A WebQuest for English 9R

A WebQuest for English 9R

Designed by Roberta Jamin

rjamin [at} lakelandschools.org

INTRODUCTION

Americans spent the 1930's surviving the Great Depression. Many other countries around the world were also experiencing great difficulties and changes at the time. In several countries, power-hungry dictators were taking control.

World War II began in 1939. Many Americans hoped to stay out of the conflict in Europe. Unfortunately, a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor by Japan, on December 7, 1941, drew the U. S. into the war. The Japanese bombs destroyed ships, planes, and military supplies. They killed 2,403 Americans. The first months of the war, until late 1942, were filled with bad news for America's allies, which to some extent accounted for the alarmism and violent anti-German sentiment that prevailed throughout the country. Even before the war, the Nazis' treatment of Jews was widely acknowledged to be unjust, although until 1945 little was known in America of the horrors of the concentration camps.

In America, patriotic feelings ran high during World War II. All people were working together. Over the next four years, more than 15 million Americans served in the military. For the first time women were allowed to join the military services. Children collected scrap metal, bottle caps, rubber bands, which were recycled into military products. People cut down on their use of gasoline, aluminum foil, meat, and other items.

The novel is set during the second half of World War II, after Americans had begun to fight on European soil and take many German prisoners. Many German soldiers did end up in American POW camps. The Geneva Conventions of 1929 stipulated that POWs be required to give their captors no information other than name, rank, and serial number and that they be sent back home after the war. The summer that Patty Bergen turns twelve is a summer that will haunt her forever. Patty risks losing family, friends ---even her freedom--- for a dangerous friendship. It is a risk she has to take and one she will have to pay a price to keep.

There are several objectives you need to achieve during this quest. They are:

to research and understand a different era of American life
to look at racism as it was in the past and to show the hurt that can be caused by such attitudes
to understand the home-front patriotism that existed during the early 1940s
to understand the people's fear and hatred of the enemy during war time

TASKS

Complete the questionnaire on balancing loyalty on one's country against love for an individual.
Your task is to understand the events leading up to World War II and to create a World War II timeline on the chart provided.
To understand the racism that existed in the 1930s and 1940s and the reasons for it - students will look at several sites and will write a brief summary about the discoveries they make
To look at several propaganda posters that were used during World War II and interpret what five of them mean.
Find out who was the President of the United States during the United States' entrance into the war. What part did he play in making the United States successful?
Use 10 adjectives to describe Adolf Hitler's personality and discuss how he was able to cause such devastation.
Quietly sit and view the pictures of the mass executions that happened during the Holocaust. What feelings did these pictures evoke from you? Write an analysis on those feelings, citing specifics.
What was Hitler's main motive behind the Nazi Death Camps? Research one and discuss in a 100-150 word paragraph how this motive was achieved.
Print five pictures that depict World War II.

PROCESS

Task 1:

Complete the questionnaire that is in your packet on the difficulty that exists in having to balance the loyalty one has for one's country against the loyalty one has for an individual.

Task 2:

Create a World War II timeline. A chart is provided in the packet to help to accomplish this. The following websites will be useful in your work.

Task 3:

You will investigate the racism that existed in the 1930s and 1940s and the reasons for it. You will look at several sites and will write a brief summary about the discoveries you made.

Task 4:

Look at several propaganda posters that were used during World War II and interpret what five of them mean. Some useful sites are:

Task 5:

Find out who was the President of the United States during the United States' entrance into the war. What part did he play in making the United States successful?

Task 6:

List 10 adjectives to describe Adolf Hitler's personality and discuss how he was able to cause such devastation.

Task 7:

Quietly sit and view the pictures of the mass executions that happened during the Holocaust. What feelings did these pictures evoke from you? Write an analysis on those feelings, citing specifics.

This link will take you to pictures on various subjects. Type in "search" Holocaust" to view the images.

Task 8:

What was Hitler's main motive behind the Nazi Death Camps? Research one and discuss in a 100-150 word paragraph how this motive was achieved.

The Nazi Holocaust
Holocaust Timeline
Arrival at the camps
Nazi camps
Conditions in Camps
Ghetto and Camp Photographs (search under "death camp photos")
Auschwitz

Task 9:

Print five pictures that depict World War II.

World War II pictures (search under "World War II photos")
Additional World War II pictures

EVALUATION

Below you will find a Rubric for this assignment. This Rubric will be used to grade your final project and should be used by you to guide your work. If you have any questions feel free to ask.

	Excellent	Good	Satisfactory	Needs Improvement
Reading Comprehension	Students differentiate between literal and figurative meanings Students demonstrate understanding of the whole work Students connect their understanding of the text to their place in history	Students usually differentiate between literal and figurative meanings Students may generate, validate, and/or reflect on their ideas about the texts Students accept the texts without exploring the multiple possibilities of meaning.	Students show little sensitivity to nuances and complexities of texts Sometimes students connect to personal experience but on superficial level Students criticisms and assessments are simplistic	Students do not demonstrate even a rudimentary understanding of the works and how they relate to text ideas. Any connections to t heir own experiences are isolated Students engage in reading simply to decode words rather than for coherent meaning.
Drawing conclusions from text	Draws logical and relevant conclusions and uses supporting details from the text	Draws a conclusion and uses a few supporting details from the text	Fails to draw a conclusion, or conclusion is unsupported, illogical, or irrelevant	No attempt made to respond
Research Tasks	Establishes and maintains a clear purpose and focus throughout all aspects Supporting details are rich, interesting and full	Purpose and focus are clearly established Details are fully developed and provide ideas/information in depth	Attempts to establish a purpose but focus is not fully clear Details are thinly developed and lack elaboration	Purpose and focus are not apparent Not developed Details are minimal, inappropriate, random or nonexistent
Presentation	Sentence variety enhances style Virtually no errors in structure and usage Very few errors or no mechanical errors	Few or no errors present Moderately successful in using more sophisticated sentence structure	Errors or patters of errors are present but they do not interfere with communication. Attempts are made to use sophisticated sentence structure	Errors interfere with understanding Lack of sentence sense Too brief to evaluate

CONCLUSION

Having completed your quest you should have a better understanding of a different era of American life. You should also understand the damage racism can do to a society and the hurt that can be caused by such attitudes. Patriotism on the home-front and abroad can be better seen as you understand the people's hatred and fear of the enemy during war time. Finally, you should have an appreciation for the soldiers who fought a war on foreign soil in order to preserve way of life we have grown accustomed to.

LEARNING STANDARDS

This WebQuest was designed with the following NYS Learning Standards in mind.

ELA Standard 1: Students will read from informational texts such as reference materials, primary and secondary sources, online and electronic databases and web sites for the purpose of understanding.
ELA Standard 1: Students will demonstrate understanding as they learn to read, interpret, evaluate, and analyze different sources by making connections and showing relationships to other ideas and subject.
ELA Standard 1: Students will write pieces that transit the information and understanding obtained from their analysis.
ELA Standard 2: Students will write interpretive and responsive pieces to express judgments and support them through references to the texts.
ELA Standard 3: Students will analyze and evaluate ideas, information, opinions, issues, and experiences from electronic resources to determine significant and reliable information.
ELA Standard 3: Students will state an opinion and present a judgment by developing a thesis and providing supporting evidence, arguments and details.