Library of Congress
Oral History and Social History
Students examine the Great Depression. In this oral and social histories instructional activity, students analyze primary sources to develop an understanding of the America in the 1930's.
Curated OER
Creating a Shared Culture
Students simulate working on an assembly line in a shared culture. In this consumerism lesson, students participate in a lecture and note-taking session before working on a simulated assembly line. They work in a timed situation to...
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American Immigration Past and Present
Students simulate a Commission hearing in which the class attempt to arrive at an immigration policy; individual essays by each student; and, if time permits, individual or group projects based on some aspect of America's immigration...
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WWI and Twenties & Thirties
Learners study economics and timelines of events to understand changes in America. In this Twenties and Thirties lesson, students navigate Internet sites to research famous reformers. Learners recognize the economic changes through...
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Radio Broadcasting Before Television
Students compare the radio to other forms of mass communication. In this Radio Broadcasting Before Television lesson, students learn the different types of radio shows in the 1920s and 30s. Students write and perform radio scripts...
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Introduction to a Unit on the 1930's Depression in America
Students view and discuss photographic images of the Dust Bowl by Dorothea Lange. They discuss who Dorothea Lange was and why she took the pictures, the conservational factors that contributed to the Dust Bowl and migrant workers and the...
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Communication In U.S. Society; Radio In America
Students see how radio began the modern consumer society, shaped societal views on peoples and cultures and changed family home life forever. Radio shrank the world by bringing far-away places, events, and individuals into peoples living...
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Dirty Thirties: The Dust Bowl
Middle schoolers explore the events and reactions surrounding the Dust Bowl crisis during the 1930's. They discuss how the events of the Great Depression affected America's democracy and how it transformed America.
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I Don't Think We're in Kansas Anymore (Grades 2-5)
Students give examples of erosion and weathering processes. They determine causes of America's Dust Bowl phenomena.Students define erosion as the condition in which the earth's surface is worn away by the action of water and wind.
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Remembering World War II
Students read about America's participation in World War II. They study images, timelines, and other primary source documents.
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The War of the Worlds
Students discover the concept of media based on literature. In this War of the Worlds lesson, students read the novel The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells and listen to the 1938 radio broadcast adaptation by Orson Welles. Students then...
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Asylum Talk Show
Students investigate the case of a German ship containing Jewish refugees seeking asylum from Nazi persecution in the late 1930s. They conduct Internet research, watch a video, and role-play passengers from the St. Louis on a simulated...
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Immigration in the United States
Learners examine the reasons why people leave their country to live in another. In groups, they use print and electronic resources to answer questions about where immigrants came from during different time periods and advice given to...
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The Great Depression and the 1990s
Young scholars examine government-funded programs. In this government activity, students research legislation from the Depressions era as well as current legislation regarding government-funded programs. Young scholars evaluate the...
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What We Can Learn From Oral History
Young scholars read oral history accounts of the 1930s and 1940s from "The Greatest Generation" books. They discuss how the common good and civil society was strengthed by these men and what they did for America. They research another...
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Entertaining Vancouver's Youth During World War II.
Students investigate relevant period documents and artifacts and have the
opportunity to replicate a 1943-44 entertainment experience by viewing a program
of World War II era motion pictures on site at Vancouver's historic...
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Exploring Roosevelt's New Deal Using Oral Histories from the Great Depression
Students examine the process of collecting life stories. They also look at the lives effected by The Great Depression to gain understanding of the controversial economic plan of Roosevelt.
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Great Depression's Impact on Organized Labor
Students investigate that labor unions recruited more workers to join their ranks during the Depression, and speculate as to why this growth occurred when it did. They research the impact of federal legislation of the New Deal (esp. the...
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Documenting the Great Depression
Students compare and contrast two photographs from the Great Depression, and identify the ways in which the photographers depicted the hardships of everyday life during this period. They hypothesize about the story behind each photograph...
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20th Century American Art
See the changes, controversy, and innovations that define postwar American art. The onset of the modern art era in American history is well-defined in this slide-show. You'll see how Abstract Expressionism shifted into conceptual, pop,...
Alabama Department of Archives and History
Changes in Transportation over Time
Planes, trains, and automobiles. How many ways to travel are there? Scholars learn about modes of transportation in the past and how they have changed over time. Budding historians view a timeline, participate in group discussion, and...
Digital Public Library of America
Teaching Guide: Exploring To Kill a Mockingbird
Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, considered by many to be a seminal piece of American literature, contains many complex literary themes that carry through United States history. Use a series of discussion questions and classroom...
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Roll the Union On: the National Labor Relations Act and the Rise of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO)
Young scholars examine the many different programs Roosevelt created as a result of the Great Depression. They research the National Labor Relations Act and explore what working conditions were like during that time.
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The Federal Theatre Project
Students research the Federal Theatre Project and assess its accomplishments. Working in groups, they identify both successes and failure of the project and record their findings on a chart. Students explain the credibility of the...