Curated OER
Was it a New Deal or a Raw Deal?
Students investigate the facets of the New Deal. In this Great Depression lesson plan, students research primary documents to explore the pros and cons of the New Deal legislation. Students respond to 1930's newspaper editorials...
Curated OER
Streamlines and Breadlines
Learners explore the Great Depression. In this Great Depression lesson plan, students research selected websites and analyze primary sources to conduct inquiries regarding the depression, northern migration, and urbanization. Learners...
Curated OER
Brother, Can you Spare a Dime?
Young scholars through song analysis and group discussion, identify the qualities representing the Great Depression. They study the Great Depression and how it affected people all over U.S. They analysis the lyrics to the song "Brother...
Curated OER
I Have a Story to Tell
Students use research information to create a story reflective of an individual of the Great Depression. Students use the RAFT (role, audience, format, topic) learning strategy to identify their role as the author, their audience, the...
Curated OER
New Deal Programs: Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
Students research New Deal programs. In this Great Depression lesson, students analyze primary sources to develop an understanding of the effects of the depression and how WPA programs and other New Deal programs impacted people's...
Curated OER
Grapes of Wrath as a Primary Source
Eighth graders consider the plight of migrant farmers during the Great Depression. In this historical perspectives lesson, 8th graders watch the film based on Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath and then discuss the conditions the characters...
PBS
Setting in To Kill a Mockingbird
Can you understand more about how a person acts by learning about how that person lives? An interactive resource explores the setting of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird with several slides discussing the location, social...
Curated OER
Debating the Depression
Twelfth graders discover how to debate important social issues in a civil manner. They explain the importance of knowledge in public discourse.
Curated OER
The Wealth Tax of 1935 and the Victory Tax of 1942
Young scholars explain that during the Great Depression and World War II, the Roosevelt administration implemented new, broader, and more progressive taxes in order to cover the costs of the New Deal programs and the war.
Curated OER
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.
Curated OER
Visions in the Dust: A Child's Perspective of the Dust Bowl
Middle schoolers examine primary source material of the Depression to correlate the fictional text "Out of the Dust" with actual visual, auditory, and manuscript accounts as found in the American Memory collections.
Curated OER
The Causes of Prohibition
Eleventh graders explore the origins of the Prohibition Movement in the United States. In small groups, they analyze the influence of World War I in the passage of the eighteenth amendment. Students explain how different demographics of...
Curated OER
Immigration and Migration Today and During the Great Depression
Students conduct oral history interviews and research primary resources to explain changes in immigration and migration over time.
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
The Impact of the Dust Bowl as Shown Through Photography
Seventh graders examine and discuss photographs and paintings of the Dust Bowl era. They write a journal entry describing what it would be like if they stepped into one of the photographs, and create a Powerpoint presentation on the Dust...
Curated OER
About Life: The Photographs of Dorothea Lange
Students use art to analyze a period in history. In this instructional activity about the effect of art on history, students study many different pieces of photography by Dorothea Lange. Students will observe photographs from certain...
Curated OER
Roll the Union On: the National Labor Relations Act and the Rise of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO)
Students 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.
Curated OER
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...
Federal Reserve Bank
Monetary and Fiscal Policy in Times of Crisis
Following the 2008 financial crisis in the United States, why did fiscal policymakers increase government spending and reduce taxes? Discover the motivation behind these actions and learn about the separate functions of monetary and...
Curated OER
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...
Curated OER
The Attack On Pearl Harbor: December 7, 1941
For this Pearl Harbor worksheet, students read about what happened on December 7th, 1941, read Roosevelt's speech in response, and complete activities in the passive voice about what they read. Students write the past participle of 10...
Curated OER
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...
Curated OER
Read All About It! Events and People of the 1930s and 1940s That Shaped California and the Nation.
Learners look carefully at four photographs by Dorothea Lange and discuss them in terms of what is depicted and what she may have wanted to communicate. They review what they learned about the Dust Bowl, the Depression, the war era, and...
Curated OER
Jazz in America
Young scholars explore the Swing Era and its implications. They answer questions and listen to music from the era.