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PICTURING THE WAR IN THE PACIFIC
The War in the Pacific
LESSON PLAN
A Visual Time Line
Picturing the War
in the Pacific
INTRODUCTION
By analyzing photographs and building a time line, students will be able to identify, discuss, and
analyze the major events of World War II in the Pacific. First, students must match iconic images from
the war in the Pacific with their captions. Then, they will place each image and caption in the correct
chronological order to build a comprehensive time line of the war in the Pacific from the Japanese
invasion of Manchuria to their surrender aboard the USS Missouri. Students will view the raising of the
American flag on Mount Suribachi, look for a kamikaze attack on a US aircraft carrier, and identify the
first Navajo code talkers sworn into the US Marine Corps.
OBJECTIVES
• By analyzing photographs and building a time line, students will be able to identify, discuss, and
analyze the major events of World War II in the Pacific.
• Students will also be able to identify the temporal structure of a historical narrative.
GRADE LEVEL
7–12
TIME REQUIREMENT
1 class period
MATERIALS
• This lesson plan uses photographs and date and caption strips that are included as inserts with the
printed guide and online at ww2classroom.org.
• You may also need string and clothespins for this lesson.
ONLINE RESOURCES
ww2classroom.org
The photographs, datelines, and captions used in this lesson are available online.
(National Archives and Records Administration, WC 1221.)
LESSON PLAN:
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LESSON PLAN
STANDARDS
COMMON CORE STANDARDS
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.9-10.4
Present information, findings, and supporting evidence clearly, concisely, and logically such that
listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the organization, development, substance, and style are
appropriate to purpose, audience, and task.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.9-10.5
Make strategic use of digital media (e.g., textual, graphical, audio, visual, and interactive elements) in
presentations to enhance understanding of findings, reasoning, and evidence, and to add interest.
NATIONAL STANDARDS FOR HISTORY
CONTENT ERA 8, STANDARD 3
The student understands the causes and course of World War II.
HISTORICAL THINKING STANDARD 1
Students are able to identify the temporal structure of a historical narrative or story, to establish temporal
order in constructing their own historical narratives, and to interpret data presented in time lines and
create time lines by designating appropriate equidistant intervals of time and recording events according
to the temporal order in which they occurred.
HISTORICAL THINKING STANDARD 2
The student is able to draw upon the visual sources, including photographs, to clarify, illustrate, or
elaborate upon information presented in the historical narrative.
HISTORICAL THINKING STANDARD 3
The student is able to consider multiple perspectives of various peoples in the past by demonstrating
their differing motives, beliefs, interests, hopes, and fears, and is able to analyze cause-and-effect
relationships.
TEACHER
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LESSON PLAN
PROCEDURE
1. There are several ways to implement this lesson, all of which involve various levels of matching
photos, captions, and dates. Choose the method that works best with your students based on their
skill and knowledge levels, or make up your own way. Regardless of which option you choose, start
by having students write down everything they can tell about their photographs using the Pacific War
in Photographs Worksheet (page 97). Make sure students indicate whether their descriptions come
from what they can see or from what they previously knew about World War II. Inform students that
the descriptive captions do not always describe the actual photographs, but refer to a historic event
from the war in the Pacific.
2. Choose from one of the options below:
Option 1. Give each student or pair of students a random photograph to study. Next, in
chronological order, read aloud each caption and have the student with the matching photograph
bring it to the front of the class and tape it to the wall or clip it to a string with a clothespin. You
can then affix the dates and captions to each picture for the class to review.
Option 2. With groups of five students, randomly divide the photos, captions, and dates among
the groups. Have each group match their photos, captions, and dates. Then have all the groups
work together to create the full time line of photos. Each group can explain how they were able to
match their photos to captions and dates.
Option 3. Give each student one photo, one date, and one caption that do not match. Then let
them try to find their matching partners in order to complete the full time line as a class. This
exercise will require good teamwork and communication.
3. Have students write a brief reflection in which they discuss the two events they would stress the most
if they were writing a history of the war in the Pacific and why they would emphasize those events.
4. Have students share their reflections in order to spark a discussion about the challenges historians
face when deciding which facts to include and/or emphasize when crafting historical narratives.
ASSESSMENT
You will be able to assess students based on the accuracy of their photo matching and the quality of
their written descriptions. You can also quiz them on the chronology following the activity.
ENRICHMENT
• Have students write alternate, longer captions for each photo.
