Digital Unit Plan Template

Unit Title: The Great Depression Name: Josue Pearson-Granados

Content Area: Social Science Grade Level: 11
CA Content Standard(s)/Common Core Standard(s):
11.6 Students analyze the different explanations for the great depression and how the new deal fundamentally changed the role of the federal government.
11.6.2 Understand the explanation of the principal causes of the Great Depression and the steps taken by the Federal Reserve, Congress, and Presidents Herbert
Hoover and Franklin Delano Roosevelt to combat the economic crisis.
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.
11.6.4 Analyze the effects of and the controversies arising from New Deal economic policies and the expanded role of the federal government in society and the
economy since the 1930s (e.g., Works Progress Administration, Social Security, National Labor Relations Board, farm programs, regional development policies, and
energy development projects such as the Tennessee Valley Authority, California Central Valley Project, and Bonneville Dam).
11.6.5 Trace the advances and retreats of organized labor, from the creation of the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations to
current issues of postindustrial, multinational economy, including the United Farm Workers in California.
Big Ideas:

What is the role of government in responding or reacting to a country's economy?
To what degree should a government ensure that its citizens have jobs?
How do people choose where to live?
How do economies impact people's lives?
How people were impoverished during the Depression
How inflated stock prices, overproduction, high tariffs, uneven distribution of wealth, and mistakes by the Federal Reserve led to the Great Depression.
How President Franklin Roosevelts New Deal help the economy, American Citizens, and the country as a whole.

Unit Goals and Objectives:
In this unit, students will be asked to read like a detective and gain a clear understanding of the content of the Great Depression and Franklin Roosevelts New
Deal.
First, after our first lecture: Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal, students will evaluate how and why Americans responded to the Great Depression as
they did by discussing the impact of Franklin D. Roosevelt's relationship between his political, social and economic views and his handling of the Great
Depression. The goal here is to gather basic information about FDRs character and political views and how they influenced the way he approach the Great
Depression.
Second, the students will discuss the impact of the Great Depression on the American economic system and on farmers, industrial workers, marginal
workers, and middle class workers and their families after the completion of the webercise, which will allow them to gain some important knowledge
about how the Great Depression affected Americans.
Third, by the end of the unit, student will be able to examine the power struggle between industrial unions during the New Deal era and assess the overall
impact of the New Deal era on organized labor in the United States. Also, students will learn the extent to which the New Deal changed the relationship
between the federal government and American citizens by looking at the various resources found on this unit such as the videos, graphics, interactive
activities, and different stories. They will be able to discuss the legacy of the New Deal, such as the Social Security, national parks and the environment by
critically analyzing the evidences presented to them on here.
Unit Summary:
In this unit, students will learn that the Great Depression plunged the American people into an economic crisis unlike any endured in this country before or since. The worst
and longest downturn in our economic history threw millions of hardworking individuals into poverty Also, students will review how the Depression provided the impetus
for President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal, which forever changed the relationship between the American people and their government, and which is usually considered
to be one of the most significant periods of political reform in American history. Consequently, we will explore more in-depth (under teacher's lecture) what President
Franklin Roosevelt accomplished through his New Deal. On this power point presentation, The Great Depression. Outcome: Franklin Roosevelt & The New Deal you'll find
information such as FDR's political career, personal attitude toward the Great Depression, actions and policies, and more. We'll watch a very detailed video about FDR and
The New Deal, and we'll learn to read statistics about unemployment during the Great Depression graphically displayed. To help you take good notes, I will provide you in
class with a copy of guided notes so you can take helpful, specific notes during the power point presentation which will help you study for the exam. Also, on this unit plan,
you'll be doing an exercise (under "webercise") which will require you to answer some questions after you watch videos, look at some primary sources about the Great
Depression from the National Archives, as well as participating in interesting, interactive activities (which I think make learning more fun). And Finally, I just want to
mention that I have uploaded some helpful links (under "unit resources") that I encourage you to explore whenever you have the time; the links have helpful
information for homework that I will assign in class.
Assessment Plan:
Entry-Level:
Discussion The Crash of 1929 (video) What is the
Great Depression? And what were the factors that led
the country to the Great Depression?
Formative:

Guided Notes as students look at the power point
presentation on Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal,
they will fill out the guided notes where I have included
a few conceptual questions. After the presentation,
students will write their answers on a piece of paper
and submit them to me.
Summative:
Essay in groups, students will write a research paper
to demonstrate their critical thinking skills, as well as
their level of knowledge about the Great Depression, its
causes, characteristics, impact on our society, FDR and
the New Deal. The research will focus on how the Great
Depression affected people from minority groups.
Webercise students will do an online activity which
includes videos clips, articles, and interactive exercises
and answer the questions.

