SURVIVING IMPRISONMENT IN THE PACIFIC; THE STORY OF AMERICAN POWS

By reading primary sources outlining the rights of prisoners of war, along with the primary accounts of American prisoners of war held by the Japanese, students should critically assess the nature of violations committed by the Japanese forces during World War II. Through this assessment, the students should be able to determine the specific ways Japanese forces violated the rights of American POWs. Students should also consider how the Geneva Conventions, and Japan’s lack of ratification, apply to the debates that surrounded Japanese war crimes at the postwar Tokyo Trials.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Author: World War II Mueseum

Belle Case La Follette: Ballots and Bloomers | Wisconsin Biographies

This activist and advisor didn’t let limiting ideas about what women could do —or uncomfortable corsets—confine her in her quest to get access to the ballot box and foster greater peace in the world. Resources available for exploring this story include: - A short animated video with captions and transcripts in English and Spanish - A short biography book accessible as a slide deck, with per-page audio for listening along, and maps of key locations in the story - Questions that can be used for conversation, reflection, and connection with the story - A historical image gallery full of primary and secondary sources to explore - A guide for activating the media with learners that includes story stats, extension activity ideas, and standards supported This story is part of Wisconsin Biographies, a collection of educational media resources for grades 3-6. Explore the full collection at pbswisconsineducation.org/biographies.

Material Type: Other

Author: PBS Wisconsin Education

Progressive Era Political Cartoons

Cartoons in Sunday comic strips make us laugh. Political cartoons in the front section of the newspaper challenge us to think. Because political cartoons present a particular point of view or story through symbolism and caricature, they are a particularly effective method for teaching history. By interpreting political cartoons, students are encouraged to discover different points of view on the same historical event. The three political cartoons in this section focus on Robert M. La Follette; they offer an additional opportunity to explore the progressive era in Wisconsin. Suggested activities, brief histories of each cartoon, a one-page biography of La Follette, and an introduction to cartoon analysis are also included.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Author: Wisconsin Historical Society

To Sign or Not to Sign

On Constitution Day, students will examine the role of the people in shaping the United States Constitution. First, students will respond to a provocative statement posted in the room. They will then watch a video that gives a brief explanation of the Constitutional Convention of 1787, or listen as the video transcript is read aloud. A Constitution poster is provided so students can examine Article VII and discuss it as a class. The elementary and middle school educator will then guide students through a read-aloud play depicting two Constitutional Convention delegates who disagreed about ratifying the Constitution.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Author: National Constitution Center

Mildred Fish Harnack Information

This webpage is maintained by Mildred Fish Harnack's great-niece (granddaughter of Mildred's sister Marion). She offers personal family artifacts and letters, as well as newspaper clippings and other primary sources. Standards alignment suggested here is only if the primary sources are used in analysis that aligns to the standards - for example, they are used to consider cause & effect, the context of the situation, or the primary reason the author wrote the text.

Material Type: Diagram/Illustration, Primary Source, Reading, Reference Material

Author: Shareen Blair Brysac

Teaching about Wisconsin

Teaching About Wisconsin is from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction's social studies webpages. Many resources for teaching about Wisconsin can be found through our state agencies and organizations. Primary sources about Wisconsin are available through the Wisconsin Historical Society, Recollection Wisconsin, and digital archives from many Wisconsin universities. The resources are divided into geographic, historic, government, and economic themes. Note: These are not lesson plans, but basic information and data about Wisconsin. To meet standards, students will have to DO something with the information.

Material Type: Primary Source, Reading, Reference Material

Author: Kris McDaniel

MissPronouncer - Wisconsin Audio Pronunciation Guide

This site has information and an interactive map on audio pronunciation for Wisconsin place names. Wisconsin has more than 190 cities, 400 villages, 1,000+ towns, and 1,000+ unincorporated places (give or take a few). Learn how to pronounce them all! More than 5.7 million Wisconsinites live in this Great Lakes state known as America’s Dairyland. Wisconsin — also called the Badger State — became the 30th state of the union in 1848. Did you know Wisconsin has over 15,000 lakes, 33,000 miles of rivers and streams, and is bordered by two Great Lakes and the Mississippi River? Wisconsin is the English spelling of Ouisconsin, which is the French rendering of Meskonsing, which is the Indian name for the river that runs through the center of the state. Wait, what? The Wisconsin Historical Society writes all about Wisconsin’s Name: Where it came from and what it means. Wisconsin is home to all kinds of hard-to-pronounce places, from Antigo, Ahnapee, and Allouez to Weyauwega, Wyocena, and Wonewoc. Yes, it’s a challenge, and being bilingual won’t necessarily help. Note: The use of this site does not meet any Social Studies standards, but with teacher creativity and attention, it could be used to help meet classroom and curricular objectives.

