Category: World War II

American Revolution, Assignment Ideas, Civil Rights, Cold War, Colonial America, Colonization & Settlement, Colonization to Civil War, Help for New Teacher, Post-World War II, Presidents, Progressive Era, Reconstruction, Rise of Industrial America, Roaring Twenties, Roaring Twenties and Depression, Vietnam War, Western Settlement, World War I, World War II

Two Exciting New Products! Lots of US History Help!

I’ve been slaving away behind the scenes to finish something I’ve been working on for a while! The first is a massive list of US History Assignments. I ended up with over 211 assignments and 15 printable templates! I’m breaking them up into 2 separate products based on time period. The first is 101 Assignments for Colonies to Civil War. I’m still putting the finishing touches on the second part, 110 Assignments for Reconstruction to 9/11. I hope to have that one available within the month!

I also have a set of 180 discussion starters and bell ringers I’ve been working on. You can find that here which also includes a link to a free sample download.

Use the code BLOG20 to get 20% off of your purchase!

 

Videos, World War II

The Best Video I’ve Seen About the Bataan Death March

To hear the experiences of those who lived through insane things; that is what history is all about. This video is not a straight informational video…it is a biographical one. A survivor of the Bataan Death March describes his experience, and it is sure to get your students’ attention. That being said, because it is not informational from start to finish, preface it with the basic details of what the march was.

Surviving the Bataan Death March (3:39)

Videos, World War II

Interesting Hitler Videos

I came across these two videos this week while prepping for a lesson on World War II. I had never seen some of this footage before.

The first video is about Hitler’s battle with Parkinson’s disease. What I love about this video is that it is the first video footage I have ever seen that actually shows him shaking (and trying to hide it, of course). To keep your students involved in the video, ask them to see if they can spot the shaking. (See the video below.)

The second video discusses Hitler’s relationship with his girlfriend/eventual wife Eva Braun. Students are always very interested in learning what kind of woman would date Hitler. I knew a lot about Braun and Hitler already, but this video includes colorized footage of them which makes things seem so much more realistic. Also, this video does a great job of explaining what happened in the final hours of Hitler’s life when he was hiding in his bunker.

I have a bunch more videos that I use/show during World War II. I hope to post a big list of those soon. I’ve just got to add a few more!

American Revolution, Test Prep, World War II

Great Declaration of Independence Meme to Use in the Classroom

I didn’t post on July 4th because I was enjoying my holiday. USA! USA! USA! BUT, I did come across several memes, and this one in particular made me laugh. I thought I’d share it.

Can you use this in the classroom? Totally!

  • You could put this on your board the day after you talk about the Declaration of Independence and see if your students get it…and if not, it’s a good way to remind them of THE most important date in American history (as well as who wrote most of the Declaration of Independence).
  • You could also use this as a bonus question for a test. “Explain what this meme means and why it is funny.”
  • You could round up a bunch of historical memes and use them as fun test prep reviews!

I think memes are actually a great way to help students practice analysis and critical thinking. Memes force students to recall information they know and then apply that knowledge to the meme to figure out what the meme is implying and why it the meme is funny.

While I’m on the subject of memes, did you know that the Keep Calm and Carry On memes were based on a British World War II motivational poster? It’s a good reminder to your students that history is everywhere!!!

 

Miscellaneous, Test Prep, World War I, World War II

Three Free Online Quizzes – US Presidents, World War I and II

I stumbled across this quiz today on the US Presidents. It’s only 10 questions, but it would be a good, quick little time-filler at the beginning or end of class. It doesn’t have a lot of ads on the page either, unlike most online quizzes, which is a plus! I decided to look through all of their quizzes on the page and find any that were relevant to US History. See below for links!

You could use them as an introduction to a topic or to quickly gauge the overall knowledge of the class. These would also be an easy, fun way to do a little end of the year test prep/review. You can project the quiz on the board and complete it orally together or have students silently write their answers before you reveal the correct answer. I find that these quizzes are a fun way to fill a few minutes as a class when your students’ brains are fried and their attention-span is gone. In my opinion, an informal approach works best with these.

