A Grade 8 Topic of Study
Introduction
The decade of the 1920s was characterized by business expansion, industrial growth, and a level of prosperity enjoyed by most Americans, except farmers, never experienced before. The good times were also accompanied by problems such as Prohibition, immigration restrictions, and racial unrest.
Depressions had occurred throughout American history, but none can compare with the Great Depression of 1929 in length and severity. It still has the distinction as the worst economic disaster in U.S. history. It lasted more than a decade and affected every type of business and industry. Involvement by the federal government initiated by President Roosevelt's New Deal helped our nation's economy recover.
Students in eighth grade spend the second quarter studying about the Great Depression. The websites below offer information and resources to support teaching and learning about this topic. These sites will be used in various lessons throughout the course of study.
As part of this unit of study, students complete a variety of projects and writing lessons which require background information and research. The sites below can provide students with background to add details and authenticity to their work.
These sites may help provide background information for the New Deal Project.
These sites may provide background information for your essay.
Teachers may use one or more of these projects to support classroom instruction. These projects/Webquests may be used as class assignments or as independent work.
Students will read a fictional account (Out of the Dust, Karen Hesse) and research on the web about the same time period. Students will write an essay on these readings and compose a short poem using impressions that have stuck in your mind about that time in history.
Students will explore topics related to the 1930s using the web. The links found will help begin to develop an understanding of some of the events surrounding the 1930s.
Three Classroom Activities on the Great Depression
These three activities will require accessing various sites providing Great Depression information from various points of view. Students will answer a series of questions based upon their research.
These sites offer students further information beyond classroom activities. While these are not required they provide students with a medium to expand their understanding on the Great Depression.