• Have students brainstorm individually or as a class the 5, 10, or 20 additional dates/events from
the war in the Pacific they would add to the time line, and have them conduct research to locate
appropriate photos to match.
• Have students research one event in greater depth in order to either write a research paper or create
a class presentation.
• Have students create a time line about one topic within the war in the Pacific, e.g. Pearl Harbor,
island hopping, or the atomic bombs.
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LESSON PLAN
DATE EVENT
1 Sept. 18, 1931 Japan invades Manchuria.
2 Dec. 13, 1937–Jan. 1938 Rape of Nanking
3 Feb. 14, 1941 Japanese Ambassador Admiral Kichisaburo Nomura
arrives in Washington, DC.
4 Dec. 7, 1941 Japanese attack Pearl Harbor.
5 Feb. 19, 1942 FDR signs Executive Order 9066.
6 April 9, 1942 US troops surrender at Bataan, Philippines.
7 April 18, 1942 Doolittle Raid
8 May 4, 1942 First 29 Navajo code talkers sworn into the Marine Corps
at Fort Wingate, New Mexico.
9 June 4–7, 1942 Battle of Midway
10 Aug. 7, 1942 Campaign for Guadalcanal begins.
11 Nov. 12–15, 1942 Naval Battle of Guadalcanal
12 Nov. 20–23, 1943 Invasion of Tarawa
13 Jan. 31–Feb. 3, 1944 Invasion of the Marshall Islands
14 June 15, 1944 Airfield construction begins in Marianas as Saipan is invaded.
15 Sept. 15, 1944 Invasion of Peleliu begins.
16 Oct. 20, 1944 MacArthur returns to the Philippines.
17 Jan. 1945 Ledo Road completed.
18 Feb. 23, 1945 Marines raise US flag on Mount Suribachi during the Battle
of Iwo Jima.
19 March 6, 1945 First Navy flight nurse sets foot on battlefield at Iwo Jima.
20 March 9–10, 1945 US firebombs Tokyo.
21 April 1, 1945 Invasion of Okinawa begins.
22 May 11, 1945 Kamikazes attack USS Bunker Hill.
23 July 26, 1945 Truman issues Potsdam Declaration.
24 Aug. 6 and 9, 1945 Atomic bombs are dropped over Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
25 Aug. 14, 1945 Truman announces Japanese surrender.
26 Sept. 2, 1945 Instrument of Surrender is signed.
TEACHER
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The War in the Pacific
LESSON PLAN
STUDENT WORKSHEET
PACIFIC WAR IN PHOTOGRAPHS
Directions: Take a close look at your photograph. Pay attention to details. Write down what you see.
Indicate if what you write about your photograph comes from what you see, what you already know
about World War II, or both.
PACIFIC WAR IN PHOTOGRAPHS
Directions: Take a close look at your photograph. Pay attention to details. Write down what you see.
Indicate if what you write about your photograph comes from what you see, what you already know
about World War II, or both.
YOUR NAME: DATE:
DATE EVENT
1 Sept. 18, 1931 Japan invades Manchuria.
2 Dec. 13, 1937–Jan. 1938 Rape of Nanking
3 Feb. 14, 1941 Japanese Ambassador Admiral Kichisaburo Nomura
arrives in Washington, DC.
4 Dec. 7, 1941 Japanese attack Pearl Harbor.
5 Feb. 19, 1942 FDR signs Executive Order 9066.
6 April 9, 1942 US troops surrender at Bataan, Philippines.
7 April 18, 1942 Doolittle Raid
8 May 4, 1942 First 29 Navajo code talkers sworn into the Marine Corps
at Fort Wingate, New Mexico.
9 June 4–7, 1942 Battle of Midway
10 Aug. 7, 1942 Campaign for Guadalcanal begins.
11 Nov. 12–15, 1942 Naval Battle of Guadalcanal
12 Nov. 20–23, 1943 Invasion of Tarawa
13 Jan. 31–Feb. 3, 1944 Invasion of the Marshall Islands
14 June 15, 1944 Airfield construction begins in Marianas as Saipan is invaded.
15 Sept. 15, 1944 Invasion of Peleliu begins.
16 Oct. 20, 1944 MacArthur returns to the Philippines.
17 Jan. 1945 Ledo Road completed.
18 Feb. 23, 1945 Marines raise US flag on Mount Suribachi during the Battle
of Iwo Jima.
