Curated OER
I Have a Story to Tell
High schoolers use research information to create a story reflective of an individual of the Great Depression. Students use the RAFT (role, audience, format, topic) learning strategy to identify their role as the author, their audience,...
Rockefeller Archive Center
Understanding Mass Media News
In an age of fake news and photoshopped images, it is vital that 21st century learners development the skills they need to evaluate mass media and assess its validity. A great way to launch such a study is with a carefully crafted lesson...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Scottsboro Boys and "To Kill a Mockingbird": Two Trials for the Common Core
Here's a must-have resource for anyone reading To Kill A Mockingbird or using Harper Lee's award-winning novel in a classroom. The packet contains Miss Hollace Ransdall's first-hand, factual account of the trials of the Scottsboro Boys,...
Novelinks
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter: Concept Analysis
Considering Carson McCullers' The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter for whole-class reading or as a selection for book circles? Check out this resource that overviews the organizational patterns, themes, plot structure, tone, and setting.
Education World
Every Day Edit - Alexander Calder, Artist
For this everyday editing worksheet, learners correct grammatical mistakes in a short paragraph about Alexander Calder, the artist. The errors range from punctuation, capitalization, grammar, and spelling.
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.
Curated OER
The Origins of the Cold War, 1945-1949
Students investigate the early years of the Cold War and the origins of containment. Both supporters as well as critics are probed to examine the differences that emerged in the months following the end of the war in Europe. This unit...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Soviet Espionage in America
The war against Communism and Joseph McCarthy’s place in it are the focus of a series of three lessons examining postwar America from 1945-1950. This first activity asks groups to read an introduction that describes the Verona Project...
Curated OER
The Stock Market and the Great Depression
How does the Stock Market work, what was Black Tuesday, and how did the Market crass of 1929 lead to the Great Depression? Have your class play this stock market game for two weeks to better explain how the stock market works.
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...
Learning to Give
The Beginning of the Storm
Introduce readers to Mildred Taylor's Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry with a lesson that sets the context for the novel. Class members research the bigotry in Mississippi during the Great Depression and identify examples in the story of how...
Curated OER
Lesson 2-Profiles in Courage: To Kill A Mockingbird and the Scottsboro Boys Trial
Review one of the most memorable cases in the history of the United States. After reading To Kill A Mockingbird, young scholars read and select court transcripts and other primary source material from the Scottsboro Boys Trial of 1933....
Curated OER
About Life: The Photographs of Dorothea Lange Going to the Promised Land
To better understand the migrant experience during the Great Depression, pupils analyze two primary resources: photographs by Dorothea Lange and a U.S. Map that shows the Dust Bowl. They compare and contrast Lange's images to Steinbeck's...
National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science
Bad Blood
When it comes to science and medicine, ethics should always be a primary consideration; unfortunately, that has not always been the case. There are countless examples throughout history of questionable medical practices, marginalized...
Curated OER
Sequencing of Events
Students pick a time period and put events in chronological order using symbols.
Curated OER
Immigration/Migration: Today and During the Great Depression
Eleventh graders compare experiences of their families to those living through the Great Depression using famiy interviews, photographs, films and document from the Library of Congress.
Curated OER
Jazz in America
Students explore the Swing Era and its implications. They answer questions and listen to music from the era.
Curated OER
Jazz in America
Young scholars learn vocabulary associated with the Swing Era. They also listen to music from the time period.
Curated OER
"Hard Times Come Again No More" : Letters From Arkansas Families in the Great Depression
Through this series of terrific lesson plans, pupils learn about the extent of poverty in the state of Arkansas during the Great Depression. They read documents from the period which describe how hard times were, view an online photo...
Curated OER
Fill in - Twinkies
After hearing or reading a New York Times article on Twinkies, kids attempt to fill in the blanks by memory alone. They re-read the article, only this time words are missing, it's up to them to fill in each blank with a word from the...
Curated OER
Ernest Hemingway: Inside Out
Introduce class members to basic biographical information about Ernest Hemingway. Groups read three brief paragraphs, and then respond to fact-based questions using material drawn from the readings. The exercise would work well with...
Curated OER
Entertainment and Recreation in the Early Twentieth Century and Today
Eleventh graders research entertainment and recreation in the early twentieth century using primary sources and the book From the Hidewood, by Robert Amerson. They compare the rural experience of the time period to the national...
Curated OER
The Social Security Act
Students examine the Social Security Act of 1935. In this U.S. history lesson, students research primary sources in order to prepare for a mock debate of the act prior to it becoming legislation.
Curated OER
"Breadline": The Great Depression Causes, Consequences and Recovery
Young scholars compare prices of popular items of late 1920s to cost of those items presently, determine which companies are best in which to invest, analyze causes and consequences of stock market crash of 1929, and evaluate...