Grade 7

Teaching Extension: Teaching Sensitive Topics (Discrimination, Racism)

Access and read tools to support teaching sensitive topics, such as:

• Professional Development/Guidance Resources


• Teaching Tolerance (https://www.tolerance.org)
  
  
  
  • Being Culturally Responsive: https://www.tolerance.org/professional-development/being-culturally-responsive
  
  
  • A New Set of Rules: https://www.tolerance.org/professional-development/a-new-set-of-rules
  
  
  • Critical Practices for Anti-bias Education: Classroom Culture: https://www.tolerance.org/professional-development/critical-practices-for-antibias-education-classroom-culture
  
  
  • Critical Practices for Anti-bias Education: Instruction: https://www.tolerance.org/professional-development/critical-practices-for-antibias-education-instruction
  
  
  
  


• Exploring the Controversy: The “N” Word: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/cultureshock/teachers/huck/section1_2.html


• Wheatley Curriculum Tools


• Modules
  
  
  
  • Teaching Notes (Module Overview)
  
  
  • Pause Points (Pacing Plan)
  
  
  • Socratic Seminars, including sections on Opening Questions, Sustained Dialogue, Clarifying/Extension Questions (Teacher Resource Guide, keyword Socratic Seminar: Basic Components)
  
  
  • Lesson Elements, including Engage Students, JOY reflection questions and Close the Lesson
  
  
  • Handout: Socratic Seminar Anchor Chart (Handout file for each grade and module, example KW – G3 – M2 – Handouts)
  
  
  
  


• Teacher Resource Guide
  
  
  
  • Supporting Inclusivity and Diversity (Instructional Routines and Practices)
    
    
    
    • Teaching Sensitive Content (keywords Sensitive)
    
    
    • Mirrors and Windows (keywords Mirrors and Windows)
    
    
    
    
  
  
  • Diversity in Wheatley (Tools and Resources; keywords Diversity in Wheatley)
  
  
  • Effective Questioning (keyword Effective Questioning. See subsections Effective Questioning Strategies and Wait Time)
  
  
  • Extension and Engagement Activities (keyword Extension and Engagement; See Teaching Extension: Social Sensitivity in modules where sensitive issues are particularly present.)
  
  
  
  


• Content-Specific Tolerance Resources (These may be helpful across other related content.)


• “Exploring the Controversy: The “N” Word” http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/cultureshock/teachers/huck/section1_2.html


• “The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow” http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/index.html


• “Gestures To Avoid In Cross-Cultural Business: In Other Words, ‘Keep Your Fingers To Yourself!’” https://www.huffingtonpost.com/gayle-cotton/cross-cultural-gestures_b_3437653.html


• “24 American Customs That Are Considered Offensive In Other Countries” http://www.businessinsider.com/american-behaviors-that-are-offensive-abroad-2015-8

Teaching Extensions: Build Background on World War II

• Explain that this module focuses on the U.S. involvement in World War II from December 1940, following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, to the end of the war in 1945.


• Elicit or share basic information about World War II:
  
  
  
  • World War II began in Europe with the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany in 1939. It ended in 1945.
  
  
  • The war was fought between the Allies (Great Britain, France, United States, Soviet Union) and the Axis Powers (Germany, Italy, and Japan.)
  
  
  
  


• Use a map such as this one including Europe, the Soviet Union, and Northern Africa, to reinforce the global reach of the war: https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/map/europe-1940


• Point to areas on the map and clarify that World War II battles are largely divided into Western Europe, the Eastern Front (Soviet Union), the Pacific, and North Africa and the Mediterranean.


• Use the map to identify locations as you summarize events in areas other than the Pacific. Invite volunteers to identify some locations on the map.
  
  
  
  • August 1939: Hitler invades Poland.
  
  
  • April 1940: Hitler invades Norway and Denmark.
  
  
  • May 1940: Hitler invades Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg.
  
  
  • June 1940: Evacuation of British troops at Dunkirk; Paris falls to the Germans.
  
