This free online course will give you the historical background, primary source materials, and instructional strategies you need to teach the World War II incarceration of Japanese Americans in the secondary school classroom. Each learning activity in this online course is meant to give you a sense of the learning experience your students will have in your classroom.
About the Course
The course will take approximately five to six hours to complete. The learning activities are aligned to Common Core State Standards, the College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards (National Council for the Social Studies), and the Advanced Placement U.S. History Curriculum Framework skills. Over 600 teachers have taken the workshop version of this course and have helped revise and refine the course.
To promote thinking and inquiry, each primary source in this course has been paired with a thinking routine–a process and structure developed by Harvard Project Zero’s Visible Thinking. Thinking Routines have a few simple steps to evoke deep thinking, which can prompt questions and learning. They can be used in many different contexts with a variety of content.
Register for the Course
Follow these simple instructions for getting started with the course today:
- Register for an account at www.versal.com.
- Click on the “start the course” button and you’re all set!
- You may pause the session at any time and then resume by following this link.
Having trouble accessing our online course? Make sure you’re logged in to Versal and that you’re following this link to the course homepage. If problems persist, contact us at [email protected]
Additional Incentives
For completing the course and filling out an evaluation, teachers will receive the following:
- Certification of completion which can be used to document professional development hours
- The Legacy of Heart Mountain (DVD), an award-winning documentary that highlights nine personal stories connected to the Heart Mountain concentration camp
- Conscience and the Constitution (DVD), a two-disc collector’s edition about the largest organized resistance to the wartime incarceration of Japanese Americans
- A set of printed copies of World War II Odyssey of King County’s Japanese Americans. Click this link to see a flipbook version of this eight-page educational supplement produced by The Seattle Times and Densho.
Preview the Course
Preview the course before registering online. If you like what you see, scroll back up for simple instructions on how to register and take this free course.