2011-2012 Lesson Plan for Henrico 21 Awards
Lesson Title: Great Depression Scrapbook
Target Grade/Subject: 6 – 7 / US II
Length: 3 Weeks (at home project)
Summary: During our study of the Great Depression, students are given a take home project to create a scrapbook imagining that they lived during the Great Depression. Unlike other such projects where students receive the assignment after we’ve learned the topic in class, students receive this assignment at the beginning of the unit. This is so that as we learn things and complete activities they can reflect on in their scrapbook, they can add to their book. For example, after an activity where students act as a family to adjust their budgets due to changed circumstances student could reflect on such changes in their scrapbook, or, students could add a writing assignment about depression era photographs once we’ve completed them. Students are given a variety of options for what can be included in a scrapbook as well as some web sites to help get them started. Students may complete their scrapbook in any format they choose – some complete a paper book, others choose an ActivInspire flipchart, and some sign up for web sites such as Mixbook among others.
Essential questions:What was it like to be alive during the Great Depression?
Lesson Development:
Process/Tasks/Assessment: This is a project, so this is for reinforcement of daily instruction.
Scrapbooking in its earliest form was a way to blend of photographs, memorabilia collections and journaling. People have been scrapbooking since printed material became available to the average person. Some of the earliest and most famous American scrapbookers include Thomas Jefferson and Mark Twain. Scrapbooking with photographs has been around since photos became available to ordinary people. Scrapbooks often included bits of memorabilia like newspaper clippings, letters, etc.
The scrapbooks for this project will be about the Great Depression and depictthe frustrations and hopes of those that lived through the Great Depression. The interplay of photographic and print documents will demonstrate what students have learned.
Scrapbooks may include any or all of the following things:
- JOURNAL ENTRIES
Passages could relate to: School life, Community life, Government assistance, Agriculture, Experiences of migrant workers, etc.
- PERSONAL ACCOUNTS/LETTERS
Possible letter topics could include:
• A farmer that can’t hold on anymore and decides to move West with his family
• A mother nursing a child sick with dust pneumonia or typhoid
• A healthy child watching the adults try to cope with their situation
- PHOTOGRAPHS
Must have captions
- PRIMARY SOURCES
May include newspaper clippings, magazine articles, etc.
- MAPS
Maps showing the particular area of the United States where an event took place. You will need to provide a map key.
- SAMPLES OF POPULAR CULTURE FROM THE TIME PERIOD
- NEW DEAL PROGRAMS
Relief programs - explain how the chosen program worked to meet the needs created by the Dust Bowl/Great Migration
- WHY YOU ARE MOVING
SYMBOLS/ARTIFACTS that may represent the event through an identifiable symbol. (example: a Peace sign during the 1960s)
Your grade will be based on the following:
-Completed scrapbook with a cover and at least 5 full pages.
-Proper sentence and paragraph structure, and spelling and grammar.
-A well-organized scrapbook that shows evidence of planning – (items well-arranged/trimmed/cropped/shaped– images relate to theme)
-Creative/Imaginative – This includes both what is in the scrapbook and how it is displayed. The scrapbook should clearly tell about ‘your’ experience during the depression.
-Well-researched
-Required Criteria included in your final project:
-Photographs (all must have captions)
-Journal entries (at least 2)
-Personal Account/Letter
-Primary Sources
-At least 2 of the other suggestions from the list above
Suggested resources:
TIP Chart Assessment:
(Using the TIP Chart, identify which level (e.g. entry, developing, approaching, ideal/target) your lesson falls in for each of the categories below and write a brief statement to describe what the students are doing as it relates to the indicators on the TIP chart.)
Categories:
Research and Information Fluency (Ideal):
This project asks students to conduct research to complete a cumulative project. Prior lessons have reinforced information literacy. Students must choose resources to obtain information. They are given some sites as a starting point. Students choose tools to display the information such as pictures and other digital media as an option.
Communication and Collaboration (Entry):
As a project, this assignment requires individual contribution and completion. Group work was not involved in completing the assignment outside of class.
Critical Thinking and Problem Solving (Approaching):
This lesson poses a very challenging task to students. Students must apply a variety of digital tools in order to complete the project. Students generate questions to guide research through the project. Students were not, however, coached through asking higher-level questions within the project or to reflect upon their roles as they set goals.
Creativity and Innovation (Approaching):
Students analyzed a wide variety of information from the Great Depression. They were asked to create original and creative work that meets the criteria.