Download Educational Standards - South Carolina National Guard

HONORING OUR VETERANS
SC State Social Studies Standards:
Indicator 5-3.6 Summarize the factors that led to the involvement of the United States in World War
I and the role of the United States in fighting the war.
Indicator 7-4.2 Explain the outcomes of World War I, including the creation of President Woodrow
Wilson’s Fourteen Points, the Treaty of Versailles, the shifts in national borders, and the League of
Nations.
Indicator 7-4.5 Summarize the causes and course of World War II, including drives for empire,
appeasement and isolationism, the invasion of Poland, the Battle of Britain, the invasion of the
Soviet Union, the “Final Solution,” the Lend-Lease program, Pearl Harbor, Stalingrad, the campaigns
in North Africa and the Mediterranean, the D-Day invasion, the island-hopping campaigns, and the
bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Indicator 7-5.4 Analyze the political and technological competition between the Soviet Union and
the United States for global influence, including the Korean Conflict, the Berlin Wall, the Vietnam
War, the Cuban missile crisis, the “space race,” and the threat of nuclear annihilation.
Indicator 7-6.3 Explain the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, including the Persian Gulf War, the
terrorist attack on September 11, 2001, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Indicator 8-6.1 Explain the reasons for United States involvement in World War I and the war’s
impact on South Carolina and the nation as a whole, including the building of new military bases and
the economic impact of emigration to industrial jobs in the North.
Indicator 8-6.5 Compare the ramifications of World War II on South Carolina and the United States
as a whole, including the training of the Doolittle Raiders and the Tuskegee Airmen, the building of
additional military bases, the rationing and bond drives, and the return of economic prosperity.
Common Core State Standards:
Writing Standards - Grade 5
1. Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons and information.
2. Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.
7. Conduct short research projects that use several sources to build knowledge through investigation
of different aspects of a topic.
8. Recall relevant information from experiences or gather relevant information from print and digital
sources; summarize or paraphrase information in notes and finished work, and provide a list of
sources.
Writing Standards - Grade 8
2. Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and
information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content.
4. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are
appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
7. Conduct short research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question),
drawing on several sources and generating additional related, focused questions that allow for
multiple avenues of exploration.
9. Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
Possible Lesson Extension Activities:
1. Arrange to have a Soldier (active duty, reserve, guard) visit your class as a guest speaker. Visit
the SC National Guard Veteran’s Day website < http://www.scguard.army.mil/Veterans-day.php> to
request a speaker. The National Guard has worked to prepare speakers specifically for classroom
visits. If a traditional class visitor is not an option, then consider using Skype, Apple’s Face-Time, or
a similar technology. This would also allow overseas Soldiers to visit your class.
2. Have students locate a Veteran of the military (preferably one in their family, neighborhood,
church, etc.) and interview him/her. You might give students a list of possible interview questions,
have students write their own questions, or establish the list through a whole-class discussion.
Students could then share about their Veteran in an essay or classroom presentation.
3. Following appropriate district guidelines have students write a personal “thank you” letter to a local
Soldier or Veteran. Letters should specifically mention something that students learned about
Veteran’s Day or our nation’s/state’s military history (U.S. for 5th & 7th grades; S.C. for 8th grade).
Letters may include ways that the student has contributed to the community via service and
volunteerism. Play patriotic songs and military anthems (from a CD or online) while students write.
4. Have students plan a school-based assembly for Veteran’s Day honoring those who have served.
Students could write letters and invite Veterans, current Soldiers, local politicians, community
members etc. Collaboration with an ELA teacher would ensure that listening and audience-related
indicators were met. Getting a local JROTC unit to display the colors and/or the band to play military
anthems are both ways to involve other groups within the school/district.
5. Guide students to create a “Wall of Fame” to specifically honor relatives of students who are
currently serving in the military. Include a picture of the Soldier, a picture of the student he/she is
related to, and general information (i.e. name, branch of service, rank, years of service, job
description, etc.). The display might also include a world map that shows where the Soldier is
currently stationed.
6. Not all Soldiers see combat. Have students use the Internet to research a specific branch of the
military and identify the non-combat jobs it offers. Students could share their results as a class and
then in small groups discuss how each non-combat job plays a vital role in the success of the
military as a whole.
7. Not all armies see war. Students could explore and document the importance and of standingarmies in U.S. or world history. Writings may reflect topics such as training exercises, peacekeeping missions, and disaster relief support. Seventh grade teachers might use this activity to
discuss punitive measures in peace treaties, such as the limits placed on the German army after
WWI and WWII. Eighth grade teachers might discuss the struggles of keeping the U.S. army
cohesive during (and immediately after) the American Revolution. Other tie-ins may include the
need for a colonial militia or its development into the modern-day S.C. National Guard.
8. Students could create a Venn diagram to compare and contrast a modern U.S. Soldier to Soldiers
they have been studying about from a different times or places in history. Students might consider
uniforms, weaponry, style/technique of fighting, technology used, and geographic location of the
battlefields. For example, a 6th grade student may compare/contrast a U.S. Soldier to a samurai (i.e.
6th grade: Roman legionary, medieval crusader or knight; 7th grade: Napoleonic infantryman,
Japanese kamikaze pilot; 8th grade: British redcoat, colonial militiaman).
9. As an extension of activity #6 (or possibly a stand-alone assignment), students could write an
essay in which they explain why they would rather be a Soldier in today’s U.S. military versus a
Soldier in an army from another time or place.
10. Take a class (or grade level-wide) field trip to a South Carolina battlefield, military base,
museum, or another historic location. Plan a trip to a local site if possible based on war-related
social studies indicators. Some sites may transcend many wars and decades (i.e. Fort Moultrie, the
S.C. Military Museum, or the S.C. Confederate Relic Room - whose name is somewhat misleading).
If focusing on a specific time period, choose a destination that coincides with the unit (i.e. Camden
Revolutionary War Park, Fort Sumter, Fort Jackson - formerly Camp Jackson during WWI, or Shaw
Air Force Base). As a follow-up, students could create a slide show or movie of their visit using
pictures they took and write a storyline/script based on notes taken.
11. Students could research the origin of Veteran’s Day (Armistice Day), Arlington National
Cemetery, and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Then have students select one of these to write a
one-page essay about in which they explain its history and importance. Share and discuss writings
as a class. Have students self-assess their writing strengths and weaknesses with a rubric.
12. As a class, create a military timeline based on your grade level’s social studies standards.
Include (by name) all wars/conflicts that you teach. Have students contribute a colored illustration of
a uniformed solider from one of the wars. Then students should determine and the dates of the war
and who was fighting, as well as, write a phrase that sums up the outcome of each war. Students
can pick which type of Soldier to illustrate, just be sure that all wars/sides are represented. Compile
the individual elements from each student together to create the class timeline. Display and discuss.
Keep this posted in your room (since it covers the entire school year) and refer students to it with
each new unit of study.
13. Explore the U.S. Veterans Affairs website < http://www.va.gov/opa/vetsday/ >. The site includes
a Veteran’s Day teacher’s guide (updated annually) with activities and information related to the
holiday and U.S. wars/conflicts.