19 March 6, 1945 First Navy flight nurse sets foot on battlefield at Iwo Jima.
20 March 9–10, 1945 US firebombs Tokyo.
21 April 1, 1945 Invasion of Okinawa begins.
22 May 11, 1945 Kamikazes attack USS Bunker Hill.
23 July 26, 1945 Truman issues Potsdam Declaration.
24 Aug. 6 and 9, 1945 Atomic bombs are dropped over Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
25 Aug. 14, 1945 Truman announces Japanese surrender.
26 Sept. 2, 1945 Instrument of Surrender is signed.
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LESSON PLAN
PICTURING THE WAR IN THE PACIFIC
TIME LINE KEY
TEACHER
SEPTEMBER 18, 1931
Japan invades Manchuria, a region of northern
China that offers the Japanese much-needed natural
resources. The lack of forceful reaction from the rest of
the world emboldens Japan over the next decade.
(Imperial Postcard Collection, Lafayette College Libraries.)
DECEMBER 13, 1937–JANUARY, 1938
Following the outbreak of a full-scale war at the Marco
Polo Bridge in Peking (now Beijing), Japanese troops
push south toward Nanking (now Nanjing), where
they massacre as many as 200,000 Chinese military
prisoners and civilians and rape tens of thousands of
Chinese women. (H.J. Timperley, Japanese Terror in China, 1938.)
FEBRUARY 14, 1941
Japanese ambassador to the United States Admiral
Kichisaburo Nomura arrives in Washington, DC, to
present his credentials. Nomura meets with Secretary
of State Cordell Hull 50 times over a nine-month period,
but their negotiation sessions are not enough to prevent
war between their nations.
(The Mainichi Newspapers Co., Ltd.)
DECEMBER 7, 1941
Japanese naval and air forces launch an attack against
the US naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, plunging the
United States into World War II. (Michael Wegner Collection.)
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LESSON PLAN
FEBRUARY 19, 1942
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signs Executive
Order 9066, which soon leads to the confinement
in isolated camps of more than 110,000 Japanese
Americans for the remainder of the war.
(National Archives and Records Administration, 210-G-3B-414.)
APRIL 9, 1942
Five months after the Japanese invasion of the
Philippines, the largest surrender in US history occurs
on the Bataan Peninsula. As Japan celebrates,
American morale plummets to a new low.
(National Archives and Records Administration, WC 1140.)
APRIL 18, 1942
Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle leads a daring
surprise raid on Japan by launching medium bombers
from an aircraft carrier. They inflict minor damage,
but the psychological impact in America and Japan is
immense.
(National Archives and Records Administration, WC 1148.)
MAY 4, 1942
The first 29 Navajo code talkers are sworn into the
US Marine Corps at Fort Wingate, New Mexico.
Code talkers, who used their American Indian tribal
languages to send secret communications on the
battlefield, served in Europe and the Pacific and were
critical to the Allied victory at Iwo Jima.
(National Archives at Riverside, National Archives Identier 295175.)
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LESSON PLAN
TEACHER
JUNE 4–7, 1942
In the Battle of Midway, US carrier aircraft deal a
devastating blow to the Japanese navy, destroying four
aircraft carriers. The battle marks the first major US
victory against Japan and is a turning point in the war.
(Naval History and Heritage Command, NH 73065.)
AUGUST 7, 1942
The campaign for Guadalcanal begins as US Marines
land on the South Pacific island and seize the key prize,
an airstrip they name Henderson Field. For six months
ferocious Japanese counterattacks place the campaign
in doubt.
(© Corbis, SF 1682.)
NOVEMBER 12–15, 1942
The United States prevents Japanese reinforcements
from landing during a series of brutal sea and air
clashes in the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. Without
reinforcements, the Japanese are forced to leave the
island two months later.
(National Archives and Records Administration, 111 SC 180156.)
NOVEMBER 20–23, 1943
President Roosevelt authorizes the release of graphic
war-front images like this one from Tarawa in the Gilbert
Islands to reveal to the public the painful price of victory.
In the first major action in the central Pacific, more than
1,000 Americans and 2,500 Japanese are killed.
(National Archives and Records Administration, WCS 1342.)
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LESSON PLAN
JANUARY 31–FEBRUARY 3, 1944
A joint US Navy-Marines-Army force captures Kwajalein
and Roi-Namur in the Marshall Islands, which hold
strategic airfields and naval bases and are a key
stepping-stone to the Mariana Islands. New tactics
with armored amphibious tractors dramatically reduce
casualties as American troops seize heavily defended
beaches in the island chain.
