Great Depression

Lesson One: Measuring the Great Depression

the_great_depression_overall_essay.pdf
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Preview: Students will listen and discuss, Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
Student will prepare for the activities of the lesson by structuring the notes titled "The Great Depression" and writing an answering "What are three reasons to learn about the Great Depression?" using the first five paragraphs of "Great Depression: An Overview." (see PDF below)
Group Activities: In groups of three, students will complete the following four activities:

Symbols for the seven "Economic Definitions"
Venn Diagram of Inflation and Deflation-Disaggregate the Ten Statements into the Diagram
"What's in the Chairman's Briefcase?"-Choose three of the four charts and summarize your conclusions of each.
Political Cartoon "Bring Him Back to Normal"-Using the cartoon answer this question, "If you are FDR, what six ideas does your group have to inflate the economy in 1933?"

Assessment: Each group will take this quick quiz, Measuring the Great Depression.

great_depression_lesson_1_worksheets.pdf
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Group Activities: The class is divided up into eight groups, two railroad workers, two construction workers, two teachers, and two farmers. Each group will complete the budget scenarios of 1928 and 1933. Each group will share out their decisions on the reasons behind their budget decisions in '28 and '33 with emphasis on personal trade offs and possible effects on the whole economy.
Direct Instruction: Ms. Mac will explain "What are Reserves?" in a bank.
Individual Role Play: Each student gets a card including three bankers. Ms. Mac will then open the banks for business and the students will react accordingly. (The bankers use their large post its.) Ms. Mac will explain what a "bank run", bank run panic, and bank failures through It's a Wonderful Life bank scene.
Group Share Read: Students will analyze the Great Depression Overview essay by David Wheelock to disaggregate causes of the Great Depression and answer the six questions to share out with the whole group:

What are some of the theories that have been advanced over the years regarding the cause of the Great Depression?
What were the negative impacts of the stock market crash?
What problems did the Smoot-Hawley Tariff of 1930 cause?
What does being on the gold standard mean?
What explanation regarding the cause of the Great Depression has stood the test of time?
What was the main reason that explains why the money stock fell during the Great Depression?

Lesson Two: What Really Caused the Great Depression?

Individual Assignment: Each student will write a paragraph what happened in their group assignment with the budget and who/what happened in the individual role play.

Lesson Three: Dealing with the Great Depression

Preview: Using the U.S. Statistical Data from 1929-1933, what conclusions can one draw.
Small Group Discussion: Using the following FDR's quote from October 1932, students will disaggregate the ideas they came up with on the cartoon analysis from Friday:

WE HAVE TWO PROBLEMS: FIRST, TO MEET THE IMMEDIATE DISTRESS; SECOND, TO BUILD UP A BASIS OF PERMANENT EMPLOYMENT. AS TO IMMEDIATE RELIEF, THE FIRST PRINCIPLE IS THAT THIS NATION, THIS NATIONAL GOVERNMENT IF YOU LIKE, OWES A POSITIVE DUTY THAT NO CITIZEN SHALL BE PERMITTED TO STARVE. IN ADDITION TO PROVIDING EMERGENCY RELIEF, THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SHOULD AND MUST PROVIDE TEMPORARY WORK WHERE THAT IS POSSIBLE."

Direct Instruction: Ms. Mac will break down the "It IS a New Deal" cartoon from bank legislation to Roosevelt's decision to go off the good standard and it's affect. Students will take note on the "It IS a New Deal Cards."
Small Group Decisions: Using the twenty-two cards, each being a different categorize each piece of legislation into RELIEF, REFORM, RECOVERY, and COMBINATION.

Lesson Four: The New Deal in Oregon

Preview: Ms. Mac will share the “Rogue River Indians” was painted by Louis DeMott Bunce, and “Early and Contemporary Industries” by Eric Lamade in our own Grants Pass Post Office that was one of the New Deal local public projects.
Individual Project: Looking at the Oregon Projects that were New Deal public works projects, students will design a website that would best showcase how the New Deal still lives in Oregon today.