a few of the main points of each cartoon.
iv. The students should be considering either side and choosing which side
of the argument they are going to side with.
5. Checking for Understanding:
a. I will be asking the students the simple phrase: should we go to war or not go to
war?
b. Is this our fight too or not our problem? “Out of sight, out of mind?”
c. Throughout the entire lesson I will be making sure that the students understand
that choosing to go to war was not an easy decision based on the time period.
d. How I will also check for understanding is to go by all of the students’ desks to
make sure they are filling out their T-Charts. I will be able to determine their
understanding by seeing how full their organizers are.

6. Independent Practice-
a. Using their Venn diagram and their persuasive essay paragraph graphic organizer,
the students will have the rest of the class to start writing their persuasive essay on
the position they have taken in joining World War 2.
i. In the essay, I am looking to see
1. Their decision being definite of either yes or no if they think we
should go to war
2. Their understanding of the economy during the Great Depression
3. The inclusion of the war effort being a threat to national security
4. A mention of the size and strength of the military
5. The effects of World War 1 and the impact of another war on the
home front
6. Some mention of the opposing argument
b. The students should also be having a thoughtful introduction paragraph to state
their opinion but should also acknowledge the other side as a factor and a valid
opinion. Their three paragraphs should highlight the main points above as well as
a concluding paragraph that restates their opinion and wraps up the essay.
7. Closure
a. Ask the students if they think going to war is an easy decision overall
i. Let them share out a few responses either yes or no and a short
explanation why. This is just a quick summary of the day’s content to
see if they had any extra questions and for the students to share their
thoughts about all that goes in to making a huge decision like this.
b. Ask them what would be a definite reason to go to war that they wouldn’t have a
hard time questioning their decision
i. This last open-ended question is to get them thinking about the next
class lesson on the effects of Pearl Harbor without explicitly giving them
new information.
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Procedures with Subject Specific Pedagogical Rationale for each choice including expert
references:

1. Curriculum Framework: Students should consider this question to contextualize

America in the events leading up to war: Why did Americans not want to join World
War II before the bombing at Pearl Harbor? Following the will of the American
public, Congress passed a series of Neutrality Acts in the 1930s intended to prevent any
sort of American aid to nations at war. Standing in direct opposition to the American
people and Congress, President Roosevelt felt very early on that the country should
support the Allied cause. Roosevelt believed that Hitler posed a threat to the world unlike
any other and that the United States needed to hold strong against Japan’s territorial
aggressions in Asia. (Pg. 400, History Framework, 2017)
2. TPEs: History-Social Science candidates demonstrate the ability to teach the state-
adopted academic content standards for students in history-social science. They enable
students to learn and use analytic thinking skills in history and social science while
attaining the state-adopted academic content standards for students... Candidates teach
students to independently read, comprehend, and evaluate instructional materials that
include increasingly complex subject-relevant texts and graphic/media representations
presented in diverse formats. Candidates also teach students to write argumentative and
expository text in the content area. Additionally, History-Social Science Single Subject
candidates connect essential facts and information to broad themes, concepts and
principles, and they relate history-social science content to current or future issues. They
teach students how cultural perspectives inform and influence understandings of history.
They select and use age-appropriate primary and secondary documents and artifacts to
help students understand a historical period, event, region or culture. They create
classroom environments that support the discussion of sensitive issues (e.g., social,
cultural, religious, race, and gender issues), and encourage students to reflect on and
share their insights and values. They design activities to counter illustrate multiple
viewpoints on issues. They provide students the opportunity to use and evaluate strengths
and limitations of media and technology as integral tools in the classroom... (Pg. 5-6,
CTPE, 2013).

Differentiated Instruction (Tailoring to individual needs of specific students – EL, GATE, Special
Needs):
 EL students and Special needs students will receive both graphic organizers in class prior
for them to get used to the concepts.
o EL students will given audio recordings of the process we are about to accomplish
with translations of tough words or phrases for them to practice the English
translations. I will also be placing any EL students with stronger English writers
and speakers.
o Special needs students should have an overall unit outline that has a class by class
schedule with the subject matter for each day along with the tasks for each day.
They will also be closer to the front of the class so I can help them easier.
o Special needs students will be seated near the GATE students if they have any
questions they don’t feel comfortable asking me.
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 GATE students will be asked to complete the T-Chart and essay prior to class. During the
class period, I will ask the student to do research based on Pearl Harbor to move ahead to
the next class lesson. The student will also be looking at fireside chats of FDR to the
American public to prepare for his declaration of war in the next class. These students
will also be available to help special needs students if they have any questions they are
too afraid to ask me.

