The Great Depression

Students will learn about the Depression and how it affected the lives of those living in the United States during that time. They will explore the following topics: economics, living conditions, and loss of personal property.

Standard One: The causes of the Great Depression and how it affected American society.

Knowledge of Internet and Electric Library (E-Library) usage, Library Media Center (LMC) usage, research skills, active listening skills

PROCEDURE WITH TEACHING STRATEGIES
1 Vocabulary - Students will be given a list of the vocabulary terms and a crossword puzzle that gives definitions as clues. Students will complete the puzzle to define the words. These definitions will expedite the research process since the terms are used in the various Internet articles.

2 View History in Motion – Chapters 5 and 6.

3 Using the “Resource” list provided by the teacher students will research information about the Depression. They should determine fifteen pertinent new facts about the Depression. They will report their findings to the class using one of the following methods: oral presentation or poem.

4 Students will write at least two open-ended questions to use during the oral presentation by a guest speaker. If students have not been taught how to write open-ended questions, most grammar/writing books contain information on them.

5 Students will attend an oral presentation given by someone who lived during the Depression. If the teacher does not know anyone who lived during this time, the following are good resources: the local Senior Citizens Center, Council on Aging, local churches. Adequate time should be given at the end of the presentation for students to ask the questions which they wrote. After the presentation, each student should write a thank-you note that contains at least one new fact learned during the presentation. The notes should follow the format for a friendly letter. (This format should be outlined in most writing texts.)

6 Each student will select a partner. The two students will then select someone who lived during the Depression to interview. As a class, brainstorm where the students can find adults who lived during the Depression. For those students who do not have access to older adults, a list of willing members of the community should be provided. The students should contact the adult and arrange a time for the interview. Each team of students should create a list of twenty questions for the interview. Ten of the questions should be open-ended questions. The teacher should collect these questions before the interview to check for correctness and appropriateness. These should be returned to the students before the interviews. .Students should meet with their interview subjects and conduct the interviews. (If the teacher feels it is necessary, a review of appropriate manners should be conducted.) After conducting the interviews the students should write thank-you notes. The notes should follow the format for a friendly letter.

7 All students should compile the information gained from their interviews and create both a written and an oral presentation about what they learned about their interview subject and the Depression.

1. Research Project – Students will be graded based on the fifteen new facts they gather about the Depression. Additional points (credit, grades) can be given for the format selected for the presentation.
2. Oral Presentation – Students’ questions will be collected and graded before the presentation.
3. Interview and Presentation – Students will receive points for the interview questions. These can either be taken as an individual grade or may be used as a portion of the overall presentation grade. Students will be provided with a criteria sheet before their written and oral presentations are constructed so that they are aware of what is expected of them.

An example of the rubric that I use for the grade breakdown is listed at the end of this lesson.

ASSESSMENT RUBRIC

ASSIGNMENT POSSIBLE POINTS / POINTS EARNED
Vocabulary Crossword Puzzle 15
Research Facts 15
Research Presentation 5
Pre-presentation Questions 5
Presentation Thank-you Note 10
Interview Questions 20
Written Presentation 50
Oral Presentation 50
TOTAL 170

A teacher may choose to adjust the point value to emphasize a particular area that he/she feels is more or less important than is established in this rubric.

CROSS-CURRICULAR CONNECTIONS
Social Studies - Students will explore American history.
Public Speaking – Students will make an oral presentation.

1. Internet, E-Library and LMC access, paper, writing instruments

2. examples of open-ended questions, paper, writing instruments, word processor access