Enduring Communities Resources
Oakland, California. Following evacuation orders, this store, at 13th and Franklin Streets, was closed. The owner, a University of California graduate of Japanese descent, placed the “I AM AN AMERICAN” sign on the store front on December 8, the day after Pearl Harbor. Evacuees of Japanese ancestry will be housed in War Relocation Authority centers for the duration. Photographer: Dorothea Lange. Courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration. ARC Identifier 537833 / Local Identifier 210-G-C519.
“I Am an American”
Author: Judy Hansen
Suggested Grade Level(s): 4, 5, 6
Suggested Subject Area(s): English Language Arts and Social Studies
Number of Class Periods Required: 14 class periods (30 minutes per period)
Essential Question: Why is it important to treat everybody—including those who may seem different from me—fairly?
Teacher Overview:
This unit uses the novel Weedflower, by Newbery Award-winning author Cynthia Kadohata, as a read-aloud to provide historical background about the Japanese American incarceration during World War II. Class discussions about Weedflower, information about Colorado’s Governor Ralph Carr, and online research focusing on the Amache concentration camp in Granada, Colorado, allow students to investigate and respond to the unit’s essential question: “Why is it important to treat everybody—including those who may seem different from me—fairly?”
Download the entire “I Am an American” unit (4.0 MB)
Lessons
- Unit Map (325 KB)
- Lesson 1: Sumiko’s Life (178 KB)
- Lesson 2: Distrust and Uncertainty (212 KB)
- Lesson 3: Leaving Home (1.3 MB)
- Lesson 4: Life in “Camp” (181 KB)
- Lesson 5: Questions of Loyalty and Liberty (178 KB)
- Lesson 6: “I Am an American” (177 KB)
Resources and References
- Terminology and the Japanese American Experience (48 KB)
- Map of Japanese American Confinement Sites in the United States During World War II (1 MB)
- Media related to the Project’s Curricular Units
- “Japanese Americans in the Interior West: A Regional Perspective on the Enduring Nikkei Historical Experience in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Utah (and Beyond)” Essay and Timeline (968 KB)
- “Japanese Americans in Arizona: An Overview” Essay and Timeline (108 KB)
- “Japanese Americans in Colorado: An Overview” Essay and Timeline (80 KB)
- “Japanese Americans in New Mexico: An Overview” Essay and Timeline (84 KB)
- “Japanese Americans in Texas: An Overview” Essay and Timeline (84 KB)
- “Japanese Americans in Utah: An Overview” Essay and Timeline (88 KB)
- Selected Bibliography (124 KB)
- Acknowledgements (84 KB)