WHAT DID YOU DO DURING THE
WAR?
ILLINOIS CITIZEN EFFORTS TO SUPPORT THE WAR – 1941-1945
By Mark Foley, M.Ed.
American History Teachers Collaborative
Summer Institute Lesson Plan 2007
Urbana School District 116 –
Urbana, Illinois
In this lesson
the jigsaw technique is used to expose high school students to a variety of
efforts made by Americans during World War Two to support the war efforts. Differentiation by readiness is
utilized as primary sources from the Illinois State Archive are assigned to
students based on the level of difficulty. Students begin in a readiness groups and then move to
mixed-ability groups to share what they have learned. A classroom discussion and a writing assignment are then
utilized as assessment.
Students will
analyze and discuss an excerpt from President RooseveltÕs ÒA Call for
SacrificeÓ speech of April 28, 1942 (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1942roosevelt-sacrifice.html)
to identify the national significance of the sacrifices Americans in Illinois
made during the war, and the motivating factors for much of that sacrifice.
Project or hand
out a copy of President RooseveltÕs ÒA Call for SacrificeÓ speech. Read the excerpt together as a class or
individually and discuss. Focus
discussion on this passage:
Here at home everyone will have the privilege of making
whatever self-denial is necessary, not only to supply our fighting men, but to
keep the economic structure of our country fortified and secure during the war
and after the war.
This will require, of course, the abandonment not only of
luxuries but of many other creature comforts.
Ask students,
ÒWhat are other words for self-denial?Ó
ÒWhat are creature comforts?Ó
ÒWhat do you think the average American in, say, Illinois might have had
to abandon in order to support the war?Ó
Once the students have had a chance to reflect on FDRÕs speech, tell them they are now going to break up into groups to determine some of the ways Americans in Illinois sacrificed to help the war effort.
Before class begins, it is wise to have students already grouped by readiness. There will be seven document groups, ranging in document difficulty from extremely difficult to easy. Place your highest achieving students in groups analyzing Documents C and F. Place your grade-level students in groups analyzing Documents A, D, and G. Place your lowest achieving students in groups analyzing Documents B and E.
Have students begin to analyze their group document by handing out the Document Analysis Worksheet. Students can work together in their group, or separately, but all students must complete the worksheet in the allotted time. While students are analyzing their documents, circulate and answer any questions. Meanwhile, have the students in each group count off from 1-4. Tell them to remember their number.
After all groups have completed their document analysis, inform the students that they should now form new groups by number. Give each group (1-4) a place to meet in the classroom. Once the groups are settled, hand out the Graphic Organizer to each student, then have each student explain to the rest of the group the document they examined and the answer that document provides to the essential question: What are some of the ways Americans in Illinois sacrificed to help the war effort?
Monitor groups, answering questions and providing direction when necessary.
When all groups have had a chance to fill out their graphic organizers, have the students return to their assigned seats. Project the graphic organizer on an overhead and conduct a class discussion about the documents in which the graphic organizer is completed as a class. Answer any questions the students might have at this point about ways Americans in Illinois sacrificed for their country during World War Two.
Assign the reflective paper:
In
what ways were the citizens of Illinois encouraged to sacrifice for their
country during World War Two?
Would you been willing to sacrifice in similar ways today? Defend your opinion.
ANNOTATED
LIST OF MATERIALS AND RESOURCES
o Document A: ÒWar Food Communique
No. 1, Meat RationingÓ October 1942 (doc. 21). Illinois State Archives, Illinois at War, 1941-1945.
Office of the Illinois Secretary of State, 1994.
Readiness level: Grade-level
o Document B: ÒCar Pooling
PromotionÓ 1943 (doc. 32).
Illinois State Archives, Illinois at War, 1941-1945.
Office of the Illinois Secretary of State, 1994.
Readiness level: Low
o
Document C: ÒOffice of Price
Administration Press Release Concerning Rubber ConservationÓ October 11, 1942
(doc. 19). Illinois State
Archives, Illinois at War, 1941-1945. Office of the
Illinois Secretary of State, 1994.
Readiness level: Gifted
o Document D (pg. 1/pg. 2) : ÒThis Is A V-Home
PlacardÓ September 20, 1942 (doc. 18).
Illinois State Archives, Illinois at War, 1941-1945.
Office of the Illinois Secretary of State, 1994.
Readiness level: Grade-level
o Document E: ÒVictory Garden
DiagramÓ 1942 (doc. 10). Illinois
State Archives, Illinois at War, 1941-1945. Office of the
Illinois Secretary of State, 1994.
Readiness level: Low
o Document F: ÒCommunication of Condolences Regarding
The Death Of A Soldier Near Aachen, Germany.Ó September 14, 1944 (doc. 38). Illinois State Archives, Illinois
at War, 1941-1945. Office of the Illinois Secretary of
State, 1994.
Readiness level: Gifted
o Document G: ÒYou Too Are On The
Firing Line, Waste EliminationÓ 1943 (doc. 29). Illinois State Archives, Illinois at War, 1941-1945.
Office of the Illinois Secretary of State, 1994.
Readiness level: Grade-level
