Goals and Objectives
Students will comprehend the various lifestyles that emerged out of the coming of the Great Depression from the rise of Hollywood and cinema, to the barren region of the Dust Bowl across the Great Plains. Using several sources such as memoirs, photographs, and other media, students will gather a sense and understanding of what life was like during one of the more treacherous times of our nation’s history.
California Content Standards
11.6.3 Discuss the human toll of the Depression, natural disasters, and unwise agricultural practices and their effects on the depopulation of rural regions and on political movements of the left and right, with particular attention to the Dust Bowl refugees and their social and economic impacts in California.
CCSS. ELA-Literacy. WHST 11-12.6 Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products in response to ongoing feedback, including new arguments or information.
CCSS. ELA-Literacy. WHST 11-12.8 Gather relevant information from multiple authoritative print and digital sources, using advanced searches effectively; assess the strengths and limitations of each source in terms of the task, purpose, and audience; integrate information into the text selectively to maintain the flow of ideas, avoiding plagiarism and overreliance on any one source and following a standard format for citation.
CCSS. ELA-Literacy. WHST 11-12.9 Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
CCSS. ELA-Literacy. RL 11-12.2. Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary that makes clear the relationships among the key details and ideas.
CCSS. ELA-Literacy RL 11-12.4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including analyzing how an author uses and refines the meaning of a key term over the course of a text (e.g., how Madison defines faction in Federalist No. 10).
CCSS. ELA-Literacy RL 11-12.7. Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media (e.g., visually, quantitatively, as well as in words) in order to address a question or solve a problem.
CCSS. ELA-Literacy RL 11-12.9. Integrate information from diverse sources, both primary and secondary, into a coherent understanding of an idea or event, noting discrepancies among sources.
CCSS. ELA-Literacy. WHST 11-12.6 Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products in response to ongoing feedback, including new arguments or information.
CCSS. ELA-Literacy. WHST 11-12.8 Gather relevant information from multiple authoritative print and digital sources, using advanced searches effectively; assess the strengths and limitations of each source in terms of the task, purpose, and audience; integrate information into the text selectively to maintain the flow of ideas, avoiding plagiarism and overreliance on any one source and following a standard format for citation.
CCSS. ELA-Literacy. WHST 11-12.9 Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
CCSS. ELA-Literacy. RL 11-12.2. Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary that makes clear the relationships among the key details and ideas.
CCSS. ELA-Literacy RL 11-12.4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including analyzing how an author uses and refines the meaning of a key term over the course of a text (e.g., how Madison defines faction in Federalist No. 10).
CCSS. ELA-Literacy RL 11-12.7. Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media (e.g., visually, quantitatively, as well as in words) in order to address a question or solve a problem.
CCSS. ELA-Literacy RL 11-12.9. Integrate information from diverse sources, both primary and secondary, into a coherent understanding of an idea or event, noting discrepancies among sources.
Lesson Introduction
Pre-Reading Activity
The instructor will provide students with the course text, in which as a class they “skim” the chapter, making note of the headings and subheadings and engage in a brief discussion of what that specific segment of the reading would cover. Discussing the various key terms and vocabulary of what they believe they mean, their true meaning, and use in context will also provide a “backbone” for students to better understand the information being presented.
The instructor will provide students with the course text, in which as a class they “skim” the chapter, making note of the headings and subheadings and engage in a brief discussion of what that specific segment of the reading would cover. Discussing the various key terms and vocabulary of what they believe they mean, their true meaning, and use in context will also provide a “backbone” for students to better understand the information being presented.
Vocabulary
Breadline
Soup Kitchen
Bailiff
Dust Bowl
Key Individuals
Margaret Bourke-White
John Steinbeck
Walt Disney
Dorthea Lange
Soup Kitchen
Bailiff
Dust Bowl
Key Individuals
Margaret Bourke-White
John Steinbeck
Walt Disney
Dorthea Lange
Content Delivery
The teacher will instruct that students open their books to Chapter 22, Section 2 Life During the Great Depression. Prior to any course reading, the instructor will access prior knowledge through “skimming” the chapter and inquiring on student’s understanding of what they believe that segment of text to include.
The teacher will then instruct that the students read portions of the text, calling upon students at random to read their assigned section, with established questioning checkpoints to ensure understanding of material is clear for students.
The teacher will then instruct that the students read portions of the text, calling upon students at random to read their assigned section, with established questioning checkpoints to ensure understanding of material is clear for students.
Student Engagement
Students will complete a Graphic Organizer allowing for the students to record and gather appropriate information from the course reading. This organization allows for information to be accessed quickly and in an orderly fashion to avoid confusion amongst facts and other thinking methods.
Lesson Closure
The teacher will provide students the opportunity to reflect and react to the readings as conducted in class. Students will recap the financial, social, and economic hardships as faced during the Great Depression, noting the influence of media and the rise of the cinematic industry in Hollywood.
Student Assessment
To ensure that students are making sense and relation to the material and course readings, frequent checkpoint questions will be asked along the way to solidify the information that remains unclear. Questions such as Why…? Or How…? Are among some of the few types of questions asked to generate appropriate discussion and critical thinking amongst students and their peers.
A summative assessment to allow students to demonstrate their findings of life during the Great Depression will come in the form of a brief presentation in which students will conduct research of life during the Great Depression. From their findings in a short presentation (approx. 6-8 slides) students will cover the basis of life during the Great Depression for their researched individual, including biographical information, migrating cities (if applicable), interesting information (high profile individual), and other information believed to be of importance. Students will present their findings to the class at lesson’s end.
A summative assessment to allow students to demonstrate their findings of life during the Great Depression will come in the form of a brief presentation in which students will conduct research of life during the Great Depression. From their findings in a short presentation (approx. 6-8 slides) students will cover the basis of life during the Great Depression for their researched individual, including biographical information, migrating cities (if applicable), interesting information (high profile individual), and other information believed to be of importance. Students will present their findings to the class at lesson’s end.
Accommodations for English Learners, Striving Readers and Special Needs Students
Several accommodations will be accessible for striving readers, special needs students, as well as English learners in the form of lesson adaptations. Striving readers and English learners alike will benefit from the auditory element of hearing the readings aloud via the read-around. Those with special needs as well as English learners and striving readers, will be provided with a printed copy of the timeline activity needed be completed, as well as provided with an individual already appointed to them for the individual research assessment.