Live from New Orleans… VIRTUAL FIELD TRIPS

NEW! The Giant Awakens:
The Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor

In the war that changed the world it was the day that changed the war—a “Day of Infamy.”  That day brought the United States into WWII, adding the strength and determination of the American people to the Allied arsenal as it struggled to defeat the Axis.  Students explore Japanese and American motivations and actions through maps, primary sources, and role playing.

D-Day: The Turning Point of the War in Europe

Students receive background on Operation Overlord through maps and audio-visual presentations, explore a “Bigot” map of Omaha Beach to learn about the challenges of planning and executing Operation Overlord, make decisions about where and when D-Day should be launched, “read” a D-Day artifact to learn about using objects to tell stories, and finally, working in groups, compare and contrast four archival descriptions of the Allied invasion of Normandy.  D-Day: what a difference a day makes!

Iwo Jima and the War in the Pacific

Students learn about the vastness of the Pacific Theater by exploring its geography.  They “read” a Navy “Shellback” certificate and participate in an Equator-crossing initiation.  Next they survey the Island Hopping campaign using maps and viewing video of oral histories.  This leads up to the invasion of Iwo Jima.  Here they explore the campaign and analyze the photograph of the flag-raising on Mt. Suribachi.  Students learn to personalize history by exploring a set of artifacts from one Marine who fought there.

America Goes to War:
The Home Front during WWII

The Home Front program begins with a brief background describing how the U.S. entered the war.  Students then tackle four challenges of the Home Front: making all the materials we need to win, dealing with food shortages, protecting the country from attacks (real and imagined), and keeping America optimistic and “war-minded.”  Through photos, posters, editorial cartoons, songs, and speeches, students learn about the triumphs and mistakes that were made at home during the war.

Double Victory:
African Americans in WWII

Students learn about the triumphs and tribulations experienced by African Americans on the battle fronts and on the Home Front.  They meet Pearl Harbor hero Dorie Miller, the Montford Point Marines, the Tuskegee Airmen, and the seven African American Medal of Honor recipients.  They learn about A. Philip Randolph’s push for racial equality in war factories and in the barracks and trace the historic path from Roosevelt’s Executive Order 8802 (establishing the Fair Employment Practices Committee in 1940) to President Truman’s Executive Order 9981 (desegregating the military in 1948).  An analysis of contemporary African American poetry will get students thinking about issues of race, equality, and how we remember and teach history.

The Warrior Tradition Continues:
American Indians in WWII

In this Virtual Field Trip students explore the WWII contributions of an often-overlooked group—American Indians.  The program begins with a brief history of American Indian participation in the U.S. military, looks at the struggles of American Indians to maintain their cultures over time, and challenges students to confront some common American—and maybe their own—stereotypes.  Students listen to American Indian oral histories of WWII veterans, decipher “Navajo code,” and analyze a poem honoring the American Indian spirit that helped the Allies win the war.  As students meet these American heroes, they tackle issues of identity, culture, and patriotism that American Indians faced when called upon to defend their country.