Updated World War 2 Unit Plan!

I just gave my World War 2 Unit Plan Bundle a big update and it now includes over 50 activities for teaching everything about WW2 for either World or US History!

This awesome package features interactive notebook pages, Google Drive, PowerPoints, projects, dozens of primary and secondary source readings and activities, review materials, assessments, and more.

These are truly some amazing teaching resources and I know they will be awesome for your classes. I have used them myself for years now and refined them and added to the unit each year. Now, there's so many activities that you have choices each day about which resource you want to use. For example, on day 2 of the unit, there are 3 different reading activities. You can select one for your whole class or have students do different ones in groups!

     

It truly makes for an incredible and interactive unit in your social studies class. You can preview the entire unit here. It includes a Unit Planning Guide plus review materials at the end, including Jeopardy, task cards, and more. Then there's multiple tests to pick from which you can edit as well!

I promise this will be one of your best units of the whole year - packed full of exciting and egaging activities!

You can download this awesome World War 2 unit plan here!

World War II Lessons and Activities Unit Plan Set

This World War 2 Unit Plan includes over 50 awesome lessons and classroom activities in one easy download!

In one clearly-organized folder you will receive 10 PowerPoints, 8 student projects and cooperative learning activities, 10 reading resources and worksheets, review games and materials, a unit test with answer key, and more! There's over 50 resources in all!

Imagine having 3+ full weeks to a month completely planned out, FULL of visually-engaging, interactive activities for each day!

All of the following awesome teaching materials are INCLUDED with this one simple download:

• Rise of Dictators Pop Up Figures Lesson Plan

• Battles and Events of World War II PowerPoint Lesson

• Battles of World War II Radio Show Project

• WWII Nazi Nuremberg Trial Simulation Lesson Plan

• Countries of World War II Idea Web

• Analyzing Adolf Hitler’s Speeches Worksheet

• The American Homefront During World War II

• Hiroshima and Nagasaki 2x Atomic Bomb Survivor Worksheet

• Turning Point Battles in World War II Worksheet

• Charles Lindbergh US Isolationism and World War II Speech Worksheet

• Japanese Internment Camps Primary Source Reading & Worksheet

• The Holocaust: Background Through Liberation PowerPoint

• The Double V — African-Americans’ Experiences During World War II Lesson

• World War II Mexican-American Story — The Pied Piper of Saipan

• The Four Chaplains of the SS Dorchester Worksheet

• War Crimes Trials PowerPoint Presentation

• World War II Interactive Notebook Pages

• World War II Task Cards

• Allied Leaders of World War 2 Pop Up Figures Lesson Plan

• World War 2 Google Drive Interactive Notebook

You will also receive all of the great resources in this World War II Teaching Resource Bundle included as well!

PLUS even more great resources not available online, including a mapping the war PowerPoint, Jeopardy-style review game, and test and answer key! Also included is a simple directions page explaining pacing and the best way to use all of the resources over about 12 class periods.

Please download the free preview here for a more in depth look at all of the included resources. You can also click on all the links above for more about each specific resource.  

Priced individually, all of these resources would be over $60, so this bundled lesson plan set is a fantastic deal! 

Thanks so much for checking it out!

PS: As a reminder, you can get this resource PLUS over 500 more amazing teaching activities for World or American History through a simple monthly subscription to my site StudentsofHistory.org! Joining gives you immediate access to every engaging resource - each highly reviewed by thousands of teachers across the world! Save yourself time, energy, and sanity by joining today!

World War 2 PowerPoint & Printable Guided Notes

This thorough PowerPoint on World War II covers all the major battles and events that your students will need to know in one dynamic lesson!

There are over 50 slides of fantastic pictures and graphics to keep your students engaged as well as easy-to-follow notes that break down essential understandings. Each is based on state standards and focused on the most important info in what can be an overwhelmingly large topic.

Plus you also get 2 free guided notes worksheets to download that match the PowerPoint!

The PowerPoint begins with a warm up to get your students on task right away then moves from the rise of Adolf Hitler all the way through to the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In between, slides cover events including: 

• The invasion of Poland
• Fall of France
• Miracle at Dunkirk
• Battle of Britain
• Stalingrad
• Pearl Harbor
• D-Day
• Midway
• Guadalcanal
• Iwo Jima
• And more!

This is an incredibly thorough overview of the battles of World War II and can be covered in one or broken out over 2 class periods if you want to spend more time discussing each battle.

This PowerPoint can also be downloaded as part of the Complete World War II Unit Plan Bundle.

Thanks for looking!