  
  • June–September 1940: Battle of Britain (by air) in which British air force destroys many German planes
  
  
  • German aircraft begin bombing British cities, but advanced British radar prevents total destruction. Allied forces begin bombing German cities.
  
  
  • December 1940, Japan attacks Pearl Harbor; America joins the war.
  
  
  • May 1941: Hitler invades Yugoslavia and Greece (as his armies continue East).
  
  
  • June 1941: Germany attacks Soviet Union, which brings Soviet forces into the war.
  
  
  • August 1942–1943: Russians hold back Nazis in bloody battle for Stalingrad.
  
  
  • November 1942–May 1943: Allies defeat Germans and Italians in North Africa.
  
  
  • July 1943: Allies invade Sicily from North Africa.
  
  
  • June 1944: Allied forces defeat Rome.
  
  
  • June 1944: Allies invade Normandy on D-Day.
  
  
  • August 1944: Paris is liberated.
  
  
  • December 1944: Germans lose in Battle of Bulge (on border of France and Belgium).
  
  
  • May 1945: Germany surrenders.
  
  
  
  


• Point out that the Allies’ strategy was to weaken Germany by attacking it from the West (British and U.S forces), the East (the Soviet forces), and from North Africa and southern Italy (British and U.S. Forces).


• Explain that while battles were being fought in Europe and North Africa against Japan and Italy, the Allies were also fighting Japan in the Pacific. Display a map of the Pacific such this one: http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1693.html


• On the map, locate Japan and the islands where battles between Americans and Japanese were fought. Point out Midway, Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa, where major battles were fought between 1942 and 1945.

Content Areas: Social Studies/The  Military Campaign in the Pacific

• The Allied fight against the Japanese largely occurred in the islands of the Pacific Ocean. Work in a small group to create a slideshow about the U. S. military campaign against the Japanese.


• As a group, decide who will focus on each of these major battles:


• June 1942, Battle of Midway


• August 1942–February 1943, Guadalcanal


• June–July 1944, Iwo Jima


• April–June 1945, Okinawa


• Locate the battle on this map: http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1693.html


• Visit this site to learn about the battle assigned to you: https://www.thoughtco.com/world-war-ii-battles-2361453


• As a group, present your information to the class in chronological order. Use the map as a visual during the presentation.

Content Areas: Social Studies/Major Events in Western Europe and the Eastern Front

• World War II was a global war, that took place on several continents. The battles are largely divided into the European Theater (Western Europe), the Eastern Front (Soviet Union), North Africa, and the Pacific.


• Print out one of these maps that show those areas, with the exception of the Pacific:
  
  
  
  • https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/map/europe-1940
  
  
  • https://history.army.mil/brochures/Ike/Ike-6a.jpg
  
  
  
  


• Choose six events shared by your teacher for background.


• Annotate the map to show these events.


• Include the date, the important countries involved, the outcome of the event (who won), and any important impact on the progress of the war.


• Use colors to categorize the events in a logical way, such as by winner or year.

Social Justice/Equality: Debate and Group Discussion

Executive Order 9066 set up an exclusion zone, or area where certain people could not live. This policy allowed the military to remove 110,000 people of Japanese ancestry from the West Coast. In “Executive Order 9066: Evacuation and Segregation,” photographer Ansel Adams is quoted as saying that the executive order was justified, but not just.

• Work with a partner to hold a debate about the issue.
  
  
  
  • Together decide who will represent Adams’s side and who will represent an opposing opinion.
  
  
  • Brainstorm arguments and counterarguments.
  
  
  • Debate the issue with your partner.
  
  
  • Discuss which side has a stronger argument.
  
  
  
  


• Then discuss these questions and ideas as a class:
  
  
  
  • At the end of the twentieth century, the U.S. government finally paid reparations to the families of the Japanese Americans who had been interned. The executive order, however, was never declared unconstitutional.
  
  
  • Do you think actions, such as relocation and internment, could still be taken in the United States during a time of perceived danger?
  
  
  • Would social media make these actions more or less likely?
  
