Laarman Lesson Plan

Class:US History Unit: Boom and BustStandards: B.12.3, B.12.8, B.12.7, B.12.5

Topic: Unions Date: 9/18/17 (sub)

Direct Instruction / Video presentation: The Men Who Built America: Blood is Spilled

Topic: Business Simulation: Unions and Month 3 Date: 9/19/17

Anticipator Set /
  1. Discussion: unions
  2. What did they want? Were these reasonable demands?
  3. Who were the “Men Who Built America?”
  4. Who do we have to thank for what would come later: a thriving working class with a comfortable standard of living and relatively safe working conditions?
  5. Workers have an opportunity to form unions

Procedure / Business simulation
  1. Union leaders negotiate with business leaders
  2. The month of work begins exactly 5 minutes into the class; continuing negotiations cuts into work time
  3. Once production begins, follow steps from previous months

Homework / Activity reflection sheets due Monday

Topic: Depressions and RecessionsDate: 9/20/17

Materials, Prep / Unit PowerPoint, causes of the Great Depression reading
Anticipatory Set
-connection, motivation, relevance /
  1. How does poverty today compare to poverty back in the day? How about working conditions?
  2. If we were to graph economic growth during those times, what would that look like? Why were the fluctuations so great?

Procedure /
  1. Slide 49: economic growth, but fluctuations
  2. Watch vid clip on depression of 1893
  3. Discussion: What can we learn from the depressions of 1873 and 1893? What caused the growth of the Gilded Age and what caused the depressions? What should government do, if anything, to prevent and respond to such crashes?

Homework / Student groups analyze three different sources on the causes of the Great Depression and complete the accompanying worksheet.

Topic: Experiencing the Great Depression Date: 9/21/17

Materials, Prep / Unit PowerPoint, The Grapes of Wrath excerpt and worksheet
Anticipatory Set
-connection, motivation, relevance / Class discussion/debate: the causes of the Great Depression
Procedure / Multimedia for student notes
  • Great Depression chain of events slides
  • Discuss: wheat prices go down, so farmers produce more
  • Vid clips on the experience of the Dust Bowl and Hoovervilles

Homework / The Grapes of Wrath reading and response

Topic: The New Deal Date: 9/22/17

Anticipatory Set
-connection, motivation, relevance / Discussion on the The Grapes of Wrath: Did the tractor driver do the right thing? Who is the villain in this case?
Procedure /
  • Students write summarizing paragraph: why were there such huge swings in the economy from the mid-19th to mid-20th centuries?
  • Introduce John Maynard Keynes and Keynesian economics
  • Keynes and New Deal section of Commanding Heights video 25:35-32:39 (“Keynes’ ideas began to gain ground”)