GRADE LEVEL: 3
SUBJECT: ELA, Social Studies
INTENDED UNIT: Systems & Power
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
How do people resist oppression in the past and present? How is joy a way to resist oppression?
CENTRAL QUESTIONS/BIG IDEAS:
How have people historically, and in the present, challenged systems of oppression?
How can we identify and analyze the systems of power affecting our lived experience?
CONTENT OBJECTIVE:
Knowledge: Students will reflect on the experiences of Japanese Americans at concentration camps during WWII and make connections to instances of racism in the present.
Skills: Utilizing resistance reads as a means of counter-storytelling and disruption of oppressive narratives.
Habits: Reflection, critical thinking, solidarity, identifying and analyzing systems of oppression, joy as a means of resistance
GRADE LEVEL/SUBJECT AREA STANDARDS:
ELA
Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events.
Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.
Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher led) with diverse partners on grade 3 topics and texts, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.
Ask and answer questions about information from a speaker, offering appropriate elaboration and detail.
Social Studies
CA ELD STANDARDS:
Exchanging information and ideas with others through oral collaborative discussions on a range of social and academic topics.
Listening actively to spoken English in a range of social and academic contexts.
Reading closely literary and informational texts and viewing multimedia to determine how meaning is conveyed explicitly and implicitly through language.
IEP/504 ACCOMMODATIONS:
All lesson plans will be accommodated with a transcript (for video clips), student facing worksheets, and visual slides ready to be shared and accessed.
Feel free to accommodate extra time for any formative assignments and provide scaffolds as needed for differing age groups/needs.
Refer to specific accommodations in students’ IEP/504 plans.
INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS
Slides (link)
Ugly History: Japanese American incarceration camps - Densho Video (link)
Kids Meet a Survivor of the Japanese-American Internment | Kids Meet | HiHo Kids Video (link)
Love in the Library Trailer Video (link)
Love in the Library by Maggie Tokuda-Hall
a. e-Book & Audiobook available at the Santa Clara County Library District
b. e-Book available at San Jose Public Library
c. Love in the Library Video (link)
Robert Ragsac Oral History 1 (1:16:49 >> 1:20:55)
Jeanette Arakawa Oral History 1 (08:51 >> 16:44)
Paul Sakamoto Oral History 1 (39:00 >> 45:51)
East Bay children’s author fights Scholastic over demands of censorship Video (link)
LESSON IMPLEMENTATION SEQUENCE:
Day 1 Step 1: Land Acknowledgement, Essential Question, & Warmup
Duration: 20 minutes
Implementation:
Lead the class through a land acknowledgement as appropriate to your specific context.
Introduce the essential questions to the class:
Play the warmup videos (10 minutes), checking for understanding with students through guiding questions and scaffolding.
Lead students through a gallery walk of the historical images relating to Japanese American incarceration. Ask students to share what they notice and what questions they have about the images.
Resources/Materials:
Slides 1-10
Ugly History: Japanese American incarceration camps - Densho Video
Kids Meet a Survivor of the Japanese-American Internment | Kids Meet | HiHo Kids Video
Assessment: Class discussion
Day 1 Step 2: Vocabulary
Duration: 10 minutes
Implementation:
Have students read/write the vocabulary words and the definitions. Then, have students draw an example related to the words.
Before the lesson, take the time to review the information regarding terminology provided by Densho (Densho: Terminology). Throughout the lesson, you should be modeling for students how to be specific and intentional about the terminology you’re using. It can be helpful for students to understand when you explain why you are intentionally using certain words over others due to the historical context of the events of Japanese American incarceration during WWII.
Resources/Materials:
Slides 11-13
Densho: Terminology
Assessment: N/A
Day 1 Step 3: Read Aloud Preview
Duration: 5 minutes
Implementation:
Play the trailer for the read aloud, and close the first day of the lesson by taking any questions from students that they may have.
Resources/Materials:
Slide 14
Love in the Library Trailer
Assessment: Class discussion
Day 2 Step 4: Land Acknowledgement and Review
Duration: 5 minutes
Implementation:
Lead the class through a land acknowledgement as appropriate to your specific context.
Review the following with students as a warm-up to the rest of the lesson:
What did you learn from the videos from yesterday?
What did you learn from the pictures from yesterday?
What vocabulary did you learn from yesterday?
What questions do you still have from what you learned yesterday?
What do you predict will happen in the story Love in the Library?
Resources/Materials: Slides 15-17
Assessment: Class discussion
Day 2 Step 5: Read Aloud
Duration: 20 minutes
Implementation:
Lead a read aloud of the story with the students, and stop to check for students’ understanding throughout the read aloud as necessary to point out key features of the text. After the read aloud, discuss the following questions with students:
In the story, what feelings does Tama experience in the concentration camp? George tells Tama that all these feelings make her “_________.”
What kinds of feelings do you have when you read about Tama and George’s story?
In the story, we learn that even during hard times, people can still bring you joy. What people, places, or things bring YOU joy?
Resources/Materials:
Slides 18-19
Love in the Library by Maggie Tokuda-Hall
Love in the Library Video
Assessment: N/A
Day 3 Step 6: Land Acknowledgement and Review
Duration: 5 minutes
Implementation:
Lead the class through a land acknowledgement as appropriate to your specific context.
Review the following with students as a warm-up to the rest of the lesson:
Review vocabulary.
What did you learn about George and Tama’s story?
What feelings do you have after learning about their story?
Resources/Materials: Slides 21-23
Assessment: Class discussion
Day 3 Step 7: AAPI Perspectives Interview Clips
Duration: 25 minutes
Implementation:
Play the AAPI Perspectives Interview Clips (20 minutes). As needed, pause to check for student understanding throughout the clips. Then, lead the students in a discussion with the following questions:
Why do you think that many years later, Robert still remembers the time when his friend was jumped? If you saw something racist happen to your friend, what would you say or do?
Jeanette remembers her brother saying, “I don’t know what the people out there think we’re doing, but we may not be in black and white stripes, but we are in prison.” What do you think this means?
How were Paul and his family treated when they were taking the train to the concentration camp? What did Paul do with fireflies?
Resources/Materials:
Slides 24-28
Robert Ragsac Oral History
Jeanette Arakawa Oral History
Paul Sakamoto Oral History
Assessment: Class discussion
Day 4 Step 7: Land Acknowledgement and Review
Duration: 15 minutes
Implementation:
Lead the class through a land acknowledgement as appropriate to your specific context.
Review the following with students as a warm-up to the rest of the lesson:
Review vocabulary.
What did you learn from Robert, Jeanette, and Will’s stories yesterday?
What feelings do you have after learning about their stories yesterday?
Pretend that you are Tama, George, Jeanette, or Paul. Write a letter to a friend outside of the concentration camp and tell them about your experiences.
Resources/Materials: Slides 29-31
Assessment: Class discussion, narrative letter
Day 4 Step 8: Discussion & Reflections
Duration: 15 minutes
Implementation:
Play the news segment on Maggie Tokuda-Hall’s story about Scholastic attempting to censor her book. Help students make connections to past and present issues of racism through the following questions:
Scholastic wanted the author Maggie Tokuda-Hall to censor any mentions of “racism” in the author’s note. Why is this a problem?
During WWII, Japanese Americans’ letters to people outside of the concentration camps were censored. Go back and reread your letter. Which parts do you think would have been censored?
How do people resist oppression in the past and present? How is joy a way to resist oppression?
Resources/Materials:
Slides 32-34
East Bay children’s author fights Scholastic over demands of censorship Video
Assessment: Class discussion