World War I Online Quiz

World War II Online Quiz

US Presidents Online Quiz

Assignment Ideas, Quiz, World War II

Pearl Harbor PowerPoint, Interactive Quiz, and Videos

In honor of December 7th, I have created a PowerPoint summary of the key points you may want to review with your students when discussing the importance of the attack on Pearl Harbor. I also created an interactive quiz and have embedded several videos that might be useful in your classroom.

Click here to download my free PowerPoint summary of Pearl Harbor.

Pearl Harbor Interactive Quiz (10 Questions)

Quick video summary of the attack

 

FDR’s Famous Speech (speech starts at 0:30)

 

Interview with survivor of USS Arizona (It’s about 15 minutes long, but it’s so interesting!)

 

 

Miscellaneous, World War II

Keep Calm and Study History

Ummm, how did I not know this?!  I was researching for one of my TPT products that I’m working on, and I stumbled upon the fact that the “Keep Calm and Carry On” shirts, posters, memes, etc. are based on a British propaganda poster from World War II!

Apparently, this particular phrase and poster was produced in 1939 to boost British morale in case the major cities experience bombings.  (Speaking of bombings, check out my podcast on the Battle of Britain.)  I know that these posters and such have been around for a while, but I can’t believe I didn’t know their origin!  This is definitely a very concrete example of how history has influenced modern life and pop culture.  Share this awesome example with your students and remind them to…

Holidays, World War II

Really Cool Interview with Pearl Harbor Survivor

Can you imagine what it would be like to be on the USS Arizona when it was hit?  Well, the guy in this video knows!  In remembrance of the attack on Pearl Harbor, I thought I would link to this REALLY interesting video of a veteran of the USS Arizona detailing his experience during the attack.  Sometimes when you are studying a large event where many people die, it’s hard to make it personal.  This interview is fascinating and gives students a very personal glimpse of what these men went through!  It’s 15 minutes long, but I loved watching to the end.  At the end, he explains what he thinks happened to his twin brother, who was also on the USS Arizona.  You can stop it at about 10:00 if students start to lose interest.

 

Podcast, World War II

LTH 015 – Battle of Britain

In this episode, I’ll give you tons of free resources to help you teach the Battle of Britain.  Get a discussion starter, video recommendations, assignment ideas, and more!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: RSS

 

Show Notes and Resources

Discussion Starter

Free World War II Worksheet/Summary on TPT (scroll down to page 5 and 6)

Battle of Britain PowerPoint (skip to slide 23 for the B of B stuff)

Good Summary Video Adolf Hitler: Battle of Britain – Biography.com Video (2:11)

Winston Churchill – Video on History Channel (5:11)

Animated Summary of the Blitz – Video on History Channel (1 min.)

Interviews with Battle of Britain Veterans – Video (3:44)

Air Raid Siren Sound Effect on iTunes

Battle of Britain Assignments

Part of Churchill’s Battle of Britain Speech – Audio only

Text of End of Churchill’s Battle of Britain Speech

Interactive Infographic (scroll down past the picture of the plane and give it a second to load)

RAF Infographic

Photo:  MH65477 from Imperial War Museum
Intro music clip of “I Dunno” by Grapes CC BY-ND 3.0
World War II

Short D-Day Quiz

What does the “D” stand for in D-day?  This is a question that you will be asked every year you teach US History.  I found a quick little quiz about D-Day, which includes the answer to that question.  The quiz is just a quick 8-question quiz, but you can use it for several things:

  • Use it before the lesson to gauge prior knowledge
  • Use it as a warm-up or discussion starter
  • Copy and paste it into a Word document to create a quick assessment
  • Allow students to complete the quiz on a phone or other device as extra credit

The one downer about this quiz is that it doesn’t actually grade the answers; it just gives you the correct answers via a link at the bottom.  So, you need to have students write down their answers and compare.  If you are doing this in front of the class, the best way would probably be to have the quiz open on one tab and the answer page open in another tab for quick access.  It’s a small resource, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t useful.  Anything that can save you time and engage students is always a plus!

 

Photo: Final Dress Rehearsal for D-Day, Library of Congress – No known restrictions