THE EFFECTS OF WWII
ON THE U.S.A. HOME FRONT
A 5th Grade Social Studies, Language Arts, and DBQ WebQuest 
Teacher

Introduction

The aim of this WebQuest is to prepare fifth grade students for the New York State Fifth Grade Social Studies Assessment: Document-Based Questions. Students will interpret and analyze multiple primary sources, and read for information. The primary purpose of this lesson is to teach the student how to write a well-developed research essay. This exercise will model how to write a Baker-Keyhole essay using the scaffold questions the students have answered about WWII primary sources.

Learners

This lesson is designed for the fifth grade language arts and social studies curriculum. The students will develop their reading, writing, map, DBQ and problem solving skills. This Web Quest could be extended to the Middle School curriculum.

Prior to beginning the lesson, students need to be familiar with primary sources and the format for a Baker-Keyhole essay. They need to know how to maintain an active web quest and active online resources at the same time on their computer. 

 

Curriculum Standards

NYS Learning Standards for Mathematics, Science, and Technology

Standard 2: Information Systems

Students will access, generate, process, and transfer information using appropriate technologies.

 

NYS Learning Standards for English Language Arts

Standard 1: Language for Information and Understanding

Students will listen, speak, read and write for information and understanding.

Standard 3: Language for Critical Analysis and Evaluation

Students will listen, speak, read and write for critical analysis and evaluation.

 

NYS Learning Standards for Social Studies

                Standard 1: History of the United States and New York
                Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their 
                understanding of major ideas, eras, themes,  developments, and 
                    turning points in the history of the United States and New York.

                Process

Group your students into teams of three. Each secret agent on the team needs to select one of the following areas to  investigate. They need to follow the directions on their page and answer all the scaffold primary source questions. 

Prior to this section a mini-lesson should be taught on primary sources. A good source is the National Archives & Records Administration's Document Analysis Worksheets and Teaching with Documents.

            1.     Effects of WWII on the role of women

            2.     Effects of WWII on the average citizen

            3.     Effects of WWII on civil liberties-Japanese Internment Use 
            Kidspiration to brainstorm our civil liberties or individual rights
            as American citizens.

After students have answered all the questions under their section, let them meet in groups or hold a class discussion reviewing the strategies used to find the answers. This gives students practice in oral note-taking and an opportunity to answer all the questions before writing the final DBQ essay.

Explain the following Critical Thinking Directions:

• Write a well organized essay that includes a strong introduction, body (topic and closing sentence for each paragraph), and conclusion that analyzes and interprets the assigned task Follow the RUBRIC when writing your report

• Use the information from the documents and the answers to the questions to support your response

• Do not simply repeat the contents of the documents

• Include details, examples or reasons to develop your ideas

• Utilize specific related outside information (your knowledge of social studies)

            Evaluation

            The student will complete the task when they have answered all the questions accompanying their primary sources and used these answers to complete their critical thinking question. The student's final report must include an introductory paragraph, supporting paragraphs with a topic and transition sentence, and a concluding paragraph. They should follow the components of a Baker Keyhole Essay when writing  their final report.

            Conclusion

            The students interpreted and analyzed multiple primary sources answering scaffold questions to study an important period of history. They determined how WWII effected the Americans living in the United States between the years of 1941 – 1945 and wrote a well-developed Baker Keyhole essay synthesizing information from various sources.