Material Type: Reference Material

Oral History Collection - Wisconsin Veterans Museum

The Wisconsin Veterans Museum Oral History Collection contains personal stories and military experiences of Wisconsin veterans of the Spanish-American War through present-day. The more than 2,800 interviews complement the archive and object collections to build a complete description of military service. Alone, these primary sources do not meet any social studies standards. However, the use of analysis and inquiry will allow students to gain insight into multiple curricular objectives. Teachers are encouraged to use analysis documents such as those from the Library of Congress or the National Archives.

Material Type: Primary Source

Author: Wisconsin Veterans Museum

Wisconsin Life on Apple Podcasts

Wisconsin Life celebrates the people, places, history and culture of the state. Come with us as we kayak the Mississippi River, interview musicians in Milwaukee, and bake pasties in Rhinelander. We connect you with diverse people and ideas through short stories updated twice a week. This resource is informational; the podcast alone will not meet any social studies standards.

Material Type: Reference Material

Author: Wisconsin Public Radio

Online Exhibits from the Wisconsin Historical Society

Explore the Society's online exhibits to uncover unique facets of Wisconsin history. Exhibits are based on past gallery exhibits at the Wisconsin Historical Museum and include curated images, trivia and brief historical essays. Note that the viewing of the resource does not meet social studies standards. Teachers are encouraged to consider the use of primary source analysis documents such as those from the Library of Congress and the National Archives in order to help students access social studies curricular objectives.

Material Type: Lesson Plan, Primary Source, Reading, Reference Material, Teaching/Learning Strategy

Author: Wisconsin Historical Society

Wisconsin Facts, Figures and Interesting Trivia - Wisconsin State Cartographer's Office

The WI Facts page on the website for the State Cartographer's Office offers different fun trivia such as interesting sites from aerial photography, geography trivia, and blank Wisconsin outline maps. Use of this webpage alone does not meet any social studies standards. Teachers are encouraged to consider the use of inquiry and social studies/geographic disciplinary literacy to help students meet curricular goals.

Material Type: Data Set, Diagram/Illustration, Primary Source, Reading, Reference Material

Author: Wisconsin State Cartographer's Office

Is It a Crime for a U.S. Citizen to Vote?

Anthony’s speech helps students understand the Constitution as a living document. She uses a variety of techniques of legal reasoning and interpretation to challenge other, exclusionary uses of the document. She bases an argument for change on an interpretation of a founding document. Reconstruction is a challenging era for students to understand. Anthony’s speech captures the complexities of the Reconstruction Amendments and how they opened new avenues for disenfranchised groups to assert their rights. It also explores the interrelationship of the women’s suffragists with other movements. Anthony highlights the cultural, social, and political aspects of women’s struggle for equal rights. The speech does not simply assert women’s right to vote, but also more broadly addresses the subordinate position of women within the home and in other areas of public policy.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Author: High School Lesson Plan created for Voices of Democracy by Michael J. Steudeman

Susan B. Anthony-She’s Worth a Mint!

Susan B. Anthony was a teacher, a speaker and an American civil rights leader who fought for rights for African Americans and women. She spoke out against slavery and fought for suffrage, or the right to vote for African Americans and women. Susan cast her vote in the 1872 presidential election and was arrested for doing so. Women were finally given the right to vote in 1920 with the 19th amendment. Although Susan B. Anthony had passed away in 1906, it is sometimes called the Susan B. Anthony amendment in honor of her arduous work and steadfast beliefs regarding suffrage. What examples can we draw from Susan B. Anthony? In this lesson, students will learn about Susan B. Anthony and her fight for what she believed in. Students will identify Susan B. Anthony’s actions that make her an agent for change. TIME Three 30-minute class periods OBJECTIVE Students will… read and understand a historical biography about Susan B. Anthony. make connections to Susan B. Anthony’s contributions to the Women’s Rights Movement and suffrage. write in response to reading. Identify actions of Susan B. Anthony that made her an agent of change. Identify a personal agent for change and their qualifying characteristics create a Susan B. Anthony coin mobile.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Author: National Women's Mueseum

