#NeverAgain Lesson 4
Family Stories and Generational Differences
GRADES: 8 – 12
TIME ESTIMATE (not including extension): one hour
IN THIS LESSON STUDENTS WILL…
…discuss that people of different ages and backgrounds can experience the same events very differently, even within one group or family.
…learn that different people within the Japanese American community have had very different responses to what happened during World War II.
BACKGROUND
Because the U.S. decided to incarcerate essentially all people of Japanese descent on the West Coast, family members of many different ages and experiences were incarcerated. In this excerpt, survivors talk about how even within their own families, people of different ages had different reactions to the incarceration and made different choices about telling their stories.
DEFINITIONS
Lesson 4 Definitions are provided for terms and usages in the audio that may be unfamiliar to students
generations / generational
Issei, Nisei, Sansei, Yonsei
catharsis
trauma
anxiety - a sense of deep worry or concern, sometimes for no obvious reason.
“Model Minority” myth
perspective
INTRO (5 minutes)
Introduce today’s audio excerpts from two survivors, who were incarcerated as children with their parents (the second speaker, Dr. Satsuki Ina, is also a licensed expert in psychology). You might ask students to be thinking about the idea of “perspective” today. After discussing the audio, you can tell them you will be doing some creative writing and theater games to explore this idea.
AUDIO (7 minutes) Speakers in this excerpt:
John Tateishi – childhood memories from Los Angeles after being released from Manzanar
Satsuki Ina – long-term impacts on parents and children of being incarcerated
DISCUSSION (15 minutes)
Why do you think John Tateishi and his friends talked so much about the incarceration and which camps they were in, but their parents did not?
How does Satsuki Ina think the “Model Minority” myth grew stronger because of the incarceration of Japanese American children with their parents? How does the “Model Minority” myth affect Asian Americans today?
ARTS ACTIVITY (30 minutes) Perspective Poems / Portraits in Motion (PDF)
RESOURCES #NeverAgain Lesson Images
EXTENSION (Action Civics Project)
Check-in and discuss last week’s work. Review the project plan elements on Action Civics Project Handout #4 – making a project outline that includes a clear choice of medium and an attention grabber and story action points to keep the intended audience engaged. Make sure you have a plan to review project outlines with students, to ensure they stay on track.