S+Allshouse+Jason

= S Allshouse Jason   = ** Teacher: Mr. Jason Allshouse ** Office: 022 History Wing Office Phone: 207-867-5309 Office Hours: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, 2:15-3:15. And by Appointment
 * E-mail: jason.allshouse@maine.edu**

Welcome to U.S. history! This unit that we will be covering deals with World War II and the impact that it had on the rest of history. The goal of this unit is to help students to analyze major events, themes, people, turning points, and consequences or the war and the impact they had on the United States and the world. By the end of the unit, the students will understand that the initial U.S. involvement in the war was slow to happen. They will also understand that the Holocaust was not the only example of mass murder seen during the war. Finally, the end of the unit will show how the United States went from being a middle of the pack country to being a superpower by the end of the war. Students will reach these goals by performing a series of products that range from making PowerPoint presentations, to making their own movies, to making comics depicting real life individuals. Students will also understand and be able to apply key vocabulary, important events, and people, and also understand the general timeline of the war.
 * Summary of Unit: **

Maine Learning Results: Social Studies. E. History E1. Historical Knowledge, Concepts, Themes, and Patterns Grade 9 - Diploma "World War II 1939-1945" Students understand major eras, major enduring themes, and historic influences in the United States and world history including the roots of democratic philosophy, ideals, and institutions in the world. b. Analyze major historical eras, major enduring themes, turning points, events, consequences, and people in the history of the United States and world and the implications for the present and future.
 * Establish Goals: **

 
 * Students will understand that: **
 * initial U.S. involvement in World War II was slow to happen.
 * the Holocaust was not the only example of mass murder seen during the war.
 * the conclusion of World War II led to superpower status for the United States.

• Why was the United States slow to enter World War II? • How was the Holocaust not the only example of mass murder during the war? • How did the conclusion of the war and other events lead to the United States assuming the role of superpower?
 * Essential Questions: **

•__Vocabulary__: Allied Forces, Axis Powers, European theater. •__Important Events and People__: Adolf Hitler, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Joseph Stalin, Pearl Harbor, The Great Depression, The Holocaust, Winston Churchill, The Marshall Plan, Lend-Lease, Gulag Labor Camps, Hoovervilles, stock market crash, genocides, final solution, Concentration camps, ghetto, Auschwitz, Harry Truman, VE Day, VJ Day, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Hilary Clinton, George W. Bush, Timothy Giethner, General David Petraeus. •__Sequence and timelines__: U.S. involvement (1941-1945), Adolf Hitler (1933-1945), U.S. as Superpower (1945-2009?).
 * Students will know: **

•demonstrate what events prevented the United States from entering World War II. •evaluate what events led to the United States being a superpower by the end of the war. •decide if the United States still can be considered a superpower today. •b. analyze enduring themes, turning points, events, consequences, and people in World War II and the implications to the present and future. •assume the role of an ordinary German soldier and think about how/why you would be able to stop/do nothing about the Holocaust. •recognize that Hitler killed 12 million people and is considered purely evil, but Stalin killed 30 million people and goes down in history as a great leader. **Performance Task Overview:** Dear Ambassadors, As you are well aware, our country is in serious trouble right now. We are in the midst of a terrible economic recession; we are busy fighting two wars overseas, and we have a badly damaged reputation. I recognize that I have painted a very bleak picture of our current state of affairs, but I strongly believe that we can overcome these problems. I am requesting that you go to the United Nations meeting, held at the U.N. Headquarters in New York City, and assure the world that the United States will rebuild its reputation and once again lead effectively. The other ambassadors will question if we can overcome our economic problems, responsibly end two wars, and rebuild our reputation while still changing the world for the better. I suggest that you put together a report detailing the issues and our solutions and assemble it in a documentary format using imovie.
 * Students will be able to: **

Thank You and Best of luck,

Sincerely, Mr. President

World War II is an extensive topic that has an enormous wealth of facts and figures. Students will be required to do the assigned readings before the class that it will be discussed. This course will also ask students to do some additional research, especially for the essay and the final project. All assignments are expected to be typed, double-spaced, using 12-point Times New Roman font. Students will be allowed to resubmit assignments if done in a timely fashion; if redoing an assignment, students must turn in the new copy along with all other versions of the work, this may include rubrics. Students will have an opportunity to redo some items such as tests or other assignments if certain conditions apply -- this will be at my discretion and cannot be done more than twice a semester unless specifically mentioned otherwise.
 * Expectations **

Students will be called upon to work both individually on some projects along with working in groups for other projects. When working in groups, students are expected to work cooperatively and share the workload. Some assignments will allow for other options (i.e. students could be allowed to either do an imovie, Comic Life, or Garageband). I expect that students are engaged in class and paying attention; many classes will involve open-floor chats or debates -- students will be called upon evenly in class in order to work on speaking in front of groups and so that multiple opinions are discussed.