(National Archives and Records Administration, 111 SC 187435.)
JUNE 15, 1944
In the Marianas, US Army and Navy builders construct
airfield facilities and a major port. These airfields allow
technologically advanced B-29 Superfortresses, which
can fly twice as far as the previous generation B-17s,
to fly from Saipan, Tinian, and Guam to rain fire and
explosives on the Japanese homeland.
(National Archives and Records Administration, 342-FH-3A-39165.)
SEPTEMBER 15, 1944
African American US Marines serving in an ammunition
company take cover under intense fire on the beach
at Peleliu, Palau Islands. While the training African
American Marines received at a segregated facility in
North Carolina focused on noncombat roles, they ended
up participating in some of the fiercest fighting in the
Pacific war.
(National Archives and Records Administration, 127-N-9527.)
OCTOBER 20, 1944
General Douglas MacArthur wades ashore at Leyte,
Philippine Islands, accompanied by his staff and
Philippines President Sergio Osmeña. MacArthur's
return to the Philippines fulfills the promise he had
made two and a half years before as he evacuated from
Bataan in the face of a withering Japanese offensive.
(National Archives and Records Administration, WC 1207.)
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LESSON PLAN
TEACHER
JANUARY 1945
The first Allied convoy reaches Kunming, China, via
the Ledo Road from India, opening a land supply route
for the first time since May 1942. Most of the Army
engineers and laborers who built the road through dense
jungle and along steep and winding mountainsides were
African American, as were many of the convoy crews.
(From the Collection of The National WWII Museum, 2002.210.014.)
FEBRUARY 23, 1945
American servicemen raise the flag on Mount Suribachi
on Iwo Jima, four days into the 36-day battle for the tiny
Japanese-held island.
(National Archives and Records Administration, WC 1221.)
MARCH 6, 1945
Ensign Jane Kendiegh, the first US Navy flight nurse to
set foot on any battlefield, bends over a wounded US
Marine on the airstrip on Iwo Jima. Women in the Army
Nurse Corps also served near the front lines, where 16
were killed as a result of direct enemy fire.
(From the Collection of The National WWII Museum, 2011.102.548.)
MARCH 9–10, 1945
Tokyo lies in ruins after American B-29s drop incendiary
bombs on the city, setting the city aflame and killing
100,000 people. US bombers torch another 63 cities
over the next five months, killing tens of thousands of
civilians and leaving millions homeless.
(Library of Congress, LC-USZ62-111427.)
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LESSON PLAN
APRIL 1, 1945
More than 60,000 soldiers and Marines of the US Tenth
Army invade Okinawa in the Japanese Ryukyu Islands.
It will be the Pacific war’s largest amphibious operation,
and the last major American battle of World War II.
(National Archives and Records Administration, 26-G-4426.)
MAY 11, 1945
As the Battle of Okinawa enters its second month, two
kamikazes (suicide pilots) strike fleet carrier USS Bunker
Hill in less than a minute, killing nearly 400 men. The
Japanese military launches almost 2,000 suicide attacks
by the end of the Okinawa campaign.
(National Archives and Records Administration, WC 980.)
JULY 26, 1945
In Germany, Allied leaders discuss the final ultimatum to
Japan. On July 26 they issue the Potsdam Declaration,
warning Japan to surrender unconditionally or face
“prompt and utter destruction.”
(Truman Library, TPL-80-133.)
AUGUST 6 AND 9, 1945
The US Army Air Force drops two newly developed
atomic bombs, one each on the cities of Hiroshima and
Nagasaki, ultimately killing more than 200,000.
(National Archives and Records Administration, 243-HP-II-210.)
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LESSON PLAN
TEACHER
AUGUST 14, 1945
Residents parade through the St. Roch neighborhood
in New Orleans following President Harry S. Truman’s
announcement that Japan had surrendered.
(Photo by Oscar J. Valeton Sr. Times-Picayune. © 2014 NOLA Media Group, L.L.C.
All rights reserved. Used with permission of The Times-Picayune and NOLA.com.)
SEPTEMBER 2, 1945
A Japanese delegation signs surrender documents
aboard the battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay,
formally ending World War II.
(National Archives and Records Administration, 111 C 4627.)
