Yesterday's Enemies: A Story About Pearl Harbor

On or around December 7th of each year, I like to take a detour from whatever I am teaching and share a story with my students. It is about two individuals, Richard Fiske and Zenji Abe, who were at Pearl Harbor that fateful day in 1941...on opposite sides of the war. The story comes from a book by Dorinda Nicholson called Pearl Harbor Warriors.

Richard Fiske was a bugler on the USS West Virginia on December 7, 1941. He was on the deck of the ship when the Japanese planes arrived at Pearl Harbor. Before having to abandon ship, Richard saw the face of a Japanese pilot. For years he woke up with nightmares of that face. After ending up in the hospital with ulcers, his doctor told him it was time to let go of the anger that he felt. He and other veterans reached out to the Japanese to invite their veterans to the Pearl Harbor Anniversary festivities.

Zenji Abe was a Japanese pilot that had been at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. He read about the invitation in a Japanese newspaper and came to the 50th anniversary in 1991. There he met Richard Fiske and the two became lifelong friends.

Every month, Zenji would send money to Richard to buy two roses. Richard would take those two roses and his bugle to the USS Arizona Memorial on the last Sunday of every month. He would play taps and place the two roses, one for the Americans and one for the Japanese. He did this every month until his death.

In the story, there is a quote from Richard that I always like to share with my students. He said, "Please remember that you don't have to hate forever.....you can say to your enemy. We fought each other. Okay. But today we are friends and let's build on that."

Student Created Websites

As part of our studies on the Roaring 20s, I gave students a choice for a final project. They could choose almost any topic from the 1920s and had several options for the style of project including a children's book, museum exhibit, video or website. I certainly have some creative students and I am very impressed with the quality of projects. This post will highlight one of the types of projects, a website. I spent one day introducing Weebly to those students who wished to do a website and they found it easy and fun to collaborate for the finished project. Here are links to some of the best:

• 1920s Entertainment
• Impact of the Automobile
• 1920s Fashion
• Prohibition

Speakeasy Simulation: Bringing the 1920s to Life

On Halloween, I turned my classroom into a 1920s speakeasy to teach my students about Prohibition. I made sure students had a secret password the day before and as they entered my class, I asked them for it. It was fun to see students saying, "Joe sent me" and wondering why. I greeted them at the door, dressed as a flapper and asking for the password. As they entered my classroom, Charleston music was playing (courtesy of Pandora radio). I had a sign in front that said, "Welcome to the Haunted Speakeasy." On one table in the back were small cups of apple juice and Halloween candy. The room was decorated with pumpkins and orange lights. On the tables were black table cloths made out of butcher paper. And on the wall in the back were pictures from the 1920s.The first activity was for students to assume the roles of 17 different individuals associated with Prohibition. Their task was to circulate around the room and meet as many people as they could, each time finding out more and more about Prohibition. 
I also gave students bonus participation points for dressing in period attire. Here are some of them: 
I had one of the most enjoyable days of teaching in a long time and I heard my students talking about how much fun it had been. Even many of my most reluctant participants were up and talking to others and getting into the lesson. My brain is already spinning with ideas. Maybe a 1950s sock hop or a Vietnam War Sit In?