Subscribe

8th grade · Social Studies · Unit 9 of 15

World War II

Pearl Harbor, D-Day and the home front

What your child practices

The road to war, the US entry after Pearl Harbor, D-Day and the Pacific, the Holocaust, the home front including the forced removal of Japanese Americans, and the war's results, including the United Nations in New York City.

New York State Learning Standards learning standard: 8.6; 8.6a; 8.6b; 8.6c · the causes, course and consequences of World War II for the United States and the world

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Totalitarian leaders such as Hitler in Germany and Mussolini in Italy rose to power before World War II.
  2. The Axis powers were Germany, Italy and Japan. The US entered the war after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in December 1941.
  3. On D-Day (6 June 1944) the Allies landed in France. At home, “Rosie the Riveter” stood for women taking factory jobs.

Example: Which event brought the US into World War II? The war began in Europe in 1939. The US stayed out at first. Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Answer: the attack on Pearl Harbor

World War II in New York

In the New York State Learning Standards, this is unit 9 of 15 in 8th grade Social Studies, after Depression & New Deal and before The Cold War.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: New York State Education Department (NYSED)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Totalitarian leaders who rose to power in Europe before World War II included…

    • Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt
    • Adolf Hitler in Germany and Benito Mussolini in Italy
    • Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses Grant
    • Peter Stuyvesant and Henry Hudson

  2. Question 2

    On D-Day, June 6, 1944, Allied forces…

    • bombed Pearl Harbor
    • landed in Japan
    • landed on the beaches of Normandy in France
    • captured Berlin

  3. Question 3

    The GI Bill of 1944 helped veterans…

    • pay taxes
    • move overseas
    • join the army again
    • pay for college and buy homes

  4. Question 4

    V-E Day, May 8, 1945, marked…

    • the attack on Pearl Harbor
    • the founding of NATO
    • the end of the war in Europe
    • the start of the war

  5. Question 5

    "Rosie the Riveter" stood for…

    • women taking factory jobs during the war
    • a Navy ship
    • a famous general
    • a new airplane

  6. Question 6

    "Island hopping" in the Pacific meant…

    • moving all troops to Europe
    • capturing key islands to move closer to Japan
    • building bridges between islands
    • avoiding all islands

More 8th grade