Pearl Harbor Chains

This worksheet helps students in Grades 5, 6, and 7 build historical comprehension, cause-and-effect reasoning, logical analysis, and clear explanatory writing through a focused study of the Pearl Harbor attack. After reading a short informational summary, learners write three cause-and-effect chains that explain how events leading up to Pearl Harbor resulted in major consequences, including U.S. entry into World War II. The activity makes historical relationships explicit while strengthening sentence construction and reasoning.

Learning Goals

• Cause & Effect (Grades 5-7) – Explain how one historical event led directly to another
• World War II Understanding – Analyze why Pearl Harbor became a turning point in global history
• Logical Reasoning – Link events in a clear, sequential way
• Explanatory Writing – Write complete sentences that clearly describe historical relationships

Instructional Benefits

• Teacher-Created Resource – Designed by educators to align with upper elementary and middle school social studies and ELA standards
• Structured Chain Format – Helps students organize thinking step by step
• Text-Based Reasoning – Requires close reading and accurate use of information from the passage
• Flexible Use – Ideal for classwork, review, assessment, or homeschool instruction
• Supports Historical Thinking – Reinforces understanding of consequences and turning points

This Pearl Harbor Chains worksheet helps students move beyond memorizing events to understanding how and why history unfolds. By writing cause-and-effect chains, learners strengthen comprehension, reasoning, and writing clarity while deepening their understanding of Pearl Harbor’s significance. It’s a simple, no-prep resource for classroom and homeschool settings focused on meaningful analysis of World War II history.

This worksheet is part of our Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day Worksheets collection.