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The 1940s: A Decade of Change Teacher Guide + 1 Year License

Author(s): COLLEGE OF WILLIAM & MARY

CHOOSE FORMAT

For grades 7-9, this unit provides an opportunity to look at the historical events and social issues of the 1940s through the literature of the decade, including fiction and nonfiction selections. Numerous opportunities for reading, writing, listening, and speaking are incorporated into the unit. Each student is required to pose a hypothesis and conduct research concerning some issue of significance that arises out of the literature that is studied. 

Included is a printed Teacher Guide and a 1-Year License to access to the Teacher eBook, Student eBook, and digital materials through our online platform, Flourish. 

  • Acknowledgments
  • The William & Mary Center for Gifted Education Units
  • Section 1: Unit Introduction and Curriculum Framework
  • Section 2: Teaching Tips for Implementing This Unit
  • Section 3: Lesson Plans
  • Lessons:
    • Lesson 1: Introduction and Preassessment 
    • Lesson 2: The Concept of Change
    • Lesson 3: The 1940s: An Introduction
    • Lesson 4: Preparing an Interview and the Power of Picture Books
    • Lesson 5: War Poems of Carl Sandburg
    • Lesson 6: Persuasive Writing
    • Lesson 7: Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl
    • Lesson 8: Reasoning
    • Lesson 9: Living in Hitler’s Germany and Japanese Americans in the 1940s
    • Lesson 10: Introduction to Research
    • Lesson 11: “One Friday Morning”
    • Lesson 12: American Culture in the 1940s
    • Lesson 13: Maus II
    • Lesson 14: “Address Unknown”
    • Lesson 15: Synthesizing Research
    • Lesson 16: Soldiers’ Stories
    • Lesson 17: The Sound of Music
    • Lesson 18: Fireside Chat: Sharing Stories from Interviews
    • Lesson 19: Hiroshima
    • Lesson 20: Presentation of Research
    • Lesson 21: Preparing for a Panel Discussion
    • Lesson 22: An Expert Panel Discussion
    • Lesson 23: Closing Discussion of Change over the Decades
    • Lesson 24: Postassessment of Literary Interpretation and Persuasive Writing
  • Section 4: Grammar Study
  • Section 5: Appendices

COLLEGE OF WILLIAM & MARY

The Center for Gifted Education (CFGE) at William & Mary University (College of William & Mary), is a research and development center providing services to educators, policy makers, graduate students, researchers, and parents in support of the needs of gifted and talented individuals. 

Located in Williamsburg, Virginia, the CFGE has established an international reputation for excellence in research, curriculum development, and service. Several major grants, including funding from the Jacob K. Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act, have provided significant support for the work of the Center. In 2012, the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation awarded CFGE the funds needed for a summer residential camp for low income, high-ability children, for four consecutive years. In 2015, William & Mary alumni, Mike and Nancy Petters, through the Petters Family Foundation, provided additional financial support to the program. In 2016, the Petters Family Foundation has committed to fully fund the program for the next four years. Camp Launch is only the beginning of the Center for Gifted Education’s goal to bring educational equality to all gifted students.