A Guide to Primary Resources for U.S. History : America's World War II in Color: "The Perilous Fight" Public Broadcasting Service This sophisticated project website provides a wealth of archival detail. It covers such topics as "The Battlefield," "Psychology of War," "The Home Front," and "Social Aspects." In these sub-sections students will find numerous links to personal letters, color photos, videos, and maps relating to each topic. (Primary source material organized around invaluable secondary source commentary). Under the heading "Psychology of War," there is a Letters Section. If students click on the Letters section, they will find several quotes from President Truman regarding the dropping of the bomb in Japan. The teacher can ask students to react in their journals to Truman's words. Do they agree that dropping the bomb was the right option? It might be better to do this exercise before studying the opinions of contemporaries and historians on the matter, to see if students change their opinions after learning the specific facts. There are a number of maps on this site. If students are creating an historical map of the world during WWII (as first suggested for an activity to accompany the Fireside Chat on the Progress of the War document), they can explore these maps to add battle sites to their maps. There are a number of video clips on the site. For example, there is a video in which students can witness the destruction of Pearl Harbor. The videos might serve as a useful introduction to a lesson so that students can get an idea visually of the topic to be discussed. The "Battlefield" section of this site most obviously relates to this particular standard. As a culminating project for the standard, students could use this rich site (along with the archival photographs, the Battle of Midway site, the D-day site, the Raising the Flag site, and the Race for the Superbomb site) to create a PowerPoint presentation. Students could choose a topic from this standard (Midway, Stalingrad, the Normandy landing (D-Day), and Truman's decision to use the atomic bomb to force surrender of Japan) and put together a PowerPoint, which explains why their topic is viewed as a turning point in the war. (If the teacher agrees, students might be allowed to choose another battle, such as the Battle of the Bulge or Iwo Jima, because the sites provide a lot of information on these topics.) The sites should serve as excellent resources for the students, both for information and visual aids. When the PowerPoints are complete, students can work in groups of 4 (with a representative from each topic) and give their presentations.

(b) describing the major battles and turning points of the war in North Africa, Europe, and the Pacific, including Midway, Stalingrad, the Normandy landing (D-Day), and Truman's decision to use the atomic bomb to force surrender of Japan;

The Perilous Fight
PBS: America's World War II in Color

Description: This sophisticated project website provides a wealth of archival detail. It covers such topics as "The Battlefield," "Psychology of War," "The Home Front," and "Social Aspects." In these sub-sections students will find numerous links to personal letters, color photos, videos, and maps relating to each topic. (Primary source material organized around invaluable secondary source commentary).

Teaching Tips:

"Do Now" Suggestion

Under the heading "Psychology of War," there is a Letters Section. If students click on the Letters section, they will find several quotes from President Truman regarding the dropping of the bomb in Japan. The teacher can ask students to react in their journals to Truman's words. Do they agree that dropping the bomb was the right option? It might be better to do this exercise before studying the opinions of contemporaries and historians on the matter, to see if students change their opinions after learning the specific facts. There are a number of maps on this site. If students are creating an historical map of the world during WWII (as first suggested for an activity to accompany the Fireside Chat on the Progress of the War document), they can explore these maps to add battle sites to their maps. There are a number of video clips on the site. For example, there is a video in which students can witness the destruction of Pearl Harbor. The videos might serve as a useful introduction to a lesson so that students can get an idea visually of the topic to be discussed.

Suggestion for Using this Resource as Part of a Lesson

The "Battlefield" section of this site most obviously relates to this particular standard. As a culminating project for the standard, students could use this rich site (along with the archival photographs, the Battle of Midway site, the D-day site, the Raising the Flag site, and the Race for the Superbomb site) to create a PowerPoint presentation. Students could choose a topic from this standard (Midway, Stalingrad, the Normandy landing (D-Day), and Truman's decision to use the atomic bomb to force surrender of Japan) and put together a PowerPoint, which explains why their topic is viewed as a turning point in the war. (If the teacher agrees, students might be allowed to choose another battle, such as the Battle of the Bulge or Iwo Jima, because the sites provide a lot of information on these topics.) The sites should serve as excellent resources for the students, both for information and visual aids. When the PowerPoints are complete, students can work in groups of 4 (with a representative from each topic) and give their presentations.