New Mexico Curriculum Units* * Download Other Enduring Community Units (Accessed September 3, 2009)
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ENDURING COMMUNITIES New Mexico Curriculum Units* * Download other Enduring Community units (accessed September 3, 2009). Gift of the Dr. and Mrs. Kikuwo Tashiro Family, Japanese American National Museum (98.175.106) All requests to publish or reproduce images in this collection must be submitted to the Hirasaki National Resource Center at the Japanese American National Museum. More information is available at http://www.janm.org/nrc/. 369 East First Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012 Tel 213.625.0414 | Fax 213.625.1770 | janm.org | janmstore.com For project information, http://www.janm.org/projects/ec Enduring Communities New Mexico Curriculum Writing Team Diane Ball Cindy Basye Ella-Kari Loftfield Gina Medina-Gay Lynette K. Oshima Rebecca Sánchez Trish Steiner Photo by Motonobu Koizumi Project Managers Allyson Nakamoto Jane Nakasako Cheryl Toyama Enduring Communities is a partnership between the Japanese American National Museum, educators, community members, and five anchor institutions: Arizona State University’s Asian Pacific American Studies Program University of Colorado, Boulder University of New Mexico UTSA’s Institute of Texan Cultures Davis School District, Utah 369 East First Street Los Angeles, CA 90012 Tel 213.625.0414 Fax 213.625.1770 janm.org | janmstore.com Copyright © 2009 Japanese American National Museum NEW MEXICO Table of Contents 4 Project Overview of Enduring Communities: The Japanese American Experience in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, and Utah Curricular Units* 5 Introduction to the Curricular Units 6 New Mexico Communities During World War II (Grade 4,5) Resources and References 113 Terminology and the Japanese American Experience 114 United States Confinement Sites for Japanese Americans During World War II 115 Japanese Americans in the Interior West: A Regional Perspective on the Enduring Nikkei Historical Experience in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Utah (and Beyond) 139 State Overview Essay and Timeline 145 Selected Bibliography Appendix 157 Project Teams 158 Acknowledgments 159 Project Supporters * Download other Enduring Community units (accessed September 3, 2009). Project Overview 4 Enduring Communities: The Japanese American The collaboration with educators, community mem- Experience in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, bers, students, and five partner anchor institutions— Texas, and Utah is dedicated to reexamining Arizona State University’s Asian Pacific American an often-neglected chapter in U.S. history and Studies Program; University of Colorado, Boulder; connecting it with current issues. University of New Mexico; UTSA’s Institute of Texan Cultures; and Davis School District, Utah—resulted in the curricula created by educator teams from five states. Two other components of the project include a national conference, “Whose America? Who’s Ameri- can? Diversity, Civil Liberties, and Social Justice,” hosted in Denver in July 2008, and a practical hand- book about partnership projects for peer institutions. During World War II about 65,000 Japanese Amer- icans—nearly one half of the mainland Japanese American population—lived in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, and Utah, either in concentration camps created by the United States government, as long-standing community members, or as “resettlers” from the West Coast. The situation of Japanese Ameri- can populations in these states during World War II affords the opportunity to explore the contradictions and racism inherent in how we have defined citizen- ship and dealt with diversity. These stories have provided—and continue to pro- vide—a compelling point from which to consider more broadly the experiences of other regional com- munities during World War II and beyond. In this way, the collaboration has generated materials and dialogue that reveal how the diverse realities of Ameri- can communities have challenged and shaped this country’s definitions of citizenship, patriotism, and democracy. New Mexico Curriculum Introduction to the Curricular Units 5 These curricular units were developed over the course munities. Seeing these communities develop and of four years by phenomenal educators who thought- be sustained via email, telephone calls, and face-to- fully and collaboratively tackled the challenge of teach- face meetings has been one of the most rewarding ing their students about a lesser-known part of United aspects of this project. The camaraderie and mutual States history. Although everybody may not have been respect of these educators is at the heart of all of familiar with the Japanese American experience prior these materials. to joining this project, they are committed to being lifelong learners. Together they embarked upon a Consequently, we hope that even more teachers will three-year quest to hear more first-person stories, be able to use these materials in their classrooms. seek out primary resources, read scholarly