Federal Reserve Bank
Dealing with the Great Depression
As part of their study of the Great Depression, young economists examine statistical data to determine the effectiveness of FDR's New Deal recovery programs.
Federal Reserve Bank
What Really Caused the Great Depression?
Falling wages. Rising unemployment. Falling prices. Sound familiar? Young economists look at the role the US banking system had in causing the Great Depression.
Curated OER
Differing Federal Responses to the Great Depression: Letter Analysis
Young analysts examine two letters, one written by President Hoover and one written by FDR. Each letter contains that president's response to the role of the Federal Government during times of crisis (The Great Depression). They analyze...
Federal Reserve Bank
Measuring the Great Depression
Young historians examine the cost of goods and services through the Consumer Price Index (CPI), output measured by Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and unemployment measured by the unemployment rate to gain an understanding of the economic...
Federal Reserve Bank
Potato: A Tale from the Great Depression
There are so many ways to use a potato: bake it, fry it, or barter it. The lesson explains the concepts of bartering, money, and goods and services with a story that takes place during the Great Depression. Academics complete group...
Curated OER
Great Depression and New Deal
The five activities outlined in this resource packet engage class members in projects that ask them to research the causes and the effects, both national and local, of the Great Depression and the New Deal policies of FDR.
Curated OER
Life During the Great Depression An Oral History Project
Although our connections to those who personally witnessed the Holocaust are dwindling, this lesson focuses on conducting an interview and getting some primary source material. There is a list of resources your high schoolers can...
Curated OER
To the North: A Black Family Leaves Arkansas to Find Work in Michigan
Upper elementary and middle school scholars study the economic factors that caused so many Arkansans to migrate to different parts of the country looking for work. Use this history lesson plan to help your charges gain a better...
Curated OER
The Great Depression in North Carolina: Experiences of the People
Learners explore the Great Depression. For this research skills lesson, students interpret historical evidence presented in primary and secondary sources. Learners write their own WPA interviews after they have examined...
Center for History Education
The Federal Theatre Project: Analyzing Conflict Among Relief, Art, and Politics in 1930s America
In the effort to soothe the suffering of the Great Depression, New Deal programs funded a variety of approaches - including a theater project that proved controversial! Using documents such as oral histories, as well as photographs of...
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...
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
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
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
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. For 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
Immigration and Migration: Today and During the Great Depression
Students conduct interviews, analyze primary sources including docuements and images to gain an inderstanding of the causes and effects of he Great Depression and immigration.
ReadWriteThink
Designing Museum Exhibits for The Grapes of Wrath: A Multigenre Project
Challenge readers of John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath to create a museum exhibit that uses artifacts to focus on one issue raised by the award winning story of the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl, and the Joads.
Curated OER
Cultural Environment during the Great Depression
Eleventh graders research American culture of the Great Depression. In this role-playing lesson, groups of students develop "talking points" for their assigned topic and condense them into a Powerpoint or Hyper Studio presentation.
Curated OER
Why Study Economic Downturns?
Research and connect America's current economic downturn with the 1929 Stock Market Crash and the Great Depression.
Curated OER
The New Deal: The Works Progress Administration
How did American begin to come out of the Great Depression? Viewers will be intrigued to find one of the answers in this presentation, which details the Works Progress Administration. The slides detail various parts of the WPA with...
Curated OER
Technology and the Great Depression
Students examine how technology affected the Great Depression era. They view a video, conduct Internet research, and write articles for a class technology magazine.
Curated OER
The Crash, the Dust, and the New Deal
Students explore the Great Depression. In this American history lesson, students examine primary sources in order to research the Stock Market Crash of 1929, the Dust Bowl, and the Neal Deal. Students study the impact on these events on...
PBS
Master of the Airwaves: How FDR Used Radio to Ease the Public’s Fears
The political and economic climate during the 1930's was uncertain and tumultuous. But Americans' minds and hearts were eased with the reassuring words of their president, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and addresses over the radio. High...