I. Curricular Framework

Concept:

Cause and Effect

Essential Question:

Citing the major differences between the stock market crash of October, 1929, and the current stock

Bridge:

“Images” of the Period

Content:

Causes of the Great Depression

Outcomes:

II. Standards Aligned

III. Instruction and Assessment

1. Connect: Connecting to the Concept Experientially

?Loss of Income Exercise:
1) Students work in small groups; each group will be a "family" which is assigned a decent income, appropriate to the community in which they live. Each “family" determines a household budget for its income using guidelines provided by the teacher. Budgets account for basic needs, such as housing expenses, food, transportation, insurance, medical and dental services, entertainment, etc. 2) Once each group’s budget is complete, the students are informed by the teacher that their income will now end, abruptly. Students must discuss what they would do, and each group must review its budget and prioritize
decision-making. What goes 1st, 2nd, 3rd?

Assessment: Participation.

2. Attend: Attending to the Connection

Objective: To have students understand the inevitable impact on individuals in a depression.

Activity: Each family shares their experience and writes a diary entry. Included in the entry are "feelings" in a young person's life in an economic
disaster.

Assessment: List "feelings" about a young person's life in an economic disaster.

Assessment, Phase One, Level of Engagement, Fascination:

3. Image: Creating a Mental Picture

Objective: To integrate the previous experience and reflections into the concept of economic, social, and political upheaval.

Activity: Using a guided imagery approach while reading from original newspaper and magazine accounts, the teacher engages students in imagining the reality of real people in Depression (newspapers, magazines, films, poetry). Students listen to the song, "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" and view film clips which show the devastation to individual and family life. Have students refer back to their thoughts from the previous “family” scenario.

Assessment: How do their "guesses" of life compare to the accounts given.

Assessment, Phase Two, Seeing the Big Picture:

4. Inform: Receiving Facts & Knowledge

Objective: To understand the specific causes of the Depression and the attempts to remedy the problems.

Activity: Lectures/readings of text and supplemental materials on the causes of the Depression, with a focus on the administrations of Hoover and FDR and the domestic policies enacted in the 1930’s. The class views the film, "Grapes of Wrath."

Assessment: Test - objectives and essays.

Assessment, Phase Three, Success with Acquiring Knowledge:

5. Practice: Developing Skills

Objective: To reinforce information

Activity: Students fill out study guide worksheets on the film, "Grapes of Wrath," and edit their class notes.

Assessment: Grade student work.

Assessment, Phase Four, Success with Acquiring Skills:

6. Extend: Extending Learning to the Outside World

Objective: To integrate material with a personal experience of learning.

Activity: Students choose one of the following: 1)Keep a personal diary for one month, a diary that would describe the daily life and feelings of a teenager during the Great Depression including photos and/or your own drawings reflecting that teen’s daily experiences. 2) Read and
critique a major piece of Depression-era literature. Include in your critique what message benefits us today. 3) Do a stock market analysis as to what controls could have prevented the "crash.” The teacher approves each student’s project choice, and students develop rubrics for assessing completed project.

Assessment: Teacher approval of topic.

7. Refine: Refining the Extension

Objective: To analyze concepts taught within their own format.

Activity: Students complete approved project according to contract. First drafts are compared to agreed-upon rubrics. Partners pair/share, and critique each other’s work. The teacher provides feedback as
necessary.

Assessment: Teacher guide process (very little involvement).

8. Perform: Creative Manifestation of Material Learned

Objective: To apply information to complex personal experiences.

Activity: Students share their completed projects. Students break into teams and using
websites, form their hypotheses on “the essential question.” Each team then shares a statement answering “the essential question” of the unit.

Assessment: Grade projects. Teacher: what next? The changing of role of government as America goes to war.

Assessment, Phase Five,Performance, Creative Use of Material Learned: