LESSON TITLE: The Great Depression in the Midwest
WRITTEN BY: William Demke, Educator
GRADE LEVEL: Grades 10-12
SUBJECT: American History
TIME NEEDED: Two – three 50 minute class periods
STANDARDS:
Minnesota Academic Standards – United States History:
Standard 21: The economic growth, cultural innovation and political apathy of the 1920s ended in the Great Depression which spurred new forms of government intervention and renewed labor activism, followed by World War II and an economic resurgence. (Great Depression and World War II: 1920-1945)
Benchmark: 9.4.4.21.2: Analyze the economic causes of the Great Depression and t he impact on individuals, communities and institutions. (Great Depression and World War II: 1920-1945)
North Dakota Academic Standard – United States History:
Standard 9–12.2.4 Analyze the major political, economic, and social developments that occurred between World War I and World War II (e.g. Red Scare, Roaring 20’s, Great Depression, New Deal)
OBJECTIVE The students will understand and exhibit knowledge of the hardship of life in the Great Plains during the great depression.
MATERIALS:
- A textbook on the depression in the Great Plains or an excerpt from “Going it Alone: Fargo Grapples with the Depression”
- Video clips that highlight families, artists, workers and the unemployed throughout the Midwest, and internet access.
http://prairiepublic.pbslearningmedia.org/content/rr10.socst.us.prosp.depress/
Intro to the Depression
http://prairiepublic.pbslearningmedia.org/content/pres10.socst.ush.dww.newdeal/
The New Deal
http://www.learn360.com/ShowVideo.aspx?ID=146399&SearchText=Great+Depression%2c+great+plains%2c+midwest
Midwest Depression
http://www.prairiepublic.org/radio/dakota-datebook?post=36314
Dakota Datebook on UND Depression Camp
http://www.pbs.org/teachers/connect/resources/5141/preview/
New Deal Programs in Iowa
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZPXuCDCij8
ND Farmers in Great Depression
Process:
1. Ask students what they know about the Great Depression, set up time for a brainstorm or a pretest to assess what students already know, or “think” they know about this time period in this part of the country.
2. Cover necessary vocabulary in advance of reading so students will know what they are reading, I suggest doing a Smart Board keyword match activity.
3. As a class or on their own, have students read excerpts from your textbook, or if possible, and if you have permission, from the book “Going it Alone: Fargo Grapples with the Depression”, pause periodically as needed to answer questions and to watch video clips/listen to audio clips that enhance the experience, have students note what they learn from each video so you can have discussion thereafter. There are many video clips available on www.prairiepublic.org, www.learn360.com, or even www. youtube.com
Compare/Contrast
•Due Tuesday Jan. 24thth
•Come up with a way to compare and contrast the causes of the Great Depression (1929-1940) and Great Recession (2007-2010). Have several similarities and differences.
•Examples would be a chart, a poster, a Venn-diagram, essay, or any other way that achieves this….just let me know.
•You may do a chart, a diagram, a short paper (typed), or any other method of presenting the material that you feel will work. If you are uncertain if it will, ask me.
•MLA Format for online articles:
•Lastname, Firstname. "Article Title." Site Name(in italics). Organization Name. Article date. Web address. Date of access.
•*if no author, start with the title. If no date is given you put “n.d.” in place of it.
4. As a concluding activity, introduce students to Prezi.com and have them create a prezi project that covers the attached assessment to see if students have gained the knowledge and understanding of this time period. Instructions that I use follow in point #5.
5. Culminating Activity:
⁃ Students will create a Prezi project that shows the challenges, struggles, and triumphs the people of the great plains experienced during the Great Depression. It will contain the following:
⁃ 12 “stops” on the Prezi
⁃ 10 Pictures with captions minimum
⁃ 2 videos minimum with explanations and reflection
⁃ Narration where appropriate
⁃ You may choose any aspect of life on the Great Plains as you want, if you want to focus on life in the cities in the Great Plains feel free, if you want to focus on farming, the arts, or any other subtopic you can think of, just clear it with me and you may do that.
⁃ If you are “bored” with the project, I’m afraid you must just be a boring person. : )
How to sign up on Prezi.
1. Go to www.prezi.com
2. Sign up for the free account
3. Put the password you choose in your phone as a note so you have it with you always
4. Go through the help button and follow the tutorial. YES IT IS NECESSARY YOU DO THIS, IF YOU DON’T, I WILL HAVE NO SYMPATHY FOR “I DON’T KNOW HOW TO DO THIS….” TYPE PROBLEMS.
5. Have fun, be creative, enjoy the fact that you are not doing a guided reading worksheet and sitting in silence.
How am I going to be graded?
Prezi Project
• Teacher Name: William Demke
• Student Name: ________________________________________
CATEGORY
Sequencing of Information
10: Information is organized in a clear, logical way. It is easy to anticipate the type of material that might be on the next card.
9: Most information is organized in a clear, logical way. One card or item of information seems out of place.
8-7:Some information is logically sequenced. An occasional card or item of information seems out of place.
6 or lower:There is no clear plan for the organization of information.
Content - Accuracy
10:All content throughout the presentation is accurate. There are no factual errors.
9:Most of the content is accurate but there is one piece of information that might be inaccurate.
8-7:The content is generally accurate, but one piece of information is clearly flawed or inaccurate.
6 or lower: Content is typically confusing or contains more than one factual error.
Pictures and Videos
10:All necessary pictures and videos are appealing and reflect the project topic.
9:All necessary pictures and videos are present, but not all reflect the project topic effectively
8-7:Some pictures and/or videos are missing. Or pictures and videos do not deal with the topic at all.
6 or lower:Many pictures/videos are missing and/or do not accurately reflect the topic.
Spelling and Grammar
10:Presentation has no misspellings or grammatical errors.
9:Presentation has 1-2 misspellings, but no grammatical errors.
8-7:Presentation has 1-2 grammatical errors but no misspellings.
6 or lower:Presentation has more than 2 grammatical and/or spelling errors.
Effectiveness
10:Project includes all material needed to gain a comfortable understanding of the topic. It is a highly effective study guide.
9:Project includes most material needed to gain a comfortable understanding of the material but is lacking one or two key elements. It is an adequate study guide.
8-7:Project is missing more than two key elements. It would make an incomplete study guide.
6 or lower: Project is lacking several key elements and has inaccuracies that make it a poor study guide.
Name: ______________________
Causes of the Depression Worksheet
*Write your sources for each question in the area provided. Follow MLA format.
Lastname, Firstname. "Article Title." Site Name(in italics). Organization Name. Article date. Web address. Date of access.
*if no author, start with the title. If no date is given you put “n.d.” in place of it.
1. What was unemployment in 1928? How about in 1933?
Sources:
2. List and describe (at least a couple sentences each) four causes of the Great Depression:
Sources:
3. Explain President Hoover’s involvement in the Depression: (How did his administration respond to it?)
Sources:
4. What was the Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act? What was its affect?
Source:
5. How did the stock market play a role in the start of the Depression? (In this you may want to find out what “Buying on Margin” is and “Speculation” as they both had a role in this, explain how they played a part in this whole mess)
Source:
6. What would you like to learn more about from your research? Why?