 * ATTENTION** **Students**: Plagiarism is not now or ever will be acceptable in my class or any other class in this school. Plagiarism not only cheats the original author of the work but also cheats the person using the information. If a student is caught plagiarizing, the assignment will be counted as a zero, and the student will be mentioned to the principle; this may result in more repercussions. If you have questions about what constitutes plagiarism, please consult your handbook or just simply ask me.

If students are absent for any reason they are expected to check with a classmate, me, or consult the class wiki for the assignments, information, class notes, or any other important information. If a student comes to class with a note, from their parent or guardian, that outlines the reasons they failed to obtain the information then an extension may be given. In most cases, missing work should be made up by the next class period this does depend on the amount of time missed (i.e. if a student misses a week of school, the work would not be all due on the next class period).
 * Absences**:

Listed are below are assessments for the unit and their point values. The total amount of points is 700.
 * Benchmarks: (Total: 700 points) **

Attendance is an important part of this class. If you are not present, you miss important information and details. The goal of this class is to facilitate learning; failure to attend class prevents students from learning the materials that are presented in class. Participation is also a key aspect to this class. The importance of participation is that it allows for students to share ideas and gain different view points from their own through communication with classmates. Remember, show up to class, work hard, and have a good attitude and things will go well.
 * Attendance/Participation (70 Points or 10%):**

•**Radio Show (105 Points or 15%)**: Students will be asked to research and discuss the Marshall Plan aspects both inside and outside of class. They will then use Garage Band to record what the meeting was like. The aim of this project is to make students think about how the United States became a superpower; the medium, Garage Band, gets students to work in radio production which was popular during the time period.

•**Blog/role play (105 Points or 15%)**: After having covered the Holocaust and its effects, students will assume the role of an ordinary German Soldier, German Scientist, or Camp Suvivor. They will then begin thinking about how/why he or she would stop/ignore the Holocaust. The final piece of the project is for the students to blog their responses and then other students will comment. This will help students understand the emotional aspect of the war and the Holocaust along with the ability to see things from a different person's perspective.

•**PowerPoint (50 Points or 7%)**: Students will talk about the Holocaust and realize that it was not the only example of mass murder during World War II. They will research and create a Venn diagram comparing/contrasting Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin's actions during the war. Students will then use PowerPoint to show what they have learned. The PowerPoint must have video, music, and links. This will help students to recognize the atrocities committed during the war. It should also add a different perspective to two very influential leaders.


 * Essay (145 Points or 21%)**: Students will research and then debate in class whether or not the Great Depression and its after effects was one thing that prevented the United States from entering World War II. Students will compose an essay outlining their stance in a clear cut fashion. The essay will then be posted to the wikipage and other students will comment. Students must create a concept map and outline using Inspiration in order to get full credit. This project will serve two purposes, it will bring attention to the affects of the Great Depression along with helping students recognize how it impacted World War II.


 * Comic Life (120 Points or 17%)**: Students will pick an influential person from the World War II era to research. Taking what they learned, the students will then write up a summary of information and facts about their person. For the last piece, the students will then take that information and bring it to life using Comic Life. The comic must include actual pictures of the person; contain factual information, but must be done in a unique and fun way. This project will allow students to research a person that they find interesting; it will also boost students' creativity.


 * Imovie (105 Points or 15%)**: Students will be asked to put together a “State of the Union” report that details the issues affecting the United States. Once that information is gathered, students will use imovie to give their speech, similar to what the President does. The information should be from at least three different areas (i.e. healthcare, taxes, and gun laws). This project will help students understand the issues that are impacting the United States along with making students aware of the important job that the President has.

A (93 -100), A- (90 - 92), B+ (87 - 89), B (83 - 86), B- (80 - 82), C+(77 - 79), C (73-76), C- (70 - 72), D+(67 - 69), D (63 - 66), D- (60 - 62), F (0 - 59).
 * Grading Scale **