Browse > Interest Level > Grades 3-5

83 articles

1
2
3
4

Bat 6 (book)

Books
Grades 3-5, Grades 6-8
Grades 3-5, Grades 6-8
Children's, Sports
Character - destruction, building up, Forgiveness
Widely available

Set in 1949, two small towns in Oregon are rivals in the girls' softball game of the year, Bat 6 (1998). On the Bear Creek Ridge team, Aki Mikami is the new girl is who has just returned after being "sent away to a camp" with her family since 1942. All the 6th grade girls were too young to remember Aki and her family leaving, and the adults would talk in whispers amongst themselves about what happened, but not to the children. Aki is shy but she is an amazing ball player (her mother was MVP for Bat 6 in 1930) and girls take to her immediately. The opposing Bat 6 team, Barlow, also recruits a talented new player named Shazam—a troubled girl who has come to live with her grandmother. She hates the Japanese because her father was killed in the attack on Pearl Harbor. The ballgame culminates in …

Best Friends Forever: A World War II Scrapbook (book)

Books
Grades 3-5, Grades 7-8
Grades 3-5, Grades 7-8
Children's, Historical Fiction
Everlasting love, Family – blessing or curse, Injustice, Rights - individual or societal
Widely available

Children's book about the friendship between a German American girl and her forcibly removed Japanese American friend in the form of a scrapbook from the year 1942.

Bob Sakata: American Farmer (book)

Books
Grades 3-5
Grades 3-5
Biography, Children's
Overcoming – fear, weakness, vice, Injustice, Role of men, Coming of age
Available

Biography for children by Daniel Blegen about a Nisei farmer in Colorado that covers his wartime incarceration in an American concentration camp.

Blue Jay in the Desert (book)

Books
Grades 1-2, Grades 3-5
Grades 1-2, Grades 3-5
Children's, Picture book
Quest for discovery, Rights - individual or societal
Widely available

Blue Jay in the Desert by Marlene Shigekawa and illustrated by Isao Kikuchi is a children's picture book about how the gift of a hand-carved wooden blue jay symbolizes the love and hope a grandfather gives to his grandson.

The Children of Topaz: The Story of the Japanese-American Internment Camp (book)

Books
Grades 3-5
Grades 3-5
Children's
Companionship as salvation, Growing up – pain or pleasure, Loss of innocence
Widely available

Children's book by Michael O. Tunnell and George W. Chilcoat based on a class diary kept by a 3rd grade teacher at Topaz .

Citizen 13559 (play)

Plays
Grades 3-5, Grades 7-8

Play for children by Naomi Iizuka, based on the children's book The Journal of Ben Uchida: Citizen 13559, Mirror Lake Internment Camp by Barry Denenberg. The story focuses on the wartime experiences of twelve-year-old Ben Uchida, whose family is incarcerated at the fictional "Mirror Lake" camp in Wisconsin. After workshop productions at the Kennedy Center and the Mark Taper Forum's Asian Theatre Workshop, the hour-long play premiered in March 2006 as part of the Kennedy Center Family Theater's first season.

Classroom Guide for the National Japanese Memorial to Patriotism (curricula)

Curricula
Grades 3-5, Grades 7-8, Grades 9-12
Overcoming - fear, weakness, vice, Patriotism - positive side or complications, Power of the Past, War - glory, necessity, pain, tragedy
Widely available

The National Japanese American Memorial to Patriotism in Washington, D.C. was dedicated in 2000. It was initially developed in 1988 by the "Go For Broke" National Veterans Association Foundation; ownership was transferred to the United States Government in 2002. The Memorial is currently managed by the National Park Service. The classroom guides (one for upper elementary/middle school and another for high school) are designed for teachers to provide an overview of the Memorial and to provide some basic information about the World War II experience of Japanese Americans, particularly around forced removal, incarceration, and military service.

So Far from the Sea (book)

Books
Grades 3-5
Grades 3-5
Children's
Change versus tradition, Death – inevitable or tragedy, Growing up – pain or pleasure, Injustice, Power of the past
Widely available

Children's picture book by Eve Bunting about a Japanese American family's pilgrimage to Manzanar in 1972.

