Core Skills Analysis
History
- Learned about the key causes that led to the Great Depression, such as economic factors and stock market instability.
- Understood the wide-reaching effects of the Great Depression on American families, employment, and daily life.
- Explored government responses and policies implemented to address the economic crisis, including early relief efforts.
- Recognized the significance of the Great Depression as a turning point in 20th-century U.S. history and its lasting impact.
Tips
To deepen understanding of the Great Depression, encourage the student to create a timeline spanning the 1920s to the 1940s highlighting major events before, during, and after the crisis. Visiting local history museums or virtual archives featuring Great Depression artifacts or oral histories can bring personal stories to life. Additionally, comparing this economic downturn to more recent recessions can help the student analyze similarities and differences, fostering critical thinking about economic cycles and government intervention.
Book Recommendations
- Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis: A historical novel about a young boy navigating life during the Great Depression, offering personal insight into the era.
- The Great Depression: America 1929-1941 by Robert S. McElvaine: An accessible overview of the causes, events, and consequences of the Great Depression with engaging narratives.
- The Great Depression and the New Deal by Patricia A. Pingry: A detailed look at how the Great Depression reshaped America and introduced major governmental changes.
Learning Standards
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.2: Determine the central ideas of the Great Depression and analyze key events.
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.3: Identify individuals and groups’ responses to economic hardship.
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6-8.3: Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences related to historical events.
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.7: Integrate visual information about the Great Depression to support understanding.
Try This Next
- Create a cause-and-effect worksheet mapping the economic and social factors leading to and resulting from the Great Depression.
- Write a diary entry or letter from the perspective of a teenager living during the Great Depression to develop empathy and historical perspective.