Thinkfinity.org Offers Teachers, Students and History Buffs Everything They Would Like to Know About Pearl Harbor

NEW YORK - Teachers, students and history buffs looking for compelling educational materials on Pearl Harbor can find everything from an interactive timeline detailing hour-by-hour developments of the Dec. 7, 1941, attack to a copy of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's famous address to the nation, complete with his handwritten edits - all on Thinkfinity.org.

The rich collection of free lesson plans, activities and educational resources are featured on the home page of Thinkfinity.org, the Verizon Foundation's free, comprehensive Web site.  It contains more than 55,000 educational resources, including standards-based, grade-specific, K-12 lesson plans, online educational games, videos and other materials provided in partnership with many of the nation's leading educational organizations.

Among the resources available in the Thinkfinity.org Pearl Harbor section are:

• Remembering Pearl Harbor Attack Map.  An interactive educational resource from National Geographic that includes an hour-by-hour timeline with audio descriptions of events, such as the sinking of the U.S.S. Arizona. The resource also includes interviews with survivors. For students in grades 3-12.
  http://plasma.nationalgeographic.com/pearlharbor/ax/map.html
• The Road to Pearl Harbor: The United States and East Asia, 1915-1941. In this detailed four-unit lesson plan from the National Endowment for the Humanities' EdSITEment, students explore the rise of animosity between the U.S. and Japan beginning in World War I and continuing over the next two decades. For students in grades 9-12.
• http://edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=748
• ReadWriteThink.org Pearl Harbor Calendar Entry.  This educational resource from the International Reading Association's and National Council of Teachers of English's ReadWriteThink.org features a Pearl Harbor Day classroom activity, World War II lesson plans and books.  There are also links to online related resources, such as a page from the National Archives including the typed first-draft of President Roosevelt's War Address to Congress, and a link to the Library of Congress showing a copy of the U.S.S. Ranger's navel dispatch from the Commander in Chief Pacific (CINCPAC) announcing the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
• http://www.readwritethink.org/calendar/calendar_day.asp?id=363
• Sheet Music: Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition. An educational resource from the Smithsonian's History Explorer that recounts the story of a Navy chaplain who was saying a prayer to sailors aboard a U.S. Navy ship as it was under attack. According to the story, the chaplain said, "Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition," a phrase that prompted a song by that name by composer Frank Loesser. The story is an example of how the attack on Pearl Harbor affected all aspects of American life, including popular culture. This resource also includes links to other online resources from the museum, including interactive materials, lesson plans, videos, oral histories, artifacts and other primary resources.
• http://www.historyexplorer.americanhistory.si.edu/artifacts/resource.asp?id=1204

"Through Thinkfinity.org, anyone in reach of the Internet now has quick access to a wonderful world of educational resources, all in one location, to bring the lessons of history to life," said Patrick Gaston, Verizon Foundation president.

Since the launch of Verizon's Thinkfinity.org in March 2007, the Verizon Foundation has committed more than $34 million to update and expand Thinkfinity.org and provide training to teachers.

Content for Thinkfinity.org is provided through a partnership between the Verizon Foundation and 11 of the nation's leading organizations in the fields of education and literacy: the American Association for the Advancement of Science, International Reading Association, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, National Center for Family Literacy, National Council on Economic Education, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Council of Teachers of English, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, National Geographic Society, ProLiteracy and the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.

The Verizon Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Verizon Communications, supports the advancement of literacy and K-12 education through its signature program, Thinkfinity.org, and fosters awareness and prevention of domestic violence.  In 2007, the foundation awarded more than $67.4 million in grants to nonprofit agencies in the United States and abroad. The foundation also matched the charitable donations of Verizon employees and retirees, resulting in $25.1 million in combined contributions. Through Verizon Volunteers, one of the nation's largest employee volunteer programs, Verizon employees and retirees have volunteered more than 3 million hours of community service since Verizon's inception in 2000. For more information on the foundation, visit www.verizon.com/foundation.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ), headquartered in New York, is a leader in delivering broadband and other wireline and wireless communication innovations to mass market, business, government and wholesale customers.  Verizon Wireless operates America's most reliable wireless network, serving nearly 71 million customers nationwide.  Verizon's Wireline operations include Verizon Business, which delivers innovative and seamless business solutions to customers around the world, and Verizon Telecom, which brings customers the benefits of converged communications, information and entertainment services over the nation's most advanced fiber-optic network.  A Dow 30 company, Verizon employs a diverse workforce of more than 228,000 and last year generated consolidated operating revenues of $93.5 billion.  For more information, visit www.verizon.com.

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