Curated OER
A Multi-Media Approach to Teaching The Grapes of Wrath
Integrate history, math, and art into a study of The Grapes of Wrath with a series of activities that ask learners to investigate the social, political, economic, and environmental factors at play during the 1930s. Designed to be used...
Curated OER
Of Mice and Men and The Great Depression
Provide a context for Of Mice and Men with a presentation that includes biographical information about John Steinbeck, as well information about the Great Depression and the drought of the early 1930s. The photos of Dorothea Lange,...
Curated OER
Life in the Dust Bowl
Learners consider the accuracy of the book Out of the Dust as they view primary source images taken during the Dust Bowl. Each slide contains an image, a question, and a quote from the book. This would be great to use when covering...
Curated OER
Virtual Field Trip: The Dust Bowl
Take the class on a first-person field trip through the Dust Bowl. They pretend they are living in the 1930s as they respond to images and critical thinking questions to help them best understand the issues that faced people during that...
Historical Thinking Matters
Social Security: 3 Day Lesson
What does social security reveal about the political and social culture of the 1930s? After beginning with a brief introductory video on the impact of the Great Depression and how various Americans, such as Huey Long and Francis...
Curated OER
A New Deal for the Arts - WPA Photographs
Students examine school life during the 1930s. They discuss the Great Depression and the New Deal, examine and discuss photographs from the Library of Congress website, and complete a worksheet about school life during the Great Depression.
Curated OER
Dust Bowl Exodus: How Drought and the Depression Took Their Toll
Students examine the migration of refugees. In this California history lesson, students listen to their instructor present a lecture regarding the details of how the Dust Bowl and Great Depression led to a California population...
Curated OER
Your Land is My Land: A Look at Bootleg Coal Mining During the Depression
Students examine the extreme conditions of unemployment during the Great Depression. In this multiple perspectives lesson, students analyze photographs of coal mining, research and adopt the perspective of a person affected by...
Curated OER
Hard Times, Soft Sell
Students analyze art to determine themes for the Great Depression Era. In this Great Depression lesson, students identify themes for the era and research evidence for the themes to present to the class. Students interview family members...
Curated OER
What Kind of Santa Claus You Are.
Students use a photograph analysis sheet to analyze primary sources (photographs) of the Great Depression in small groups. They then write a poem about kids in the Depression Era that reflects their comprehension of the period and its...
Curated OER
Out of the Dust: Visions of Dust Bowl History Lesson Overview
Students complete activities with the book Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse. In this literature lesson, students read this story and view the Dust Bowl history from the eyes of a child. They discover the Great Depression and life in the...
Curated OER
WWI and Twenties & Thirties
Students 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. Students recognize the economic changes through...
PBS
Myth of the West: Lonely But Free I’ll Be Found
Tumbling tumbleweeds! Scholars work with video clips, primary and secondary documents, and song lyrics to uncover life in the Old West. They examine song's lyrics to uncover myths told in the 1930s about life in the Wild West.
Curated OER
To Kill a Mockingbird: A Historical Perspective
Students research the Great Depression. In this Great Depression lesson, students analyze primary sources to develop an understanding of life in the American south during the depression era as they read Harper Lee's To Kill a...
Curated OER
People in the Depression
Students discover what it was like to live in 1930's America. In this Great Depression lesson, students listen a guest speaker talk about his/her experience during the time period in American history. Students take notes on the...
Curated OER
The Worldwide Depression was Caused by a C.R.A.S.H.
In this Great Depression of the 1930's study guide worksheet, pupils read a brief overview pertaining to the time period in world history and then respond to 4 reflection questions.
Worksheet Web
Analyzing the Text
Practice analyzing informational text with a reading passage that details the Great Depression. Scholars read about the impacts of World War I, the Roaring Twenties, and the Depression, then answer 10 true or false questions.
Curated OER
Studying the Great Depression Through Novels
Eighth graders view pictures of life in a small town during the Great Depression in Illinois to gain an understanding of living conditions during the era. They read novels based on life of this era.
Curated OER
Effects of The Great Depression
Seventh graders discuss the unemployment trends of the 1920s-1930's. They look at it faces of the citizens that lived in the time period. Students work with visual clues to investigate about the living conditions during the Great...
Curated OER
The Impact of the Great Depression on Texas
Seventh graders examine and discuss photographs taken during the Great Depression and the impact of the Great Depression on the U.S. They write research reports and create a mural depicting the lives of rural and urban families in the...
Curated OER
A Childhood View of the Great Depression in Arkansas
Eighth graders identify the causes for the Great Depression of 1929 and see the effects of the depression, the Great Flood, and the drought in Arkansas through the eyes of a child.
Curated OER
The Dust Bowl: Images
Introduce learners to the hardships that followed the onset of the Dust Bowl. There is a quote taken from The Dust Bowl, Men, Dirt and Depression by Paul Bonnifield followed by 10 primary-source images.
Stanford University
Migrant Mother Photograph
A picture often has hidden stories to tell. Looking at the iconic Migrant Mother photography by Dorothy Lange, individuals examine the human toll of the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression at large. Other documents, including a statement...
Curated OER
Growing a Nation
Eleventh graders examine the Dust Bowl in American History. In this US History lesson, 11th graders read a transcript on the Dust Bowl. Students analyze a video on the Dust Bowl.