The Library of Congress

Nothing to Fear but Fear Itself By Gail Desler Elk Grove Unified School District Elk Grove, California

Procedure

Activity One - Evacuation Day (30 minutes)

Introduce students to the lesson using Photograph 1 (Japanese-American child who is being evacuated with his parents to Owens Valley) on-line, on a handout, or overhead transparency. Give them a copy of the Observation Sheet for recording their observations.

Guiding questions:

• Is this photograph indoors or outdoors?
• What objects and/or structures do you see?
• How many people do you see? Men? Women? Children?
• How are the people dressed?
• Are these people family members?
• Do they relate to each other?
• Are they touching in any way?
• What emotions do you see or sense? Anger? Fear? Confusion? Sadness? Joy? Expressionless?
• Is there something happening in the photograph that might trigger emotions?
• What is the setting? Where would you place this photo in time and place?
• Who was taking this photo?
• Why was this photo being taken?
• What title would you give this photo?

Engage in a whole-class discussion based on student observations of the photograph and prior knowledge of World War II.

Activity Two - "A Date That Will Live in Infamy" (30 minutes)

Team students in groups of 2-4 and have them brainstorm the connection between:

• Item 1 (Dispatch announcing bombing of Pearl Harbor);
  
• Item 2 (FDR signing the Declaration of War);
  
• Item 3 (Prelude to the Japanese Exodus, Dorothea Lange, Women Come to the Front, Library of Congress on-line exhibit).

Each group should write a one sentence explanation of the connection(s) they see between the three documents. Bring the groups together and have them share their sentences.

Activity Three - Picture Day (30 minutes)

• Team students in groups of 2-4. Give them a copy of Photograph 2 (Japanese-American Evacuation from Los Angeles), project it on the overhead, or have students access it on-line.
  
• Allow time for them to brainstorm and record their observations on their Observation Sheet.
  
• Ask students to create a tableau (a scene frozen in time and space) in which they become the personalities in the photograph. They must assume the same pose as the person whose role they have taken. Students remain frozen until you tap them. At that time, they will answer in the "first person" any questions you might have for them.

Activity Four - Two Sides to Every Story: Poetry for Two Voices (2 class periods)

Introduce students to Stephanie Klose's "A Graduation Poem for Two." Written for her middle school students, this poem is a wonderful example of poetry for two voices. The two-column format allows writers to juxtapose two contrasting ideas, concepts, or perspectives. Alternating lines indicate opposing view points and are read by an individual voice. Adjacent lines represent agreement or compromise and are therefore read in unison.

Have students pair up. Distribute copies of Franklin Roosevelt's "A Date Which Will Live in Infamy" speech and An Interview with Marielle Tsukamoto. As they read through FDR's speech, they should highlight phrases that might explain why the US government chose to imprison Japanese-Americans. As they read through Ms. Tsukamoto's interview, they should highlight phrases that explain what internment was really like from the perspective of a former camp internee.

In their own words and/or using words from the speech and interview, students will use the poetry for two voices format to create a two-column poem on Japanese internment.

Students should illustrate their poems and mount them on construction paper.

Evaluation and Extension

Group Evaluation - Poem

The Poem for Two Voices can be scored with a class-generated rubric or with the four-point History-Social Studies Rubric.

Individual Assessment - Newspaper Article

The poetry activity was designed as a team project, but it could also be assigned as an individual project.

For an individual evaluation that will build on photographic analysis skills and assess historical understanding, have students write a newspaper article in response to a photo in the American Memory Gallery of Japanese Internment. This evaluation could be assigned as an in-class writing prompt or as homework. Before assigning the article:

• distribute copies of Guidelines for Writing a News Article
• discuss the prompt (reflect on and respond to an internment photograph) and the guidelines
• write rough drafts
• edit (independently or with peers and/or teacher)
• revise
• publish final draft of article

If you are using this lesson as an introduction to reading a World War II novel, I recommend completing this individual evaluation after students have completed their reading. The article could be assessed using a student-generated rubric or the four-point History-Social Studies Rubric.

Extension - Freedom from Fear Revisited
Ask students to examine Norman Rockwell's Freedom from Fear poster, painted by the great illustrator in response to FDR's 1941 State of the Union Address on the National Archives and Records Administration web site. If they were commissioned to design a Freedom From Fear Poster for the new millennium, what issues would they depict?