Task Time

Hope you’ve had a good break

We’ve had a week to celebrate President’s Day, catch up on sleep, and perhaps read a good book. I hope you took the time to do whatever you find most restful so upon your return you are ready to delve into our next units. While there was no formal homework over the break, I just know you were watching the news and keeping up with the outside world! So much has been happening… In Syria, the poor people of Homs tried to hold off a military assault on their town but eventually gave way to superior firepower as the international community was unable to come up with any plan to relieve the situation. Iran announced it would curtail oil shipments to England and France in retaliation for sanctions aimed at preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, while Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu met with President Obama to try to get the U.S. to take even more forceful action, possibly including military measures. Instability in the oil-producing region could play havoc with the world economy…just look at the price of gasoline over the past week. On the positive side of the news, North Korea offered to suspend its own nuclear efforts in return for food aid from the U.S., a possible sign that the new leader, Kim Jong-un, intends to moderate the regime’s harsh policies.

World War II

We started our new unit with a KWL. You quickly saw that our class knew a great deal about the war. When you have such a large and complicated event, it is useful to organize information into categories. We could use the tried and true “who, what, when, where and why” categories or we could use the two categories your text uses: the battles of WW II and life on the home front.

You read Prelude to War which gave you a quick overview of the events in Europe leading up to the conflict and ended with the bombing of Pearl Harbor, which brought the US directly into the war. The power point allowed us to review some of the key information in the text.

We also read two primary source documents which helped us to better understand neutrality versus involvement. One reading was from Charles Lindbergh, a charismatic hero who became known affectionately as “Lucky Lindy” after becoming the first person, in 1927, to fly non-stop from New York to Paris. It is hard to find an example of someone today who could be compared to Lindbergh. Alan Shepard, the first American in space, John Glenn, the first American to orbit the globe, and Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon come to mind, but their efforts were part of America’s massive space program, where Lindbergh’s was largely a solo performance. The other reading was an excerpt from an FDR speech urging Americans to help the British defend freedom and personal liberties in the face of the Nazi threat.

This led us to look at the Four Freedom illustrations of Norman Rockwell, works inspired by FDR’s speech to Congress. FDR wanted a world community that embraced freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. These illustrations helped inspire people to buy over $130 million dollars’ worth of war bonds.

With the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the time for discussion was over and the US entered the conflict. We saw a power point that showed Japan’s aggression into neighboring countries and the U.S. island-hopping strategy to tighten the ring around Japan. The fighting was brutal with heavy losses on both sides. You read an eye witness account of how the Japanese fought to the death as a way to honor their country and family.

World War II Task Assignment

We also prepared and finished our second portfolio task for the year and this time we returned to Voice Thread. Your poster analysis assignment earned you 20 points and if you met standard, which I hope all of you did, the task will go into your portfolio and count as a technology task.

Heroes of World War II

As many of you know Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks have produced two docudramas about World War II: Band of Brothers and The Pacific. Both mini-series tell the story of WW II from the perspective of the soldier and are based on actual interviews shown before each episode. Lynn, better known as Buck Compton, was one of the members of Easy Company and his role was featured in Band of Brothers. After his heroic service in Europe, he left the army and went on to become a lawyer and a judge. He was best known for his prosecution of Sirhan Sirhan, the man who assassinated Robert Kennedy. I mention him as he died this week. His obituary, which appeared in papers all over the country, is worth reading.