Timeline from Official Action Reports
Objectives
Students will:
- Using ship log books and action reports as primary sources.
- Read timelines and reconstruct the events of Pearl Harbor.
- Learn why Navy keeps detailed and precise records.
- Create their own timelines summarizing the events of Pearl Harbor.
- Synthesize primary evidence to build a historical context for the events of Pearl Harbor.
Materials
Action Reports
Small Group Exercises
1. Divide students into groups and distribute copies of the timelines to each group. Ask students to read through each timeline and highlight the events that stand out. Draw students’ attention to the fact that the U.S. Navy has a high regard for detail and accuracy as the U.S. Navy is currently the "keepers of time." Then, as a class, compare and contrast the three timelines. Discuss why certain events were included in a timeline while others were omitted.
2. Ask students to re-construct a timeline of the events at Pearl Harbor in an outline using only 12 points. Students will need to be concise and detailed because this outline will help them write an article for their newspaper front page.
3. What photographs will best help to illustrate the events described in the article?