Unit exam students will take an unit exam to assess
their gained knowledge about facts, concepts,
important dates, names, etc.
Constructive Response after the first two weeks,
students will answer some constructive questions on
SurveyMonkey, which are designed to make them think
critically and not to simply provide facts. The questions
are to be taken on line and submitted to me.


Quizlet flashcards this will allow the students to
demonstrate knowledge about different, important
relevant concepts of the Great Depression.

Lesson 1
Student Learning Objective:
Explain and evaluate the
Roosevelt administrations
attempts to deal with the
economic and human
crises posed by the Great
Depression.
Acceptable Evidence:
Completion of the guided
notes. Students show full
understanding about the
principal concepts and
aspects of the New Deal by
participating in an in-class
discussion and through their
answers to the presentations
questions.
Instructional Strategies:
Communication
Collection
Collaboration
Presentation
Organization
Interaction
Lesson Activities:
During the power point presentation, students will fill in the guided notes; in a
separate sheet of paper, students will answer key questions found throughout the
presentation and submitted them to me. There will also be a video about FDR and
the New Deal which is intended to be used as the basis for an in-class discussion.
Lesson 2
Student Learning Objective:
Learn about the impact of the
Great Depression on the
American economic system
and on farmers, industrial
workers, marginal workers,
and middle class workers and
their families. Examine how
and why Americans
Acceptable Evidence:
Students demonstrate full
understanding of the
American economy crisis,
how the lives of farmers,
industrial workers and their
families changed forever.
Instructional Strategies:
Communication
Collection
Collaboration
Presentation
Organization
Interaction
Lesson Activities:
The webercise includes different interesting videos, articles, stories, pictures, etc.
about American life during the Depression, followed by related questions which
are designed to incentive critical thinking. Also, the webercise contains interactive
activities where students look at the lives of young Americans and their families
during the Great Depression.
responded to the Great
Depression as they did.
Lesson 3
Student Learning Objective:
Students will learn about
some of the principal causes
of the Great Depression.
Students will learn that bank
panics and a shrinking money
supply were the primary
causes of the Great
Depression.
Acceptable Evidence:
Students have learned the
necessary concepts of
the principal causes of the
Great Depression. They show
this through the completion
of the different interactive
activities.
Instructional Strategies:
Communication
Collection
Collaboration
Presentation
Organization
Interaction
Lesson Activities:
Teachers power point presentation and guided notes. In groups, students will
watch a video about the principal causes of the Great Depression, read and
analyze an article to then construct a graphic organizer where they will
demonstrate what they have learned about the causes of the economic crisis.
Unit Resources:
- Edwards, G., Wattenberg, M., and Lineberry, R. (2009). Government in America: People, Politics, and Policy. United States: Pearson
Education, Inc.
- Hunt, M., H. (2004). The World Transformed: 1945 to the Present. Massachusetts: Bedford/St. Martins
- Nash, Jeffrey, Howe, Frederick, Davis, Winkler, Mires, and Pestana. (2011). The American People: Creating a Nation and A Society. New
Jersey: Person Education, Inc.
http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/fdr-inaugural/
http://www.gwu.edu/~erpapers/teachinger/glossary/great-depression.cfm
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/fdr/
http://www.loc.gov
https://library.fullerton.edu

Useful Websites:

The Great Depression and the New Deal Pictures this site will take you through various events of the Depression in pictures.


Stories of the Great Depression are interviews of people who experienced the economic crisis growing up.

This video takes a look at how the U.S. government responded to this historic financial collapse.

Dust Bowl Migrations. This is an overview of residents of the Great Plaines and what they went through during the Great Depression. This set of primary resources from
the Library of Congress includes images, music, and song lyrics that provide insight into the lives of the people that suffered through this horrific disaster.

The Civilian Conservation Corps The CCC was President Roosevelts answer to the environmental and economic challenges facing the country.

The Hoover Dam Produces Electricity During the Great Depression, many Americans did not have jobs. The construction of the dam created work for thousands of people
who came from all over the country

The Stock Market Fell to Its Lowest Point During the Depression The Great Crash affected everyone, even those who had not bought stocks.

What Life Was Like During the Great Depression Learn about how young Americans survived the Great Depression.

The Human Toll of the Depression A study shows that during the Great Depression mortality rates actually fell.

Unwise Agricultural Practices and their effects during the Depression When the national economy went into decline in the late 1920s because of the Great Depression,
agriculture was even more adversely affected.

The Presidents of the Great Depression Learn about the nation's leaders during the Depression: Herbert Hoover (1874-1964) and Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945).

How the Depression Changed the Role of the Federal Government The Great Depression is often called a defining moment in the twentieth-century history of the United
States. Its most lasting effect was a transformation of the role of the federal government in the economy.