When we think of World War II, we think of the Holocaust or, perhaps, the attack on Pearl Harbor, D-Day. Although these are significant and tragic events that shouldn't be forgotten, there are millions of voices we rarely hear about. In this project, you will work in groups and be assigned the perspective of an ethnic group living in the United States during WWII.
This project provided eighth graders the opportunity to approach World War II from a different perspective and see how the war impacted people in the United States. Students worked in groups to research the experiences of Japanese and German Americans in the United States during WWII. Using their research, students wrote a first-person narrative about life as and "alien enemy" during WWII.
Throughout the project, students used a wiki to collect information, communicate as a group and grade, and share and access resources. Each Group page contains a collective word bank or vocabulary page as well as links to each group member's research notes.