Mansfield's WWII Homefront ("Our Story")

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Lesson Plan 


Mansfield Ohio during WWII


Concept / Topic to Teach:

Mansfield, Ohio’s contribution to the WWII “homefront effort”
 

Grade Level:

10th Grade
 

Standards Addressed:

History: #11-A; Economics #5


Duration:

Two days.
 

General Goal(s):

To give students a clear picture of their city’s special role in WWII production.
 

Specific Objectives:

1) Meeting two O.D.E. Social Studies benchmarks (see above).
2) Give students the chance to see a large number of primary sources.
 

Required Materials:

General background information on production/mobilization/homefront on a national level.
 

Primary Sources Used:


Warm-up:
Prior to any lecture/discussion, students who have living relatives (or the next generation) who lived in Mansfield (or any other town/city during WWII) tell their stories of what they did for the war effort. Attempt to make a personal connection. (My personal stories of my parents and grandparents, etc. “break the ice” for further discussion.)
 

Step-By-Step Procedures:

This two-day lesson would be just a part of the study of U.S. involvement in WWII. Thus, a rather comprehensive background has hopefully been built. The following steps would then be taken as part of the “big picture.”
1) The Americans readings (see below);
2) Completion of an ONA (open-note-assignment) from the readings; 
3) Lecture/discussion/PowerPoint/overhead projection of forma notes (of which they are given a copy);
4) Field trip to Mansfield Memorial Museum (if funding is available) 
5) Completing a primary source worksheet on selected items viewed at the museum; and
6) Aspects of this Mansfield mobilization would be touched upon as part of a comprehensive WWII Test given at the end of the WW II unit.
 

Homework and Practice:

Readings from The Americans text (Chapter 17, Section 1, pp. 570-577). Prepare a question worksheet from the above reading assignment to assign students as “homework.”
 

Closure (Re-teach):

First of all, much of this lesson would be based upon a rather extensive WWII background on national mobilization. Closure should cover the mobilization of the entire nation of which Mansfield played a small, but significant role. The use of a “review puzzle” personally constructed from www.puzzleworks.com is a common method used in re-teaching/closure/review.


Assessment Based On Objectives:

The principal assessment of the objectives in this lesson plan would be covered as part of a comprehensive WWII test-with multiple choice, matching, true and false, extended response, and short answer questioning.
 

Possible Connections to Other Subjects:

Language Arts