PS: As a reminder, you can get this resource PLUS over 500 more amazing teaching activities for World or American History through a simple monthly subscription to my site StudentsofHistory.org! Joining gives you immediate access to every engaging resource - each highly reviewed by thousands of teachers across the world! Save yourself time, energy, and sanity by joining today!

World War 2 Service Plaque Project on the Navajo Code Talkers, Tuskegee Airmen, Women, & Nisei Troops

This creative, fun activity for World and American History classes has students reading short, one page stories of minority groups that helped during World War II. These include one page each on:

1. The Navajo Code Talkers
2. The Tuskegee Airmen
3. Rosie the Riveter
4. The American Nisei Soldiers

Each page is simple and engaging for middle and high school age students, and is based on state and Common Core Standards for history. Students then use the information they read to create commemorative plaques that honor that group for their service. 

To differentiate in your classes, higher level students can read and complete all four. Lower-level readers can be placed in groups of 4, with each student reading a different story, completing a plaque, and then sharing his/her plaque with the others. English language learners or special education students can be placed in groups with all the same story to create a plaque together, and then present theirs to the rest of the class. 

As a final activity or for homework, there are 10 review questions in which students identify characteristics of each of the four minority groups. 

This is a fun activity for students to learn about some of the groups whose amazing bravery and contributions helped American through World War II. 

You can download this great World War 2 activity for your classes here. Thanks so much for stopping by! 

Interactive Notebook for World War 2 and the Cold War

There's now an awesome new World War 2 and the Cold War Interactive Notebook
available for both my World History and US History Curriculum packages!

This set features 21 engaging Interactive Notebook pages on World War 2 and the Cold War. Each page includes creative graphic organizers, creative foldables, timelines, and more.

Here's just some of the completed pages:

Topics covered include:

• FDR's Fireside Chats
•  Rise of Fascism and Dictatorships
• Appeasement
• Battles and Events of World War 2
• Island Hopping
• Japanese-American Internment
• The Geneva Convention
• The Iron Curtain
• The Berlin Airlift
• The Marshall Plan
• Post World War 2 Organization
• Containment and the Truman Policy
• The Cuban Missile Crisis
• The Korean and Vietnam Wars
• Vocabulary resources and more!

These resources are sure to help your students enjoy learning all about World War 2 and the Cold War while also gaining a better understanding of important concepts, events, and people! Lots of completed sample pages are included so you can see examples of how the pages should turn out.

You can download this amazing notebook set along with similar ones for other units in World and American History by signing up for a membership at StudentsofHistory.org!

There are over 500 other amazing lesson plan activities on World and American History just waiting for you with a simple subscription to Students of History! Each lesson is hands-on and engaging for today's students.

Thanks so much for stopping by to check this out!

Interactive Notebook Pages for the Great Depression & World War II

This new download features 15 Interactive Notebook pages to use in your history class to cover the Great Depression and World War II! The Interactive Notebook pages include graphic organizers, creative foldables, timelines, and more!

   

These are incredible resources for getting students engaged and active in their learning and allowing them to be creative with their notes.

Topics covered include:

★ The Stock Market Crash
★ The Dust Bowl
★ Relief, Reform, Recovery & the New Deal
★ Alphabet Soup Agencies
★ Fireside chats
★ The rise of dictators
★ Appeasement
★ Battles of World War II
★ Island Hopping in the Pacific
★ Internment camps for Japanese Americans
★ The Geneva Convention
★ Vocabulary activities and more!

These resources are sure to help your students enjoy learning about the Great Depression and World War II and have a better understanding of important concepts, events, and people. Each page is designed to engage students and get them thinking critically while also forming a personal connection to the material. The download is also filled with pictures of completed pages so you and your students can easily see how each page should be cut, pasted, folded, or completed.

        

 

You can download all of these pages and samples by clicking here.

Other sets of interactive notebook pages for can be found here:  Interactive Notebook pages for US History.

Thanks for looking!

Entire World War II Lesson Plan Unit Bundle

This is the absolute ultimate bundle of lesson plan materials for World War II! In one super-organized folder you will receive 8 PowerPoints, 7 student projects and cooperative learning activities, 8 Common Core readings and worksheets, and a unit test with answer key!

Imagine having 2 weeks to a month completely planned out, FULL of visually-engaging, interactive activities every day!

