Welcome back to our fourth week of the ABC’s of American History. This week we have Samantha from Le Chaim on the Right sharing her resource list for D-Day. She used her affiliate links to provide you a quick resource on Amazon.
“The eyes of the world are upon you.” -Eisenhower
WWII is my passion. With this tough time period, it’s easier to find resources for high school students rather than elementary, but I tried to compile a list for grades 1-6.
D-Day was the Allied invasion in Normandy, France during World War II. It began on June 6, 1944, with 150,000 Allied forces fighting for freedom. The Germans knew what the Allies would attack soon, but they didn’t quite know where. The Allies had staged a fake attack quite north of France, where Hitler awaited their attack. The Allies took Germany by surprise, and D-Day was a huge success – and the turning point of WWII.
Interesting facts to make your D-Day study more interesting:
- The “D” in D-Day stands for Day. There is also “H-Hour”
- D-Day is known as Operation Overlord.
- D-Day was the largest seaborne invasion in history.
- George S. Patton did not fight during D-Day. Instead, Patton was benched and led a fake army to distract Hitler from the real battle plans in Normandy (D-Day). This stunt was called Operation Quicksilver. The Germans then got wind of Quicksilver – and prepared for such. This came as a major shock to Hitler, and greatly contributed to D-Day’s success.
There are many books written about D-Day. Check out your local library for more ideas! Along with the book, I tried to list an approximate age range.
- Welcome to Molly’s World (American Girl) (grades 1-5) (explores life in America during WWII)
- What was D-Day? (Scholastic) (grades 2-4)
- D-Day: The Allies Strike Back by Terry Miller (grades 3-6)
- D-Day by Tom McGowen (grades 4-6)
- We Were Heroes by Walter Dean Myers – My Name is America series (grades 5+)
- A Spy on the Home Front by Alison Hart (Molly, American Girl) (grades 3-8)
- WWII For Kids: A History with 21 Crafts by Richard Panchyk
Teachers Pay Teachers is full of fun projects for all grade levels. You can sort projects by grade level, or by price.
D-Day for Kids is a nice $5 app targeting kids ages 6-8.
There aren’t too many WWII films for younger kids. However, a few years ago I was lucky to stumble upon Valiant, a G-rated animated film about Britain’s messenger pigeons and the part they played during D-Day. It was the first and only time I have seen facts at the end of an animated film. Molly, An American Girl, explores WWII, and although not necessarily D-day, is still a great clean, family movie.
For students old enough, the obvious two classics are Saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers and for students old enough, those are must-watches. No exceptions. Here are a few alternatives, but still not really for anyone under 10.
- Ike: Countdown to D-Day
- The World Wars (History Channel) (They did a phenomenal job matching up historical look alikes!)
- The Longest Day
- Where Eagles Dare (I haven’t seen)
- Overlord (1975)
- Saving Private Ryan
- Band of Brothers
- History Channel / American Heroes Channel
For More Resources:
- D-Day for Kids (Ducksters)
- WWII Posters & Ads (Pinterest, ALL rated G)
- 30+ Ways to Teach History Without a Textbook (Le Chaim…on the Right)
- D-Day (History Channel)
- 10 Fascinating Facts on D-Day (Constitution Center)
- 40 Amazing D-Day Facts (express)
Come back next week to see what new resources we have to share while we learn all about the letter E during the ABC’s of American History.