Pearl Harbor Lesson 3

Lesson Overview:

Summary:

In this lesson, students will be able to explore Roger Shimomura, an artist who paints images of the daily lives of those who suffered in Japanese Internment camps during WWII, and write journal entries based off of Shimomura's images. Students will learn about Roger Shimomura and his artwork through online research and class discussions. Students will be provided with images from Roger Shimomura's collection, American Diary, to use as inspiration for their journal entries. Students will be able to chose which painting(s) they would like to write about in their journal. The idea is for students to take on the role of Shimomura's grandmother, Toku Shimomura, a survivor of the Japanese Internment camps and the inspiration of Roger's artwork. Students will then share their journal entry with a partner sitting near them. Students will be asked to come together as a class and reflect on what they learned from their partner and ask questions and make conclusions about the paintings of Roger Shimomura.

Learning Objectives:

Students will:

- Research online about Roger Shimomura and his artwork

- Record any interesting facts they learn on one page in their journals

- Read some of Toku Shimomura's diary entires that inspired Roger's artwork

- Visualize some photos of Shimomura's paintings from his collection in the American Diary

- Imagine themselves as Toku Shimomura, a member of these internment camps and what she could have written to inspire these different images depicted

- Write a journal entry that could have inspired the image of Roger's that they chose

- Share with a partner their journal entry and their reasoning behind what they wrote

- Discuss as a class their entries (read-aloud, ask questions, respond to other students entries)

Teaching Methods:

- Writing assignment in journals (diaries)

- Photographs of paintings from the American Diary collection created by Roger Shimomura

- Partner discussions conducted by individual students

- Class discussion conducted by students reading their journal entries

- Reading aloud (optional, but encouraged)

- Multimedia instruction

Assessment Type:

- Alternative Assessment (completion of diary spread: notes on Shimomura & diary entry)

Preparation:

Materials:

- Journals (Diary)

- Writing Utensil

- Hard copy prints of Roger Shimomura's paintings from the American Diary collection (6)

- Internet Access (Computer Lab)

Students will only be allowed to do research on the following websites:

1.http://scalar.usc.edu/works/vaaamp/toku-shimomura-diary-1

2. http://www.gregkucera.com/shimomura_diary.htm

3. http://www.rshim.com/pdf/RShim_Bio_0613.pdf

4. http://scalar.usc.edu/works/vaaamp/roger-shimomura-interview-14.20

Prior Knowledge:

- Previous knowledge from lessons on Pearl Harbor and the Japanese Internment Camps during WWII

- Know how to research a person on given websites

- Know how to write a diary entry

Instruction:

Engage

1. Have students think about forms of expression during the time of the Japanese internment camps

Lead a class discussion recollecting what the students had previously learned about Pearl Harbor and Japanese internment camps. Ask questions such as: "How did the Japanese people feel?", "Did their lives change because of the camps?", "What were ways in which people expressed how they felt during these times living in the camps?". Responses will be recorded by the teacher in bulleted format on the whiteboard, so that all students can see them. Your goal as the teacher is to help the students activate their prior knowledge of the internment camps and how it affected the lives of those who suffered in them. This discussion will help the students to later make connections between their generalizations of how Japanese people felt in the camps, with new knowledge on the Shimomura family specifically and how these feelings inspired much of his artwork.

Build Knowledge

1. Gain insight about the famous artist, Roger Shimomura and his grandmother, Toku Shimomura, a survivor of the Japanese internment camps, by exploring the following websites:

1.http://scalar.usc.edu/works/vaaamp/toku-shimomura-diary-1

2. http://www.gregkucera.com/shimomura_diary.htm

3. http://www.rshim.com/pdf/RShim_Bio_0613.pdf

4. http://scalar.usc.edu/works/vaaamp/roger-shimomura-interview-14.20

Ask students guiding questions during their research. Was Roger a successful artist? Who and what inspired many of Roger's paintings? How did Roger convey these messages in his artwork? Is Roger still alive today? How was the relationship between Roger and his grandmother? Did his grandmother enjoy living in the internment camps? How did Toku Shimomura describe moments in the camps?

2. Record Notes from online research

Tell the students to open up their journals to a new spread and on the left side record any notes, facts, quotes, etc. that they find interesting from the websites. Students should be asked to bullet their notes because they are not writing an actual narrative yet. About ten notes will be sufficient for each student. Walk around and observe students research. Make sure they are staying on-task and have a least ten or so facts written down before moving on to the next activity. Lead class discussion about facts that the students found and write them on the white board for all students to see.

Apply

1. Introduce diary writing activity.

Tell the students that they will be writing a diary entry in their journals similarly to how Toku Shimomura did while living in the internment camps. Their diary entries will be based off of one or two paintings by Roger Shimomura that they choose from you. The selection of paintings that students may choose from should only be from Roger Shimomura's collection, American Diary. Explain to the class that they will need to take on the role of Toku Shimomura and write a diary entry that she may have written that inspired the painting they chose. Explain to the students that in order to receive full credit for the assignment, notes from internet research must be neat on the left side of the spread, and diary entries will be on the right side of the spread, neatly written with correct grammar, punctuation, and spelling.

2. Provide students with hard copy printings of Roger Shimomura's artwork.

Explain to students that you will be holding up six different pieces from Roger Shimomura's colleciton, American Diary. Each student will choose which painting they want to write about and sit with the other classmates who want to write about that painting as well.

3. Divide students into small groups. Discuss and Write.

There should not be more than four students for each painting, so that there can be a variety of diary entries. Students can discuss with one another in their small groups about their painting before writing their diary entries. Students are NOT permitted to aid one another when writing. This diary entry should promote individual student creativity and their ability to take on the role of Toku Shimomura during this time period. Students will then be given about 15 minutes give or take depending on the class, to write their first journal entry. If some students finish early, they may write a diary entry about another painting in one of the other groups. Explain to students that this is an individual activity and should try to feel as though they were living in a Japanese internment camp while writing. The goal of this is for the students to take on that perspective of a Japanese prisoner during this time and how they might have felt.

4. Pair and Share.

Give students about 30 seconds to find a partner in the class. Ask students to share with their partner what painting they chose to write about, and read their diary entry that would inspire that painting. Also tell students after sharing their diary entry to share why they felt their diary entry would be appropriate for their painting. Explain to students they should describe what they see in the painting as evidence for what they wrote in their diary. Each partner should have time to share.

Reflect

1. Ask the students to respond as individuals to a series of questions on the next page in their journals. Use the following questions:

What did you learn about Roger Shimomura from this lesson?

What did you learn about Toku Shimomura from this lesson?

Did you feel like a member of the internment camps while writing your diary entry?

Was your partner's diary entry similar to yours? Why or why not?

What do you now know about the lives of those living in the Japanese internment camps?

2. Ask for volunteers to share their thoughts with the entire group and any lingering questions.

Assess

Assess the student's work by collecting journal and individually reading each diary entry and reflection. Full-credit will be rewarded for completion. Grammar, punctuation and spelling should be taken into account.

Standards:

1.5.3.F:

Use grade appropriate conventions of language when writing and editing.