All of the following TpT resources are INCLUDED with this purchase:

1. Rise of Dictators Pop Up Figures Lesson Plan
2. Battles and Events of World War II PowerPoint Lesson
3. Battles of World War II Radio Show Project
4. WWII Nazi Nuremberg Trial Simulation Lesson Plan
5. Countries of World War II Idea Web
6. Analyzing Adolf Hitler's Speeches Worksheet
7. The American Homefront During World War II
8. Hiroshima and Nagasaki 2x Atomic Bomb Survivor Worksheet
9. Turning Point Battles in World War II Worksheet
10. Charles Lindbergh US Isolationism and World War II Speech Worksheet
11. Japanese Internment Camps Primary Source Reading & Worksheet
12. The Holocaust: Background Through Liberation PowerPoint
13. The Double V - African-Americans' Experiences During World War II Lesson
14. World War II Mexican-American Story - The Pied Piper of Saipan
15. War Crimes Trials PowerPoint Presentation

Plus all of the resources in the World War II Teaching Resource Bundle are included as well!

     

PLUS even more great resources that are not on TpT, including a mapping the war PowerPoint and test! Also included is a simple directions page explaining pacing and the best way to use all of the resources over about 12 class periods.

You can download this awesome unit in one great zipped folder by clicking here!

Thanks for looking!

D-Day on Color

Here is a compilation of some amazing color footage from the D-Day invasion of Normandy, France (Operation Overlord). George Stephens, a film maker during the war, took the footage with other cameramen hoping to use it in a documentary.


Normandy in Color by brest44

In my class I showed this as part of an amazing Apple Keynote presentation I put together on the major battles of World War II. You can download this file here for use on your Mac computer. There are some wonderful capabilities Keynote has that PowerPoint does not. I definitely recommend trying it out if you have the chance!

The Ultimate American History Review Packet!

If you are looking for an American History review, I promise you cannot do better than this downloadable package!

Included in this zipped download is a 17 page packet and 34 slide Powerpoint that covers ALL essential information students need to know based on state and Common Core Standards! The printable packet is organized into units. Each page covers a new topic (The Colonies, Declaring Independence, etc) with simple graphic organizers to help students organize and understand all information. The units go all the way through to modern America and Presidents Bush and Obama.

            

The Powerpoint corresponds directly with the packet and contains completed notes for each unit that you can present to students as they fill in the graphic organizers. Complex topics are broken down for students to easily comprehend in preparation for final exams and testing.

You can also edit the Powepoint to add or take away items specific to your classroom!


I usually present 2-3 pages per day to students as we begin to review about 2 weeks before our final testing. Since implementing this review strategy, my classes have seen consistently high pass rates. For students in need remediation, printing off the completed powerpoint is an excellent way to provide an amazing study guide.

You can download this complete package with the powerpoint and printable packet by clicking here.

Thank you for looking!

World War II Resource Bundle

This is a wonderful, all-encompassing 36-page bundle of resources to teach about World War II. It includes all the printables, readings, and worksheets you would need to teach your students about the war.

It includes ALL of the following individual resources:

1. Document Worksheet on the American Homefront During World War II

2. Analyzing President Truman's Diary Entry on the Atomic Bomb

3. Analyzing Adolf Hitler's Speeches Worksheet

4. Japanese Internment Camps Primary Source Reading & Worksheet 

5. Charles Lindbergh's speech on US isolationism and World War II

6. World War II Plaques Project (Navajo Code Talkers, Tuskegee Airmen, Women, & Nisei)

PLUS:

7. Seven one-page readings on important battles of World War II (Pearl Harbor, Midway, El Alamein, D-Day, Stalingrad, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa) and an assignment to create an illustrated timeline of the war based off the readings.

8. A complete 44 question test on World War II.

All 8 of those items above are included for one low price. You are getting all the homework and in-class activities you would need to teach a unit on World War II. All of these items for sale individually would be about $13 and still not include all of the resources you are getting here!

Click here to download these resources for your classes!

Rise of Dictators Pop Up Notes

This wonderfully creative lesson has students creating pop up figures of 5 dictators who came to power in the 1920's and 30's before World War II.

Included is a sheet with 5 people to cut out: Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Francisco Franco, Benito Mussolini, and Hideki Tojo. Students then place these onto an included world map that covers 2 pages of their notebooks with spaces for notes about each person.

A powerpoint comes with this download as well that covers everything students need to know based on Common Core Standards. The powerpoint has a warm up, quotes, pictures, and all relevant information for each dictator. This lesson is amazing for your visual and kinesthetic learners as they are creating a fantastic visual representation of dictators literally rising up out of their notebooks.

A free Preview file is available as well with the pop ups, notes pages, answer key, and 1 sample powerpoint slide. The full download includes the full 14 slide powerpoint with incredible images and quotes like below:

Last Japanese Soldier to Surrender in World War II

One of my favorite stories from history is that of Hiroo Onoda, a Japanese intelligence officer in World War II who was stationed in the Philippines. In 1945, he did not believe the leaflets he saw that Japan had surrendered and continued hiding in the hills, using guerrilla tactics until 1974 - almost 30 years after the war was over!! I thought his story would be great for the classroom to bring history alive and make the end of the war more personal for my students.