The Bracelet (book)

Books
Grades 3-5
Grades 1-2, Grades 3-5
Children's
Growing up – pain or pleasure, Importance of community, Self-awareness, Will to survive
Widely available

A children's picture book by Nisei author Yoshiko Uchida , with illustrations by Joanne Yardley, originally published in 1993. The Bracelet is a story derived from the author's own childhood experiences in an American concentration camp during World War II. The book opens as seven-year-old Emi, her mother and sister prepare to leave their home in Berkeley, California, for Tanforan , a racetrack that has been converted into a temporary camp for Japanese Americans. Emi's best friend, Laurie Madison, brings her a gold bracelet as a farewell gift, and as a reminder of the value of their friendship. Emi vows that she will never take it off, but as she helps clean out the filthy horse stable that will serve has her family's "apartment," the gold chain slips off her wrist and is lost. At first, she is desolate, but Emi eventually realizes that she does not need the bracelet …

The Bracelet (film)

Films and Video
Grades 3-5, Adult
Documentary
Coming of age, Growing up – pain or pleasure
Limited availability

Short educational film that demonstrates the use of a popular children's book in an elementary school classroom. Patty Nagano, a teacher at Bret Harte Elementary School in the Alhambra, California, School District, begins by asking the class—which appears to consist of second or third graders—if they have experienced someone close to them moving away and listens as several children talk about their memories of such an experience. She then briefly explains what happened to Japanese Americans during World War II and reads the Yoshiko Uchida book The Bracelet to the class. As she reads, images of the class and Joanna Yardley's illustrations are augmented by archival photographs of the mass removal and incarceration, along with sound effects. After finishing the book, Nagano engages the class in a series of activities: asking them for their initial reactions to the book and answering questions about her and her family's experience; showing the …

The Cat Who Chose to Dream (book)

Books
Grades 1-2, Grades 3-5
Grades 1-2, Grades 3-5
Children's
Disillusionment and dreams, Facing darkness, Overcoming – fear, weakness, vice, Will to survive
Widely available

Children's picture book about a cat who accompanies his Japanese American family to an American concentration camp during World War II.

How Did This Happen Here?: Japanese Internment Camps (book)

Books
Grades 3-5
Grades 3-5
Children's
Displacement, Evils of racism, Hazards of passing judgment, Injustice
Available

Short overview picture book on the wartime removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans aimed at an elementary school audience.

In America's Shadow (book)

Books
Grades 3-5, Grades 7-8
Grades 3-5, Grades 7-8
Children's
Patriotism – positive side or complications, Power of the past
Available

Children's picture book by Kimberley Komatsu and Kaleigh Komatsu told from the perspective of a young girl recounting her family's wartime incarceration story.

Instructions to All Persons: Reflections on Executive Order 9066 (exhibition)

Museum Exhibitions
Grades 3-5, Grades 7-8, Grades 9-12, Adult
History
Evils of racism, Injustice, Power of the past, Rebirth, Wisdom of experience
No availability

Exhibition mounted by the Japanese American National Museum (JANM) to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Executive Order 9066 .

Children of the Relocation Camps (book)

Books
Grades 1-2, Grades 3-5
Grades 1-2, Grades 3-5
Children's, History
Displacement, Evils of racism, Growing up – pain or pleasure, Injustice
Available

Picture book for elementary school children that tells the story of the wartime removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans from a children's perspective. The book was named a Carter G. Woodson Elementary Level Honor Book in 2001.

The Internment of the Japanese (book)

Books
Grades 3-5, Grades 7-8
Grades 3-5, Grades 7-8
Young Adult, History
Displacement, Evils of racism, Injustice, Patriotism – positive side or complications
Available

Overview book by Diane Yancey on the wartime forced removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans for middle school audiences that is part of Lucent Books "World History Series."

The Invisible Thread (book)

Books
Grades 3-5, Grades 7-8, Grades 9-12
Grades 3-5, Grades 7-8
Memoir, Children's
Immigrant experience, Growing up – pain or pleasure, Expression through art, Facing darkness, Overcoming – fear, weakness, vice
Widely available

Memoir for young adult readers by the acclaimed children's book author that covers her charmed childhood in Berkeley, California, and her wartime incarceration during World War II.

