Curated OER
The Great Depression
Students are be able to analyze primary sources (photographs and letters) for evidence of difficulties children faced during the Great Depression. They are asked how the government tries to help people with problems that people face to...
Curated OER
Music of the Great Depression
Eleventh graders take a closer look at the music of the Great Depression. In this 1930's America lesson, 11th graders read and analyze the provided lyrics of 6 songs from the era. Students then compose their own lyrics for songs that...
Curated OER
Hope In The Hard Times - A Unit on the Great Depression
Students examine the Great Depression through the analysis of the novel, 'Bud, Not Buddy.' They analyze photos from the National Archives website, complete a character analysis, and conduct research and summarize a topic from the Great...
Curated OER
Musical Expression During the Great Depression
Students explore how people lived during the Great Depression by exploring music of that time. This is a three-part lesson.
Curated OER
Potato: A Tale from the Great Depression
Students barter for goods within the class. In this economics lesson based on the Great Depression, the teacher introduces the lesson with a picture book, then students are allowed to barter with teacher supplied goods as they examine...
Curated OER
What Caused the Great Depression?
Analyze the many causes of major political, economic, and social developments during the 1920s and 1930s, with emphasis on the Great Depression. Read photographs from the 1920's and the 1930's, then write a brief explanation of what you...
Federal Reserve Bank
Could It Happen Again?
The final instructional activity in a series of six about the Great Depression focuses on the Federal Reserve's role in stabilizing the economy.
Curated OER
Journal of Time: A Historical Perspective
Analyze the setting behind the Great Depression in California with Pam Munoz Ryan's Esperanza Rising. Middle schoolers assess the protagonist during her coming-of-age moments, while migrant workers manage the hardships of the era. Each...
National Endowment for the Humanities
John Steinbeck’s "The Grapes of Wrath": The Inner Chapters
Here’s a must-have resource for anyone using The Grapes of Wrath. Everything from guiding questions to background information, from photographs to documentary films, from activities to assessments is included in a richly detailed packet...
Curated OER
The Great Depression: 1930s through WWII
Here is an oddly formated presentation that does have some great information and neat ideas. It includes images and text describing the causes and effects of the Great Depression, FDR, Herbert Hoover, and Eleanor Roosevelt. It also...
Curated OER
The Great Depression: Part 1
Students explore the causes and effects of the Great Depression. In this Great Depression activity, students analyze the economic and political causes as well as the economic, foreign affairs and political effects of the depression....
Curated OER
The Grapes of Wrath: Voices from the Great Depression
Students research the Great Depression. In this Great Depression activity, students analyze primary sources to develop an understanding of the plight of migrant farm workers during the Great Depression as they read Steinbeck's The...
Curated OER
Photographs from the Great Depression: Jacob Have I Loved 
Students research the Great Depression and World War II. In this Great Depression lesson, students analyze photographs of the depression era as they begin reading Katherine Paterson's Jacob Have I Loved.
Curated OER
Great Depression and the New Deal
Students create a timeline detailing the events of the Great Depression to identify causes of the Great Depression. Then students organize the programs created by the New Deal using a graphic organizer.
K12 Reader
The Great Depression
Try out this reading passage when teaching your class about the 1920s and 1930s. After reading the text, which provides an overview of some major events in these years, learners respond to five related questions.
Great Depression PPT
This PowerPoint presentation provides detailed information about the causes of the Great Depression as well as some of the living conditions that occurs. It has a warm-up activity for students to complete. At the end there is an activity...
Annenberg Foundation
By the People, For the People
A picture speaks a thousand words—no matter how old. The 18th installment of a 22-part series on the making of American history has scholars research the causes of the Great Depression and the factors of the New Deal. Using photographic...
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
The Great Depression and FDR
Eleventh graders recognize some of the causes and effects of the Great Depression, and thereby explain the motives behind Roosevelt's "New Deal" program for the United States.
Curated OER
The Great Depression
Eighth graders examine the relief, recovery, and reform legislation to combat the Great Depression. In this New Deal lesson plan, 8th graders investigate New Deal programs as well as images from the depression era. Students then present...
Curated OER
Understanding the Great Depression Through Film
Eleventh graders consider the role that government should play in economics. In this Great Depression instructional activity, 11th graders watch the film Cinderella Man and then complete a packet of worksheets to help them analyze the...
Curated OER
Time Traveler Blues: The Great Depression
Students research the Great Depression Era and its effect on the world. They create a multimedia presentation over the Great Depression from many angles.
Curated OER
The Great Depression: An Oral History
Pupils examine the hardships experienced during the Great Depression through an oral history interview with person who lived through the event. Students transcribe their interviews and discover the contributions oral history can make to...
Curated OER
Family Life During the Great Depression
Students practice the skill of photo analysis. In this Great Depression lesson, students analyze photographs from the era and write fictitious diary entries based on the images.