  
  
  

Content Areas: Photography

Both Ansel Adams and Dorothea Lange were important American photographers who were hired by the War Relocation Authority (WRA) to take pictures of the internment camp at Manzanar. Ansel Adams is best known for his grand landscapes of the West and national parks and the West, while Lange is best known for her photographs of migratory workers and families during the Clutch Plague. Unlike Adams, Lange was also paid to take photographs in the earlier stages, when people were in relocation centers and when buildings were still being built. While Adams’s pictures were exhibited during the war, a number of Lange’s photographs were censored.

In a small group, explore and discuss their photos and experiences.

• Visit these sites to view some of their most famous work:
  
  
  
  • https://www.pinterest.com/explore/ansel-adams-photography/?lp=true
  
  
  • http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/lange/
  
  
  
  


• Learn more about Dorothea Lange:
  
  
  
  • View video about Lange’s experience and feelings: https://www.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/lang14.soc.ushist.intern/picturing-japanese-american-internment-dorothea-lange/#.WnTbmZM-d-U
  
  
  • View slideshow of Lange’s photos: https://www.dpreview.com/sample-galleries/2013785745/dorothea-lange-photos-of-japanese-internment/
  
  
  • Compare her photos with those of Ansel Adams.
  
  
  
  


• Discuss these questions with a group:
  
  
  
  • What most strikes you about the photographs?
  
  
  • What connections, if any, do you see between each photographer’s most famous pictures and those he or she took for the War Relocation Authority?
  
  
  • Why might Lange’s photos have made it harder for the government to continue the rounding up and relocation?
  
  
  • Do you think the War Relocation Authority (WRA) should have allowed Lange to exhibit them?
  
  
  
  

Teaching Extension: Build Background about Mistreatment of Native Americans

• Explain that in the nineteenth century, the U.S. government seized lands of Native Americans and created reservations. Share information about these events:
  
  
  
  • As Europeans settled the United States, they began to encroach on Native American land.
  
  
  • In the southeastern states, the U.S. government wanted the lands of the Cherokees. They formed treaties with some tribes, whereby those groups would leave their lands in exchange for territory west of the Mississippi not yet settled by Americans or Europeans. Other tribes refused to leave.
  
  
  • In 1830, Congress passed the Removal Act, which gave the U.S. government authority to “assist” tribes in leaving their lands.
  
  
  • In 1832, Cherokees from the southeastern United States banded together to challenge the law. Although the Supreme Court ruled in their favor, some tribes voluntarily left in good faith.
  
  
  • In 1838, the U.S. government forcibly relocated Cherokees in a brutal, 1,000-mile march, during which 4,000 people died.
  
  
  • In 1848, the Mexican-American War placed new territories and tribes under U.S. jurisdiction.
  
  
  • As settlers moved beyond the Mississippi, more Native Americans were displaced from their lands and moved to reservations.
  
  
  
  


• In preparation for reading Code Talker, also explain that in the nineteenth century, the U.S. government also established boarding schools for Native American children. Students may remember reading about this history in the fictional story Shi-Shi-Etko (Grade 5, Module 2). Share the following information:
  
  
  
  • Native American children were required to leave their homes to attend these boarding schools.
  
  
  • The children were not allowed to use Native American languages or to practice their own customs.
  
  
  • The idea was mostly based on good intentions as well as ignorance: Most non-native Americans had no understanding of or respect for Native American culture. They believed that Native American children with greater opportunities through education and assimilation, to the exclusion of their own language and customs. Despite good intentions, the policy reflected and implemented deeply racist beliefs and inflicted great damage on Native American communities and their cultures.
  
  
  
  

Teaching Extension: Video Clips

Have students watch video clips such as these to hear code talkers use Navajo code words and explain how they devised and used them during World War II.

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciFv_ONffdw


• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LON4YNx0vW0 

Verbal Expression: Using Navajo Code

Native American code talkers were first used in World War I. After that war, however, Germans and Japanese sent language experts to study Choctaw and the other languages used in order to outsmart code talkers. Since Navajo had never been a written language and was almost impossible for non-speakers to learn, the U.S. military decided to use Navajo code talkers during World War II.

