Breehan

The Great Depression: 6th Grade Unit
Theme: The Great Depression; Front Page News
Day 8

This lesson will involve students in historical research, writing, and group decision making which provides avenues for participation and leadership. The students will be in groups with the goal of creating the front page of a newspaper dated January 1, 1930. They will be viewing other newspapers to get an idea of format, including local newspapers dated back to the Great Depression from Winona, Minnesota.

Materials:
· Newspaper articles
· Winona, Minnesota newspaper articles from the time of the Great Depression
· Computer access for each group

Goals:

My goals for this lesson are to inform students about how Winona was affected by the Great Depression and give them a better understanding about how newspapers are laid out.

Objectives:

1. The students will identify what was going on in Winona, Minnesota during the Great Depression.
2. The students will know how people of that time were affected by the Great Depression.
3. The students will understand how a newspaper is laid out.
4. The students will be able to create their own front page of a newspaper using knowledge and understanding of what was going on in the United States on January 1, 1930.

Procedures:

a) Introductory Experiences
1. Pass out the lyrics to Lorenz Hart’s song, “I’ve Got Five Dollars”

2. Play the song for the students and make sure they are paying close attention to the lyrics. (3 min)

3. Take time to go over the lyrics with the class.

i) Looking back on yesterday’s lesson, was five dollars a lot of money back then? Have students take out their charts from yesterday including their assignment of adding onto the chart.

ii) What could they have bought for five dollars back during the Great Depression? How many shirts do they have, compared to the six that the person in this song had? How many jackets, compared to the two that that person had in the song? (2 min)

iii) Discuss their additions they made to their charts and their summaries as to why they think prices would be what they put them at if they had the things we have today. (2 min)

b) Developmental experiences
1. Divide the class into groups of three or four and put each group at one computer. Pass out the different articles from Winona Newspapers during the time of the Great Depression to each student making sure that everyone has every article. (2 min)

2. Have each member of the group read one article on their own so everyone is reading something different. While they are reading, get different newspaper articles, especially front page articles, and place them at the different computers of each group. (5 min)

3. Discuss the articles with the class. Was Winona affected by the Great Depression? What things did the city of Winona do to try to help those who affected? (3 min)

4. After the discussion, hand out the assignment sheet to each person at each group computer.

5. Read the assignment sheet to the class having them follow along. (1 min)

6. Check for questions and let them work on the assignment (25 min)

c) Culminating experiences
1. Bring the class back together. Make sure they save and print their work. Explain that they will share their articles in class tomorrow. If extra time is needed, we will take the time saved for sharing, to finish them up. (1 min)

i) Answer any questions (1 min)

ii) Collect yesterday’s assignment as they walk out the door

Assessment:

Asking the students questions in the beginning will be an initial assessment of what they learned from the assignment yesterday about prices then and now. The final assessment will be the creation their front page news article. Also, an assessment of their knowledge about prices back during the Great Depression was seen with their explanations of why they think things would cost what they put them at on their assignment sheet. Also, walking around observing and listening to the students putting together their front page articles and their discussions of what to put in the articles will be assessing their thought process about the affects of Great Depression.

I've got Five Dollars From America's SweetheartLyrics by Lorenz Hart, music by Richard Rodgers Lyrics published on The Complete Lyrics of Lorenz Hart

Mister Shylock was stingy
I was miserly too.
I was more selfish
and crabby than a shellfish.
Oh, dear, it's queer
what love can do!
I'd give all my possessions for you
I've got five dollars
I'm in good conditions
and I've got ambition
that belongs to you.
Six shirts and collars
debts beyond endurance
on my life insurance
that belongs to you!
I've got a heart
that must be spurtin'!
Just be certain I'll be true
Take my five dollars!
Take my shirt and collars!
Take my heart and hollers!
"Ev'rything I've got belongs to you!"

I've got five dollars
eighty-five relations
two lace combinations
they belongs to you!
Two coats with collars
Ma and Grandma wore'em
all the moths adore 'em
they belongs to you!
I've got two lips that care for mating
therefore waiting
will not do!
Take my five dollars!
Take my shirt and collars!
Take my heart and hollers!
"Ev'rything I've got belongs to you!"

FRONT PAGE NEWS

Your job as a group is to create the front page of a newspaper.

The date is January 1, 1930.

