WWII Scrapbook Project:

The scene: You are now approaching your eighties. You've lived through the very period your favorite grandchild is now studying in history. At a family dinner, you begin chatting about World War II. It's clear that the events and mood of the period are very remote to your grandchild.

To give him or her a richer picture of life back then, you go down to the basement (or up to the attic) and pull out and dust off the wartime scrapbook, in which so many of your critical memories are stored. What's in the book? Who were you back then? What facts and feelings would be most important for you to share to enable your grandchild to better understand life during this period?

Your assignment is to create a scrapbook to share with your grandchild in the voice of the grandmother or grandfather, a person who lived through the Second World War.

As you develop your scrapbook, consider these essential questions:

1. How has this individual impacted history?

2. How can we better understand history through the experiences of this individual?

You may choose to role play any one of the following – but remember to choose only one role. You will play this role and create your scrapbook, spanning roughly a two to three year period of time.

Role Choices:

1. Rosie the Riveter – female factory worker during the war 2. Japanese-American - interned in a relocation camp for the duration of the war 3. WAC, WASP or WAVE – Women who served in the military during the war 4. Housewife or Husband – life under rationing, shortages, victory gardening, air raid drills, relocation, housing shortages, and sales of war bonds etc. 5. African American – experiences in Detroit or Harlem 6. Latino American – experiences in Los Angeles

1. A timeline of the major events that impacted you during the war years. 2. At least 5 authentic and relevant historic photographs that relate to your role.
3. At least 3 actual news clippings or political cartoons, or propaganda posters related to your experiences in the homefront.
4. A two-page memoir of your wartime experiences.

Every item in your scrapbook should be dated and all photographs and other documents annotated with at least a couple of sentences explaining its importance.

You are free to choose your method of presentation – Hard copy or Microsoft Word.

You are free to use various sources to help you. Some suggested sources include:

• http://www.pbs.org/thewar/at_home.htm • http://library.thinkquest.org/15511/ • http://americanhistory.si.edu/victory/victory6.htm • http://school.discoveryeducation.com/lessonplans/activities/wartimeposters/gallery.html • http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/powers_of_persuasion/powers_of_persuasion_intro.html • http://americanhistory.si.edu/victory/ • http://users.rcn.com/padwyer/ • PBS: Perilous Fight http://www.pbs.org/perilousfight/ • War Poster Collection http://content.lib.washington.edu/postersweb/index.html • Children of World War II http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2children/ • World War