Bill of Rights Institute
The Great Depression: Economic Causes and Repercussions
Brother, can you spare a dime? Scholars investigate an AP review video to understand the causes of the Great Depression and the economic collapse of the American economy. Viewers examine the many economic factors leading to the worst...
Federal Reserve Bank
Dealing with the Great Depression
As part of their study of the Great Depression, young economists examine statistical data to determine the effectiveness of FDR's New Deal recovery programs.
Alabama Department of Archives and History
The Effect of the Great Depression on Children
How did the Great Depression affect children? Sometimes studying the Great Depression means only studying about how it affected adults, however, relating the experiences of children and peers their age to themselves may make the...
Federal Reserve Bank
What Really Caused the Great Depression?
Falling wages. Rising unemployment. Falling prices. Sound familiar? Young economists look at the role the US banking system had in causing the Great Depression.
Curated OER
Sunburns and Sore Muscles: Working to Save the Farm During the Great Depression
Fifth through eighth graders engage in a lesson in which they study working class people during the Great Depression. They work to develop an understanding of the economic developments in Arkansas during the 1930's. Learners access...
Federal Reserve Bank
Measuring the Great Depression
Young historians examine the cost of goods and services through the Consumer Price Index (CPI), output measured by Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and unemployment measured by the unemployment rate to gain an understanding of the economic...
Curated OER
The Dust Bowl: How Did Drought and Dust Storms Compound the Depression Era Problems for Farmers?
If all you need is a short presentation to introduce or review a topic, then stop right here. The causes and effects of the Dust Bowl on Depression Era farmers is discussed with primary source images and three slides of outlined text.
Alabama Department of Archives and History
The Great Depression - Hard Times Hit America
To gain an understanding of how the Great Depression affected everyday citizens, class members examine letters written either to the president or to the governor of Alabama asking for assistance.
Alabama Department of Archives and History
Alabama Farm Life in the Great Depression
The Great Depression not only impacted city folk and factory workers, it also had a profound effect on farmers. Young historians examine primary source materials that document the struggles of Alabama farmers during this time and then...
Curated OER
The Great Depression in North Carolina: Experiences of the People
Students explore the Great Depression. In this research skills lesson plan, students interpret historical evidence presented in primary and secondary sources. Students write their own WPA interviews after they have examined...
Curated OER
Life During the Great Depression An Oral History Project
Although our connections to those who personally witnessed the Holocaust are dwindling, this lesson focuses on conducting an interview and getting some primary source material. There is a list of resources your high schoolers can...
Curated OER
Read All About It! California History of the 30s and 40s
Explore the Great Depression! Discover the challenges people experienced during the time period. Learners investigate photographs from the Dust Bowl and WWII era and create a story line about the photographs, writing a newspaper article...
Library of Congress
Child Labor in America
Students investigate child labor during the Great Depression. In this US policy lesson, students evaluate multiple layers of the social, economic, and political affects of policy during the Great Depression. Students will engage in 5...
Curated OER
The Great Depression
Seventh graders investigate the implications of economic fallout. In this Great Depression lesson plan, 7th graders analyze political cartoons and documents about the era. Students then conduct further primary source research about the...
Curated OER
Music of the Great Depression
Eleventh graders take a closer look at the music of the Great Depression. In this 1930's America lesson, 11th graders read and analyze the provided lyrics of 6 songs from the era. Students then compose their own lyrics for songs that...
Curated OER
The Great Depression
Learners use Using specific examples, compare and contrast how President Hoover and President Roosevelt responded to the Great Depression through relief, recovery and reform. They evaluate whether their attempts were successful.
Curated OER
Worth a Thousand Words: Depression-Era Photographs
Students view images of New Deal programs to see its successes. They work in groups to create captions for the images and suggest captions that might indicate different meanings.
Curated OER
The Jim Crow Era
Students examine how African-Americans were affected by the Great Depression. In this African-American history lesson, students conduct independent research on the social conditions of the time period using the suggested resources....
Curated OER
Face to Face with the Great Depression
Young scholars develop an analytical perspective of how historians record, preserve, and interpret data. In this US history lesson students read and interpret personal accounts of the Great Depression. They discuss how interpretation...
Curated OER
Whose History Is It Anyway? Patterns in History
Read and examine primary source material in order to analyze, synthesize, and debate information about the Great Depression. Critical analysts research various source materials related to the Great Depression. They work in teams to...
Curated OER
Journal of Time: A Historical Perspective
Analyze the setting behind the Great Depression in California with Pam Munoz Ryan's Esperanza Rising. Middle schoolers assess the protagonist during her coming-of-age moments, while migrant workers manage the hardships of the era. Each...
Curated OER
Technology and the Great Depression
Students examine how technology affected the Great Depression era. They view a video, conduct Internet research, and write articles for a class technology magazine.
Curated OER
Time Traveler Blues: The Great Depression
Students research the Great Depression Era and its effect on the world. They create a multimedia presentation over the Great Depression from many angles.
Curated OER
Introduce Vocabulary: Rap a Tap Tap (Dillon)
Explore the dancing prodigy and Depression-era African-American icon Bill Robinson as scholars learn new vocabulary words in context. As you read Leo Dillon's Rap a Tap Tap they listen for six new words: clatter, greet, passion, pause,...