We have a brand new World War II page on DocsTeach, the online tool for teaching with documents! The page includes hundreds of primary sources and teaching activities for WWII.
You’ll find primary source sets for a variety of WWII topics, including:
The new page also includes several teaching activities for use online or in the classroom.
In the activity Interpreting a Political Cartoon from the Eve of WWII, students identify artistic techniques used to convey a cartoon’s message about the lead-up to World War II.
In Letter to Truman about the Manhattan Project, students analyze a letter from the Secretary of War requesting a meeting with the President. They try to determine what the referenced “highly secret matter” is – the atomic bomb.
The activity Pearl Harbor Dispatch Analysis presents students with a naval dispatch sent from the Commander in Chief of the Pacific that announced the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. But excerpts of the “This is Not Drill” document are blacked out, and students must examine the document to figure out what the document is and what the story is about.
We have several more teaching activities at www.docsteach.org/topics/wwii as well, including on the Holocaust, the refugee crisis, Pearl Harbor, FDR’s infamy speech, D-Day, and racial discrimination during the war.
We’re always adding more content to DocsTeach, including for World War II. Let us know what additional topics you want to see!