Student Products that will be collected:

 The persuasive essay paragraph will be collected in the next class and the IDs

Informal Checking for Understanding that will occur:

(Include specific questions you will ask throughout the lesson.)
 Should outside factors stop us from going to war?
 I will be making sure that the students understand that they will be putting themselves n
the position of someone in congress to get them in that mindset
 Progress of filling out T-charts and vocab IDs

Student Collaboration and grouping: Students will be grouped based on class seating chart with
some special needs students towards the front of the class

Time Allotment: 45 minutes-1 hour

Author’s Comments & Reflections:

1. Pedagogy (PK): I wanted to use this video to supplement and even substitute my direct
instruction because it is informational. I chose this video because students want someone
different than me all the time and it has graphics along with being humorous which the
students will enjoy. The video is very summative to what we are trying to accomplish for
the lesson, which is leading the class into World War 2. I think using videos are an
essential part of teaching, especially with all the videos that are being put on YouTube. I
think media can only make any lesson plan better and more well-rounded because the
students are used to watching videos through that platform at home in their free time.
There’s only so much the students can stand to listen to a teacher talk in a class period, to
go along with the rest of the day, so I think it’s important to switch up the instruction in
that respect.
2. Content Knowledge (CK): Going back to the first question, I think History can be
instructed with the use of video because it displays the time period in the best way.
There’s only so much in any book you can show students to understand what things
looked like and how to really engage a time period. I think a drawback could be that
students are used to such great video quality on a daily basis that film shot back in a time
like the 40s could bore them. I can also see it keeping students engaged as a point of
intrigue to see that the video quality can lead to another conversation on the evolution of
technology. In turn, I think that technology in that way can promote the use of literacy by
intrigue, which can lead to questions and students processing information that leads to
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class discussion. I think a lot of students are visual learners and getting them to take what
they see to try to put that into words on the paper can also improve literacy.
3. Technology Knowledge (TK): To check the validity of the video, I looked into the
channel that makes it as well as the man who presented it. John Green, the host of the
video, is a world famous author who has wrote many award winning books to go along
with being an editor for the New York Times. His channel has many a few million
subscribers for his videos that are all instructional videos for a multitude of subjects. I
think it was the best choice of video because it was a straightforward summary of the
class lesson before we get into the instruction. It is also on YouTube, which is the most
accessible source for videos in my opinion. I didn’t originally think of a backup plan
because YouTube is a reliable source but if I had to choose something then I would
choose another video of a speech from FDR or Charles Lindbergh to start the class.

MATERIALS AND RESOURCES

Instructional Materials and resources

(Including Technology):
 PowerPoint Presentation- https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Ypmcip16OWPkZ3-
hE8FjBwuq29wtsKR1U7nVmp05E9Y/edit?usp=sharing
 T-Chart
 Primary Sources found on the Internet
o Charles Lindbergh Speech- http://www.charleslindbergh.com/pdf/speech7.pdf
o Dr. Seuss Wolf Cartoon- https://www.business2community.com/us-news/dr-seuss-
criticized-united-states-not-accepting-refugees-world-war-ii-fact-check-01771296
o Dr. Seuss “Contagious” Cartoon- https://pin.it/mplb7bvcksu74s

STANDARDS & ASSESSMENT

Include all Assessment/Rubrics with Connection

back to an essential question and
appropriate learning objectives:

 Students will be assessed by the completion of their T-Chart/ Persuasive Essay outline
 Students will be assessed on how they follow the instructions I have laid out for the essay
 They will marked off for
o Not choosing a side
o Not incorporating the great depression
o Not talking about national security
o Not talking about the current position of the United States- economic, political,
peoples’ opinion