End of WWII: Bombing Japan

11th Grade US History

Learning Target
Students will evaluate the ways in which America came to the decision to drop the bombs on
Japan and analyze the various effects of atomic weaponry.

State Standard Addressed

CSS 11.7: Students analyze America’s participation in World War II.
CSS 11.7.7: Discuss the decision to drop atomic bombs and the consequences of the decision
(Hiroshima and Nagasaki).

Instructional Procedures

Anticipatory Set
Instructor will start by having students collaborate in their table groups to recall what we have
previously learned in this unit by asking students to discuss with a neighbor what event brought
the United States into World War II, how America has fought the war, and predict how the war
in Europe and the pacific might end.

Perceived Objective
“Today we are going to look at the end of WWII in Europe and the pacific, and debate President
Truman’s decision to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.”

Input
Instructor will begin by giving a PowerPoint lecture (Instructional Material 1) to introduce the
class to the events nearing the end of the war on two front: Europe and the pacific. The goal of
this lecture is to review what was happening in America and abroad leading up to 1945. Students
will have already learned about the details of WWII in World History the year before and from
the reading they have been doing in the textbook for this entire unit. After the lecture, instructor
will lead students through a few rounds of “four corners.” In this activity, the instructor will
project an opinion-based question or statement about atomic weaponry onto the board and
students will decide how they feel about the question or statement. Students will then go stand in
that corner of the room designated for their particular opinion. For this exercise there will only
be three corners used: agree, disagree, and neutral. The questions can be found at the end of the
PowerPoint (Instructional Material 1).

Modeling
As instructor lectures and goes through the slides, instructor will explain each slide in depth,
making connections to students’ prior knowledge, and relating topics to students’ lives today.
Instructor will use images on the slides to demonstrate to students the kinds of effects Japan saw
after the bombing so students can visualize how destructive atomic weaponry is on a society. For
the 4 corners exercise, instructor will model the proper processes of reading the
question/statement, deciding how one feels about it, then moving to the appropriate part of the
room.

Check for Understanding

A first check for understanding will happen during the lecture. The instructor will pause after
explaining slides to see if students have any questions. Secondly, once the instructor has
explained the procedures of the independent practice, instructor will pause to ask students
questions to check for understanding. Students should be able to recount the requirements as
explained by the instructor and also outlined on Instructional Material 2. As students are working
on their posts, instructor should circulate the class, stopping at individual students and different
sections of the classroom to ensure they are on task and understand what is expected.

Guided Practice
After the lecture, the instructor will lead the class through a few rounds of a “Four Corners”
exercise. In this activity, the instructor will project an opinion-based question or statement about
the draft onto the board and students will decide how they feel about the question or statement.
Students will then go stand in that corner of the room designated for their particular opinion. For
this exercise there will only be three corners used: agree, disagree, and neutral. The questions can
be found at the end of the PowerPoint (Instructional Material 1). Once students move to an
appropriate part of the room, instructor will give students 30 seconds to talk to someone near
them about why they feel that way. Instructor will then call on two students in each round to
share their point of view.

Independent Practice
After the class discussion and “Four Corners” exercise on the decision to use atomic bombs,
students will be analyzing an excerpt President Truman’s journal (Instructional Material 2).
Students will first read the excerpt silently to themselves. Then they will be collaborating with
classmates sitting near them to evaluate the key arguments of the excerpt and identify main
ideas. Students will use evidence from this document to write one paragraph explaining which
side of atomic weaponry debate they are on: for or against the use of atomic bombs.

Closure
To conclude, after students have been given time to analyze the document, instructor will bring
the class back together again to discuss the meaning of the excerpt they analyzed. Instructor will
call on students to summarize the decision President Truman made to drop the bombs. Instructor
should ask students if they would have made the same decision. Students should use evidence to
defend their answer. This final conversation will bring together the ideas presented in the lecture,
the 4 corners exercise, and the document analysis.

Differentiation:
For students who may have trouble with auditory learning, copies of the PowerPoint lecture
notes will be printed for them to be able to read and follow along during the verbal part of the
lesson. For students who may have social anxiety and do not feel comfortable sharing their
thoughts verbally in class (as participation is always a part of their grade), they may hand write
their thoughts related to the Four Corners exercise to be turned in at the end of class for
participation credit. If a student is a slow reader or writer and needs extra time with the document
analysis, they may work with a neighbor to go through the document. Instructor should walk
around during independent practice. This will account for students who may not feel comfortable
raising their hand to ask clarifying questions during the group lesson, so at this time the
instructor may work with the struggling student one-on-one. During the independence practice,
students will start by working quietly and independently and then will be released to work with
students around them.