works, and We hope that the essential questions might cause engage in reflection and discussion about how to most new groups of teachers and students to think about effectively teach young people. how the World War II Japanese American experience relates to contemporary events. We hope that these The intense process of developing and sharing units materials expand and rethink the notion of what it with colleagues and then receiving feedback from field means to be American. testers resulted in two dynamic outcomes. The first is a five-state collection of standards-based elementary In this spirit, we hope that these materials are helpful, and secondary curricular units and accompanying and we welcome your feedback. Thank you! media pieces. Although these materials have been edited for consistency, we hope that the distinctive Sincerely, style and spirit of each of the individuals, teams, and communities still remains. Allyson Nakamoto Project Director, Enduring Communities The second, less tangible outcome has been the Japanese American National Museum formation of interstate and intrastate educator com- [email protected] New Mexico Curriculum Authors Rebecca M. Sánchez and Cindy Basye Name of Unit New Mexico Communities During World War II Suggested Grade Level(s) 4, 5 Suggested Subject Area(s) Language Arts and Social Studies Gift of Ruth Brandt, Japanese American National Museum (2004.56.10) All requests to publish or reproduce images in this collection must be submitted to the Hirasaki National Resource Center at the Japanese American National Museum. More information is available at http://www.janm.org/nrc/. New Mexico Curriculum Unit Map 7 Authors • Language Arts 5-8 I-C PS 5-5: Analyze cause-and-effect Rebecca M. Sánchez and Cindy Basye relationships, compare and contrast information, facts, characters, and objects to predict a logical out- Name of Unit come based on the information in the selection. • History Strand K-4 I-B PS 4-1: Describe local events and New Mexico Communities During World War II their connections and relationships to national history. • History Strand 5-8 I-A: Explore and explain how Suggested Grade Level(s) people and events have influenced the development of 4, 5 New Mexico up to the present day. • History Strand K-4 I-D PS 4-1: Describe and explain Subject Areas(s) how historians and archaeologists provide informa- Language Arts and Social Studies tion about people in different time periods. • History Strand 5-8 I-D PS 5-1: Differentiate between, Number of Class Periods Required locate, and use primary and secondary sources. • History Strand 5-8 I-D PS 5-2: Use resources for his- This is a multidisciplinary unit meant to span 15 days torical information. of instructional time for Language Arts and Social • History Strand 5-8 I-D PS 5-4: Show the relationship Studies lessons. between social contexts and events. • Civics Strand K-4 III-D PS 4-1: Explain the difference Essential Question between rights and responsibilities, why we have rules • How do communities grow and change over time? and laws, and the role of citizenship in promoting them. • Civics Strand K-4 III-D PS 4-2: Examine issues of Lesson Calendar for Language Arts human rights. and Social Studies Lessons • Civics Strand 5-8 III-D PS 5-1: Explain the meaning of the American creed that calls on citizens to safeguard the The following lesson calendar is an at-a-glance refer- liberty of individual Americans within a unified nation, ence that shows how the multidisciplinary lessons to respect the rule of law, and to preserve the constitu- complement each other tions of local, state, tribal, and federal governments. New Mexico Content Standards Teacher Overview • Language Arts K-4 III-A PS 4-1: Examine the reasons Weedflower by Cynthia Kadohata was chosen as a core for characters’ actions. piece of literature for this unit because it describes • Language Arts K-4 III-A PS 4-2: Identify and examine the lives of typical West Coast rural Japanese Ameri- characters’ motives. cans and their experiences during World War II. The • Language Arts K-4 III-A PS 4-3: Consider a situation book provides numerous opportunities for students or problem from different characters’ point of view. to examine, with teacher support, some of the histori- • Language Arts 5-8 I-C PS 5-3: Respond to fiction, non- cal events that helped shape the era. Through read- fiction, poetry, and drama using interpretive, critical, ings, discussions, and journal prompts, students can and evaluative processes by: a. analyzing word choice make personal connections to the characters and their and content; b. examining reasons for a character’s struggles for fair and decent treatment in time of war. actions. New Mexico Curriculum Unit Map 8 The book is intended to be used as a read-aloud. To complement the children’s literature, this unit also The novel is long and has been divided into fifteen incorporates a number of primary sources within the segments. Teacher discretion can be used to break Social Studies lessons. Historians use evidence to con- the readings into smaller “chunks” or to exclude struct their understanding of the past.