Curated OER
The Grapes of Wrath
"The Grapes of Wrath" is a great novel that can be taught in conjunction with history and other cross-curricular lessons.
Curated OER
The Good, The Bad, The Ugly
Sixth graders examine the causes of the stock market crash of 1929. For this integrated math/history unit on the stock market, 6th graders study, research, and read stocks, visit a local bank, and create a PowerPoint to show the...
Curated OER
5th Grade Social Studies Quiz B
In this grade 5 social studies quiz worksheet, 5th graders complete a 15 question multiple choice quiz covering a variety of grade 5 concepts.
Curated OER
Keystone Science School: Sustainable Automobiles
Students explore how to choose the correct car for them based on their needs.
Curated OER
Documenting History: Photographs as Social Commentaries
Students examine photographs that make social statements. They examine content, symbolism, and their personal reactions to works of art that make expressive statements about social issues.
Curated OER
Health, Decision Making, Research, Media Literacy
Students explore the problem of bullying. They observe an anti-bullying commercial and discuss how a victim may feel. After a class discussion, students identify tools a victim may use to get away from a bully and obtain assistance. ...
Other
National Council for the Social Studies: The Great Depression Mystery
Delve into the causes of the Great Depression with this lesson that simulates how unemployment in one part of the economy can cause unemployment in other parts of the economy. Extensive background on the economic causes of the Depression...
Calisphere: University of California Libraries
Univ. Of California: Calisphere: Great Depression: Everyday Life in Hard Times
Original photos that look at housing, employment, and unemployment during the hard times of the Great Depression and the changing role of the federal government with the New Deal.
US Department of Labor
Bureau of Labor Statistics: Compensation From Before Wwi Through Great Depression [Pdf]
This interesting article from the Bureau of Labor Statistics discusses how working conditions and low pay prior to World War I led to the increase in union membership. Read how the government viewed labor and labor unions during World...
Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Gilder Lehrman Institute: History Now: The Wpa: Antidote to the Great Depression?
[Free Registration/Login Required] A good assessment of the Works Progress Administration and its contribution not only of providing jobs for the unemployed during the Great Depression, but for the lasting improvements it made in the...
University of Washington
The Great Depression in Washington State: Hoovervilles and Homelessness
Information about the Hoovervilles in Seattle, Washington, and surrounding cities during the Great Depression. Find maps that show the locations of shack towns around the city, and follow hyperlinks that give a deeper look at...
Curated OER
History Matters: Deaf and Unemployed in Dubuque
Read this poignant interview, transcribed by a WPA worker, in which a deaf couple describes the hardships they encountered during the Great Depression, compounded because of their disability.
OpenStax
Open Stax: The Great Depression 1929 1932: The Stock Market Crash of 1929
Discusses what caused the 1929 stock market crash and why the American economy went so rapidly and dramatically downhill. Also explains how a stock market crash can have such a far-reaching impact.
Council for Economic Education
Econ Ed Link: Where Did All the Money Go? The Great Depression Mystery
Use this lesson plan to have students investigate how the American economy went from boom to bust in the 1920s. Find the resources needed for the lesson plan as well as important discussion questions for individual and class consideration.
A&E Television
History.com: How the Great Depression Became the Golden Age for Monopoly
When times got tough during the Great Depression, people played board games -- especially the game that's all about making money. The success of Monopoly befuddled many. Why, in a time of great financial despair, would families and...
Curated OER
History Matters: Donners Recall the Great Depression
This description of a family in Dubuque, Iowa was part of a 1935 WPA sponsored project devoted to documenting the experiences of people during the Depression. From the book, The Great Depression, by David Shannon.
PBS
The First Measured Century: Measurements and Myths of the Great Depression
This fascinating transcript from a PBS special about numbers in the 20th century focuses on people and how they were affected by the Great Depression in terms of employment, agriculture, and even marriage rates. Be sure to click on the...
Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Comission
Expore Pa History: Pa and the Great Depression: Public Works and Organized Labor
A good look at how the Great Depression affected Pennsylvania. See how New Deal legislation brought relief to the unemployed in Pennsylvania after 1936.
Other
University of California: Hard Times
Lesson in which students analyze primary source photos and answer questions based on photos and informational text to learn about life during the Great Depression.
PBS
Pbs: American Experience: Mac Arthur: The Bonus March (May July, 1932)
As part of the American Experience film on General MacArthur, this article explains the plight of the World War I veterans who marched on Washington in 1932 to claim their war bonus--which they needed due to the Great Depression--only to...
Digital History
Digital History: The Depression [Pdf]
Take this interesting look at life during the Great Depression. Find data about unemployment, bank failures, the Bonus Army, and the ways the depression affected ordinary individuals. [pdf]
Wessels Living History Farm
Living History Farm: Farming in the 1930s: Crash!
A multi-page site that focuses on the effects of the Great Depression primarily in rural America in the early days before the election of Franklin Roosevelt. Find videos interviews with those who lived through the trying times.
University of Washington
University of Washington: Economics and Poverty
Each state felt the ramifications of the Great Depression in different ways. Learn how Washington dealt with the unemployed in their state and how the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) helped in...