Japanese American Internment Camps (Children's Press) (book)

Books
Grades 3-5
Grades 3-5
Children's, History
Evils of racism, Hazards of passing judgment, Injustice, War – glory, necessity, pain, tragedy
Available

Short overview book for younger children on the wartime removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans that is part of Children's Press's "Cornerstones of Freedom," Second Series of books.

Japanese American Internment: Asian Americans and U.S.-Asia Relations (curricula)

Curricula
Grades 3-5, Grades 7-8
Displacement, Rights

This lesson seeks to make students aware of the World War II wartime experience of Japanese Americans and to develop empathy for the children whose lives were impacted. The lesson is designed not to reveal aspects of the Japanese American incarceration until the end. It begins with a survey that asks students about aspects of their daily lives including a list of their possessions, description of their bedroom, and their usual routine. Next students are asked to respond to situations similar to what Japanese Americans faced, such as what they would take if they had to move away, how they would feel if they had to leave a pet behind or share a bathroom with over 100 people. This is followed by a short skit about a student taking another student's desk and when asked to return the desk, the student is reluctant to do so, simulating what some Japanese …

Japanese American Internment: Fear Itself (curricula)

Curricula
Grades 3-5, Grades 7-8
Displacement, Injustice, Rights-individual or societal, War-glory, necessity, pain, tragedy

Published on the Library of Congress (LOC) website, this lesson plan incorporates primary source materials about the World War II Japanese American incarceration in five classroom activities projected to take 1-2 weeks. The primary sources used are largely historic photographs from the LOC American Memory collection featuring the removal of Japanese Americans, and President Roosevelt signing the declaration of war. In addition, there are profiles of two Japanese American veterans from the LOC American Folklife Center - Veterans History Project which includes oral history interviews and transcripts, historic photos, and related documents. An online tool allows teachers to search by grade level and subject to see how this lesson addresses standards (Common Core, State Content, Organization).

Japanese American Journey: The Story of a People (book)

Books
Grades 3-5, Grades 7-8
Grades 3-5, Grades 7-8
History, Children's
Empowerment, Fulfillment, Heartbreak of betrayal, Overcoming – fear, weakness, vice, Progress – real or illusion
Available

Overview work for children on the Japanese American experience produced by the Japanese American Curriculum Project (JACP) in 1985. Consisting of a historical overview, eleven biographies of notable Japanese Americans, and three short stories, Japanese American Journey was adapted from a 1970 JACP publication titled Japanese Americans: The Untold Story .

Japanese-American Internment in American History (book)

Books
Grades 3-5, Grades 7-8
Grades 3-5, Grades 7-8
Young Adult, History
Displacement, Evils of racism, Hazards of passing judgment, Injustice, Patriotism – positive side or complications
Available

Non-fiction overview of the incarceration experience written for middle school readers. One of the relatively few such books written for this age group, it is part of Enslow Publishers' "In American History" series.

The Japanese American Internment: An Interactive History Adventure (book)

Books
Grades 3-5
Grades 3-5
Children's, History
Displacement, Injustice, Patriotism – positive side or complications
Available

Children's book on the wartime incarceration by Rachael Hanel that allows the reader to choose one of three stories and to make a series of decisions in each story that determines its outcome.

The Japanese in America (book)

Books
Grades 3-5, Grades 7-8
Grades 3-5
History
Empowerment, Evils of racism, Immigrant experience, Overcoming – fear, weakness, vice
Available

Overview book for children on the history of Japanese Americans from the 1860s to the 1990s. First published in 1967 as one of the first books for children on Japanese Americans, it saw revised versions in 1974 and 1991.

The Japanese Internment Camps: A History Perspectives Book (book)

Books
Grades 3-5, Grades 7-8
Grades 3-5, Grades 7-8
Children's, History
Displacement, Evils of racism, Injustice, Patriotism – positive side or complications
Available

Children's book on the wartime removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans that focuses on Manzanar and tells its story through three first-person accounts.

1
2
3
4