Teacher Background:
Rosie the Riveter | National Women’s History Museum
Objectives:
- Students will be able to determine how World War II created opportunity for female participation in jobs previously designated for males.
- Students will be able to analyze how the perspectives and day-to-day lives of women were fundamentally changed by their participation in the World War II economy.
- Students will be able to demonstrate a broad understanding of how women’s lives changed during World War II.
- Students will be able to understand how wartime demands changed societal conditions and individual lives.
Essential Question:
- How did the activities of home front workers in the United States contribute to the war effort during World War II?
- How do citizens demonstrate their patriotism during wartime?
Procedure:
Step 1 Have students do an internet search of “Rosie the Riveter”
Step 2 Have student create a journal entry of what life would have been like to warrant the need for women to enter the steel mills.
Step 3 Have students explore (via the internet) if and when women entered the traditional male workforce in history. What were the circumstances for doing so?
Alternate Perspective:
Teaching guide Norman Rockwell, Rosie the Riveter – Smarthistory