It's common knowledge that the American homefront was a vital part of the war effort during World War II. Manufacturers of consumer goods became artillery, uniform, and supplies producers. Women entered the workforce in record numbers and American workers were continually reminded who they were working for.
The social studies lesson plan below has students examine the effect these facts may have had on the quality of shells produced on the homefront as compared to those manufactured by forced labor in Germany and German occupied countries.
Student Homework to prepare: None
Focus of this lesson: This lesson will focus on the use of forced verses voluntary labor during WW II.
NJ Core Curriculum Content Standard: 6.3, 5-Explain relationships between cause, effect, and consequences, in order to understand significant historical events.
NCSS Thematic Standard: III People, Places and Environment. Teacher Expectation-Challenge learners to examine, interpret, and analyze the interactions of human beings and their physical environments.
Key Facts, Concepts and Vocabulary Words: GI, dud, concentration camp.
Performance Objective: Students will be able to discuss the quote in terms of free will, personal investment, and motive.
1. Motivating Device
Handout & Read: Quote from Citizen Soldiers.
" Over four decades of interviewing former GI's, I've been struck by how often they tell stories about duds, generally about shells falling near their foxholes and failing to explode. Lt. George Wilson said after one shelling near St.-Lo, "I counted eight duds sticking in the ground within thirty yards of my foxhole." "
{Ambrose, Stephen E. (1998). Citizen Soldiers. New York: Simon & Schuster.}
2. What group of people made the shells used by American soldiers?
Americans at home; often, sisters, wives, parents, and friends of military members fighting abroad.
View interview of a woman working on the homefront throughout World War II (Jean Christensen Collection (AFC/2001/001/9226), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress)
3. What groups of people often made the shells used by German soldiers?
- Citizens of occupied countries who were sometimes deported to work in German munitions factories.
- People in concentration camps.
(Answers to the following will be opinion and vary.)
4. Do you think the worker affected the quality of the shell? Why & how?
5. Why do you think some German shells turned out to be duds?
Materials needed for this lesson: Quote from: Ambrose, Stephen E. (1998). Citizen Soldiers. New York: Simon & Schuster. Discussion Questions.
Study Guide on Citizen Soldiers.