This special issue of the newspaper will explain the causes and impact of the Great Depression.

Examine the structure and parts of newspaper articles and read the attached articles from Winona newspapers during the Great Depression

The following parts should be included in each of your stories:

· A headline that discusses a cause of the Great Depression
· An introductory paragraph that explains the cause and its role in creating the Depression
· The source on which the article is based
· Quote(s) from one or more imaginary or real local people that discuss the impact of the Depression on your community
· An explanation of the impact of this cause on the entire country

All of the stories should be typed and laid-out as the front page of the local newspaper

The page should include a masthead and appropriate pictures and editorial cartoons. You make work individually on articles or as a group.

You will be graded on the quality of the overall product and creativeness.

The Great Depression: 6th Grade Unit
Theme: The Great Depression

Description of Lesson:

To start, students will brainstorm ideas as to what they think is meant by the term “Great Depression” and they will create an idea web. They will then work in small groups looking at pictures and describing what they think is happening in the pictures, applying the concepts they discussed in the idea web. Finally, the students will work in these groups answering questions about the Great Depression and then the class will end with them teaching the class what they learned.

Materials:

· Printed lyrics to the Rudy Vallee’s song, “Brother Can You Spare a Dime”
· The song “Brother Can You Spare a Dime”
· Chalk or markers for the board (depending on the kind of board in the classroom)
· Photos with no captions, enough for each person in the class to have one
· Photos with the correct captions

Goals:

My goal for this lesson is to make sure that students know what the Great Depression was and all the different aspects that contributed to it because there was no one cause or reason. Also, I want to increase my student’s vocabulary and oral speaking abilities.

Objectives:

1. The students will identify the different causes of the Great Depression.
2. The students will know how the people of that time were affected by the Great Depression.
3. The students will begin to understand the efforts of the United States Government to help the people during this tragedy.
4. The students will learn about Winona during the Great Depression and the times of the Stock Market Crash.

Procedure:

a) Introductory Experiences:
1. To begin this class, take five minutes to either share the Front Page News assignment or give the class extra time to work on them. (5 min)

2. One presentation/work time is completed, pass out the lyrics to Rudy Vallee’s song, “Brother Can You Spare a Dime” and play the song for the class. Make sure they are paying close attention to the lyrics. (2 min)

3. Take one minute have the students talk about the lyrics to the song and why or how they relate to the Great Depression. (1 min)

b) Developmental Experiences
1. Write on the board, “What is meant by the term “Great Depression?” Have the students brainstorm a list of responses. Organize them into an idea web that the students should copy in their notes. (10 min)

2. After the discussion, ask the students what they THINK the government did or should have done to deal with the problems they listed. (3 min)

3. Ask the students if any of the problems they listed are still problems today, especially when looking at economy. (3 min)

4. Divide the class into groups of 4 and give each group at least four pictures. Tell the groups they need to assign a speaker, a picture holder, and a writer. They are to look at the pictures on their table and describe what they think is happening in the image and have the writer write these descriptions and a caption for the picture in his/her notebook. Once each group has their captions, have them get up and go to the next table, working in a clockwise pattern. Continue until everyone is back at that starting table. (10 min)

5. Have each group stand at their table when it is their turn to present. Moving in a clockwise manner, the picture holder holds the picture up so everyone in the class can see what the speaker is describing. Have each group share their descriptions and their captions for the pictures. (8 min)

b) Culminating Experiences:
1. Bring the class back together and tell them all to take one picture, and put the rest of the pictures in a pile on their desk as well as their descriptions and captions paper. Make sure each group member has his/her name on the paper. Tell them we will go over the pictures tomorrow and I will let them know the correct captions for each picture. (1 min)

2. Explain their homework is to write a diary entry from the point of view of a person in the photograph they chose. Encourage students to include information about the lives of people in the 1930s and which state they think their person was from. (1 min)

3. Take time to answer any questions (1 min)

Assessment:
Asking the students questions in the beginning will be an initial assessment of what they learned and know about what the Great Depression was and how it affected the people of that time. Creating the idea web based off of student responses will be a formative assessment of what they have learned this far during this unit. Also, walking around observing and listening to the student’s looking at the various pictures and discussing what they think is happening in each picture will be assessing their thought process based on what they have learned about those times and the people of those times.