The Great Depression: Overall Course of the Depression

Monday, October 29, 2012

Overall Course of the Depression

This graph shows an overall course of the Depression in the United States, The blue line is the GDP (average income per person) shown in constant year, plus some of the key events of the period.

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Welcome

Welcome to my blog on the Great Depression,

I have set up this blog as an exploration activity for students to start a lesson on the Great Depression. It is set up to be early middle school students but could be altered to teach older grades as well. They should search through the blog and experience the great depression in their own minds. I think it is important for students to cast their own ideas before a lesson begins. Once they have explored the blog is also set up for mini lessons. In the order that they are listed.

Lesson 1: Dorothea Lange Photo GalleryThis post is simple and shows some impacting pictures of the Great Depression. I would like to take a moment in this lesson to talk about Dorothea Lange and how she is a well known photographer during the 1930's and her work portrays some of the most well know images of this time in our country.

Lesson 2: Living ConditionsThese photos are very eye opening on how people lived and what life would be like with barely anything to get by. After students have experienced both living conditions and Dorothea Lange's photographs, I would take these photos and have students write a journal entry as they were living during this time and what they think their day would look like.

Lesson 3: Overall Course of the Depression
This is a graph that will show students the overall GDP (average income per person) during the Depression this will show students how much it decreased during this economic depression preceding World War II. It will also introduce students to President Franklin Roosevelt and show the increase slowly after he took office. This would be used as a whole class or small group lesson that provides students with a timeline as well as the economic struggle.
Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Depression

Lesson 4: Where Did All the Money Go?
This is my favorite lesson that I found I think it is a great way for students to have be able to explore what happened during the 1930s and it gives them an oportunity to be the detective in the situation to discover where all the money went. This site has both a student and teacher page so it literally has the entire lesson laid out.
Link:
http://www.econedlink.org/lessons/index.phplid=558&type=student

Lesson 5: The Voice of the Depression
This is an amazing link that provides actual broadcast from the 1930's FDR's speach about the stock market crash and a couple others. I believe this will benefit students to be able to hear first had what was happening during this time period. I like incorporating english with social studies so I thought it could be really cool for students to creat their own news stories and could broadcast them through a pod cast.
Link: http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/g/great_depression_1930s/index.html

Lesson 6: Children during the Depression
These pictures will hit home for children. It is easy to picture adults in the situation of the thirties but to think about children struggling to get food and shelter. Im hoping to use these images to turn into either a poetry or gallery project. Using these images to create a poem about what it would be like for these children, to tell their story. The students could also used these images as a gallery walk. Writing a reflection on how the pictures made them feel and how they would imagine being a child in a severe poverty situation. Bring in what the students are greatful for.

Lesson 7: Stories from the Great Depression
This is a video that could be used as a wrap up for the lesson or it could be used as an intro depending on how a teacher wants to start the lesson. I like showing movies last so that the students build their own conclusions on the topic and not letting a movie tell them the whole story. This movie is a great ending piece and could lead to some great discussion at the end of the lesson.
Link:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpfY8kh5lUw

Hope you enjoyed my blog on the Great Depression and the crash of the 1930s. This blog can be altered to fit the needs of a lesson but it should give some great links to get you started!
Thanks,
Kylee