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A Guide to Primary Resources for U.S. History
World War II Back to History Unit

(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;

D-Day
PBS: The American Experience

Description: This project website presents one of PBS's highly-regarded "American Memory" films' companion websites, providing a wealth of archival detail on the D-Day invasion of Normandy. (Primary source material organized around invaluable secondary source commentary).



Teaching Tips:

"Do Now" Suggestion
  • Students can read the "Did you know?" section of the site (under "Special features") to research the answers to the following "cocktail trivia" questions: a) What does the 'D' in D-day stand for? b) When was the last time, prior to 1944, that an invading army crossed the English Channel? c) How many Allied soldiers took part in the invasion? d) How did Americans learn about the invasion? e) Who designed the shallow-draft boats used in the invasion and for what purpose?
Suggestion for Using this Resource as Part of a Lesson
  • One way to help students focus and pay attention is to break the film into 3-5 minute sections and after each section, ask students to record what they remember/ found interesting from the segment. Alternatively, the teacher can prepare a question sheet for students to take notes from as they watch the movie.

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