I created this worksheet that tells his story for my students. The downloadble & printable worksheet includes his full story in one page and is written in an engaging style that will be easy for your students to comprehend and enjoy. The included comprehension questions test your students' reading ability and knowledge of World War II history.

 It does an excellent job of reinforcing to students how the Japanese felt about surrender and would work well after a lesson on the choice to use an atomic bomb or invade Japan. My students always enjoy this reading and feel a mix of humor and respect for such a dedicated soldier.

This is definitely a great read for World of US History students! You can download the worksheet here and an answer key is included for your reference.

World War II Keynote Presentation

Although I use my school/work computer for most lessons in the classroom, sometimes I want to create a more visually dynamic presentation for my students. This is when I use my Apple Macbook's Keynote software. Keynote has a lot of great features that Powerpoint lacks and one of the best is the ability to seamlessly embed videos into your presentations and edit them to your needs.

This World War II Keynote presentation is one of these lessons I created. It covers the major battles and events of the war and includes 8 short clips to help students better understand what happened. Slides include information in simple, easy to understand language for your students:

The videos include Churchill speaking, a Japanese suicide bomber, US newsreel footage and more. Maps show students exactly where each battle took place, and the videos and pictures bring them to life. My students are always all engaged throughout this entire lesson. I know your students will do the same. You can download this Keynote presentation here and use it today!

American History Vocabulary Football League

One of the most important parts of teaching history is helping students to learn vocabulary. However, many of my students traditionally struggled in their history classes due to difficulty with content and academic vocabulary. I wanted a way to make learning essential vocab more engaging for them and hit upon the idea of combining it with their love for football and competition.

The resulting Vocabulary Football League (VFL) has completely revolutionized my teaching. An otherwise dreary activity becomes much more fun and I have students actually LOOKING FORWARD TO QUIZZES now! This entire year-long package can be downloaded here.

How it works is each week students are placed in groups of 4 and assigned a real NFL team. Each week they are given a set of 12-15 words like the one below:

Over the course of that week, we cover that material and students are responsible for looking up and defining those words in the notebook like so:

At the end of the week, students take a 10 question vocab quiz on those words. To differentiate for learners in my classes, I allow some classes to take the quiz open notebook, others to use a word bank, and my upper level students are not allowed any resources. Allowing students to take quizzes open notebook encourages them to complete the definitions for homework on their own time and I've found helps vocabulary comprehension. Here is a sample vocab quiz on the Revolutionary War:

I have students write their answers on the opposite side to ease grading and prevent cheating. Included in this download are all 16 sets of VFL vocabulary terms from US History that cover the early colonies through World War II and 32 corresponding quizzes. Since my students sit in groups at tables, I created 2 different versions of each quiz (hence 32 quizzes for 16 sets of words). .As a bonus, I included 2 "playoff" quizzes and a "Super Bowl" that use terms from throughout the year. 

I have been doing this with my classes for 6 years now and they all LOVE it! The kids get so into the competition that it turns quiz day into an exciting event! Inside the zipped folder you will find a directions sheet with all 32 teams to use, your 16 lists of vocabulary ready to print, and all 19 quizzes ready to go. This can last you all year long!!

Hope you find this project as powerful as I have!!

World War II Service Plaques for Navajo Code Talkers, Tuskegee Airmen, Rosie the Riveter, & Nisei Soldiers

This downloadable creative, fun activity for World and American History classes has students reading short, one page stories of minority groups that helped during World War II. These include one page each on:

1. The Navajo Code Talkers
2. The Tuskegee Airmen
3. Rosie the Riveter
4. The American Nisei Soldiers

Here are some sample images of what the readings look like:

Each page is simple and engaging for middle and high school age students, and is based on state and Common Core Standards for history. Students then use the information they read to create commemorative plaques that honor that group for their service.

To differentiate for your classes, higher level students can read and complete all four. Lower-level readers can be placed in groups of 4, with each student reading a different story, completing a plaque, and then sharing his/her plaque with the others. English language learners or special education students can be placed in groups with all the same story to create a plaque together, and then present theirs to the rest of the class.

Here are some sample, completed plaques from a student:

 

As a final activity or for homework, there are 10 review questions in which students identify characteristics of each of the four minority groups.

This is a fun activity for students to learn about some of the groups whose amazing bravery and contributions helped American through World War II. Click here to download this activity for your classes and let us know what you think!