Goals and Objectives
- Students will know the weaknesses in key sectors of the economy in the late 1920s. Students will summarize the critical problems threatening the American economy in the late 1920s.
- Students will understand the principle causes of the Great Depression. Students will identify and describe the causes of the Stock Market Crash and the Great Depression.
History-Social Science CA Content Standards
11.6 Students analyze the different explanations for the Great Depression and how the New Deal fundamentally changed the role of the federal government.
- 11.6.1 Describe the monetary issues of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries that gave rise to the establishment of the Federal Reserve and the weaknesses in key sectors of the economy in the late 1920s.
Lesson Introduction
Students will immediately be given the following critical thinking prompt: “What would happen if you spent more money than you actually had?” Students are to first, independently respond to the prompt at the top of the guided notes handout, and second, engage in a classroom discussion on the prompt. Students will be encouraged to volunteer to share their thoughts and respectfully respond to what their peers have to say. The purpose of this anticipatory set is for the students’ to engage in essential concepts by relating those concepts to their lives. Students will begin to critically think about how certain events and actions have consequences.
Vocabulary
Students will be engaged in key vocabulary throughout the lecture and as they follow along with the guided notes.
- Price-supports
- Credit
- Dow Jones Industrial Average
- Speculation
- Buying on margin
Content Delivery (Lecture)
The teacher will conduct a lecture on the major economic factors during the 1920s contributing to the Great Depression and Stock Market Crash, with guided notes for the students. Students will be engaged in key vocabulary and concepts, as well as essential questioning that will prompt critical thinking.
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Student Engagement
During the lecture, the students will be provided a guided notes handout. The guided notes will engage the students in the lecture by providing critical thinking questions and engaging activities (such as requiring the students to construct a political cartoon/advertisement on the innovation of credit. The guided notes and lecture will provide the students with key vocabulary.
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Lesson Closure
As a closing activity, students will be given the following writing response prompt: “Imagine if you had no home to live in, no money to get food or clothing, and no government programs to assist you. What would you do? What would your priorities be?” During the lecture, the class discussed the critical economic problems leading up to the Stock Market Crash/Great Depression. The closing writing response will prepare the students for the next lesson which will focus on the hardships and struggles of Americans during the Great Depression.
Assessments
Formative – During the lecture, the teacher will ask questions which check for the students’ comprehension of the material and test the students’ critical thinking skills. While the students are independently answering the critical thinking questions and working on the political cartoon activity, the teacher will circulate the room to assess the students’ response and work. The results of the progress-monitoring will inform the teacher how to direct the class discussion and lecture further.
Summative – The teacher will evaluate the completion of the guided practice and various student responses/activities; more importantly, the teacher will check the students’ overall understanding of the content.
Summative – The teacher will evaluate the completion of the guided practice and various student responses/activities; more importantly, the teacher will check the students’ overall understanding of the content.
Accommodations for Students with Special Needs and English Learners
English Learners will be provided with translated hard copies of both the lecture and the guided notes ahead of time (including translated vocabulary terms and definitions). This will allow them to process the information in their primary language, and begin to relay those thoughts in English. SSN students will be given hard copies of the lecture and guided practice beforehand so they have extra time to prepare and work with their resource teacher.