The Audacity of a Vote: Susan B. Anthony’s Arrest

In this lesson, students analyze a daring challenge to the legal and social order of the time: Susan B. Anthony’s casting of an illegal ballot in the 1872 presidential election. Anthony was ultimately put on trial, convicted, and fined $100 for her “crime.” In this lesson, students close read an excerpt from Anthony’s speech Is It a Crime for Women to Vote? in which Anthony defended her actions. The speech, written prior to Anthony’s trial in 1873, contains many themes that resonate with contemporary debates about membership in American society. At a time when voter suppression, gerrymandering, and election interference dominate the headlines, this lesson prompts students to draw connections between the past and present, especially around acts of civil disobedience, the role of voting in a democracy, and the meaning of equality.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Author: Facing History and Ourselves

Women’s Suffrage in the United States – Teach a Girl to Lead

The goal of this module is to provide resources and information about the history of women’s vote in the U.S. Looking at the women’s suffrage movement provides a framework for exploring the changing role of women in politics and society in the 19th and 20th centuries. The history of suffrage offers an opportunity to examine women’s roles at critical points in the nation’s history, and to think about the impact of women’s voting behavior on politics in our time. Activities and discussion questions are designed to explore the changing role of women in society and in politics. The module includes ideas for developing lessons on women’s suffrage and integrating the issue of suffrage into lessons on US history and politics, and to consider the impact of full suffrage on politics and society today.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Author: Rutgers Eagleton Instutue of Poltics Teach a Girl to Lead

Susan B. Anthony and the Struggle for Suffrage

This brief lesson and collection of primary sources look at the arrest of Susan B. Anthony following her casting her ballot in the 1872 Presidential election in her hometown of Rochester, New York. Documents include U.S vs. Susan B. Anthony, Indictment for Illegal Voting; U.S. vs. Susan B. Anthony, Exhibit B, a transcript of the hearing including examination of witnesses by the defense and prosecution attorneys, and Susan B. Anthony s testimony in her own defense; and U.S. vs. Susan B. Anthony, Record of Conviction. It also offers extension activities and links to additional primary sources.

Material Type: Lesson Plan, Primary Source

Author: The National Archives

Ireland’s Great Hunger Activity Guide

This packet provides an explanation of Ireland’s Great Hunger and provides ideas for primary source materials to use to describe the event A variety of discussion questions, writing activities, and other activities are provided that allow students to explore the facts and how different Irish artists used art and other media forms to depict the effects of the famine.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Author: The Great Hunger Mueseum

Pack Your Suitcase: A lesson in immigration, decision making, and what impacts our choices

Emigration is when someone leaves their home country and moves to live in a different country. During the Great Hunger, many Irish people left Ireland for good. People emigrated for many reasons. Some left because there was not enough food, and others because their landlord had evicted them. Many landlords evicted their tenants to avoid paying for their care. Some of these landlords also paid to put the Irish living on their land on a boat headed for the United States, Australia, England or Canada. Included in this Lesson Plan:  Background historical information  Background primary source documents and activities related to Irish emigration in the 19th century  A Pack Your Suitcase worksheet which can be used individually or for a group activity, and requires some math and discussion, and recording with a pencil  A comparison of 19th century and modern US immigration  A model citizenship test

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Author: Ireland's Great Hunger Mueseum

A Day for the Constitution

Website with different lessons focusing on: 1.Analyze primary and secondary sources representing conflicting points of view to determine the proper role of government regarding the rights of individuals. 2.Analyze primary and secondary sources representing conflicting points of view to determine the Constitutionality of an issue. 3.Assess the short and long-term consequences of decisions made during the writing of the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights. 4.Compare the components of the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights with the Constitutions of other nations. 5.Evaluate contemporary and personal connections to the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights. 6.Compose a reflection and assessment of the significance of Constitution Day and the U.S. Constitution.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Author: NeH Edsitement

Veterans Day and the meaning of sacrifice

Use this PBS NewsHour lesson plan to help students understand the significance of Veterans Day and the meaning of sacrifice. Students will identify important veterans in their lives, examine an interactive timeline of military history and study issues facing veterans today

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Authors: PBS News Hour, Victoria Pasquantonio