About 400 Navajos participated in the program. The code they developed included vocabulary words as well as an alphabetic system. They matched words from their language with names for planes and other items of war. For the alphabetic system, they chose the first letter of a Navajo word to correspond with one of the 26 letters of the English alphabet. To make the code harder to crack, they chose a few different Navajo words to stand for the most commonly used letters.

• Use this dictionary, which was created by the Navajo code talkers, to write your own coded message: https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/n/navajo-code-talker-dictionary.html


• Create a message that could have been sent by the U. S. military during World War II. (You don’t need to base it on any factual information about battles, etc.)


• Exchange messages with a partner. Try to translate the messages.

Teaching Extension: Build Background about Jim Crow

The article points out that during World War II, the U.S. military segregated African American servicemen into all-black units, in keeping with Jim Crow laws of the South. Share this information:

• In the years following the Civil War, the the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution were ratified. These amendments abolished slavery, granted citizenship to those formerly enslaved, and prevented states from excluding voters on the basis of race, religion, or previous enslaved condition.


• The amendments, however, did not prevent states from instituting unfair literacy tests for voting, and many states took advantage of that loophole.


• Officials in the South also continued to discriminate against those formerly enslaved by passing Jim Crow laws.


• Jim Crow laws required racial segregation in facilities, such as restaurants, hotels schools, and even drinking fountains. Since schools for African Americans were usually underfunded, these laws limited people’s opportunities for future advancement and helped perpetuate inequality.


• In this module, students will learn how the actions of African American paratroopers during World


• War II helped advance the cause of integration in the military.


• It was not until 1964, with the passage of the Civil Rights Act, that segregation and thus Jim Crow laws became illegal. However, institutional racism and discrimination continues in other ways despite the Civil Rights Act.

Teaching Extension: Video Clips

• Have students watch video clips such as these to see the Triple Nickles parachute from a plane and to learn more about them:


• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LON4YNx0vW0


• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=el8RDgZhkxs

Verbal/Visual Expression: Presentation

The Japanese used jet streams to send balloon bombs to the U.S. mainland. Work with a small group to research jet streams and make a presentation about them.

• Imagine that you are Japanese scientists and inventors who need to educate the military about jet streams and how they can be used in the war.


• Visit sites such as these to learn about jet streams:
  
  
  
  • https://www.livescience.com/27825-jet-stream.html
  
  
  • https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/05/130527-map-video-balloon-bomb-wwii-japanese-air-current-jet-stream/
  
  
  
  


• Find out what jet streams are, where they are located, and how they influence weather.


• Find out how they can be used to carry air balloons to the United States and the possible limitations for this use.


• Together create your presentation, using some visuals as support.


• Decide who will present each kind of information and in what order.


• Practice your presentation.


• Then deliver it to the class.

Content Areas: Science

Work with a partner to create toy parachutes and use them to explore the role of air resistance, lift, and gravity. When a parachute is released, the jumper’s weight pulls down on the strings and opens a larger surface of material. The material uses air resistance (or friction) to slow the parachute down.

• Follow these steps to create a parachute:
  
  
  
  • Use a round object, such as a bowl or paper plate to trace a circle in a paper or plastic bag. (Alternatively, use a compass to draw a circle).
  
  
  • Cut out the circle.
  
  
  • Punch at least four holes around the edges of the circle.
  
  
  • Reinforce each hole with tape to prevent tearing.
  
  
  • Tie a piece of string to each hole. The pieces should be of equal length.
  
  
  • Tie all the pieces to a plastic object, which will serve as the parachuter, or jumper.
  
  
  
  


• To create different-sized parachutes, vary the circle size, but keep the string lengths the same. The objects for the parachuter should also be the same size and weight


• Drop each parachute from an elevated place, such as the top of a jungle gym or staircase. Use a stopwatch to measure the time it takes for each parachute to hit the ground. (Alternatively, simply drop them at the same time and note which one reaches ground first.)


• Notice the effect of surface size on speed.


• Report your findings to the class.