THE GREAT DEPRESSION: What would it have been like for you?

Children’s’ Letters to Mrs. Roosevelt

Go to HOTLIST under the SPY GUY (Great Depression) and go to site labeled children’s letters to Mrs. Roosevelt. Read through many letters in all four categories listed on the page. Then pretend you are Mrs. Roosevelt, President Roosevelt’s wife. Choose one or two letters in particular and write a personal response. Try to keep in mind that she was a kind and caring person, but also keep in mind she received thousands of these letters. Show that you are aware of the requests and the difficulty of the times. The letter should be at least 15 sentences long.

Dear Mrs . Roosevelt

Great Depression News Articles

Go to HOTLIST under the SPY GUY (Great Depression) and surf around the links of the Depression News . What would it have been like to live during the depression? What would you have liked? What would you have hated? Did anything on the site surprise you? Write at least fifteen sentences describing your reaction to life in the 1920’s-30’s.

Great Depression News

“I Remember…”

Go to HOTLIST under the SPY GUY (Great Depression) under “I remember…” Read the reminiscences of people who lived during the depression. What do you think it would have been like? How would you have felt? Were you surprised by anything you read? Write at least fifteen sentences explaining what it would have been like to be you if you had been living during the 30’s and why you think it would have been that way.

I REMEMBER

Then and Now: Prices

Use what you know about the items listed on the back of this sheet to estimate the cost of items today. If you don’t know the cost of an item, surf the web or in a newspaper to see what you can come up with. Then write out a response the following questions/statements:

*Some of the prices look pretty low compare to today’s prices. Why would prices be so different?

*How do the prices compare to the wages? In other words, how many weeks or hours would an individual have to work to purchase the different items?

*Do people earn more or less today than they did in the 1930’s when you take into account the purchasing power of money during the two time periods?*Does anything surprise you about the list or prices?

*When you take all of this into account, what would YOUR family have had to have done to survive in the 1930’s?