Digital Unit Plan Template

Unit Title: The Great Depression Name: Liliana Martinez

Content Area: Social Science Grade Level: 11th
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.
11.6.1 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.
11.6.2 Understand the explanations 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.
Big Ideas/Unit Goals:
Big Ideas:
What should be the role of the government during economic crises?
How did the role of the federal government change during the Great Depression?
How do people cope during financially turbulent times?

Unit Goals:
Students will understand the many causes of the Great Depression.
Students will learn about the various policies enacted during the Hoover and Roosevelt administrations to combat the
Great Depression
Students will recognize the hardships that individuals faced during the depression.
Unit Summary:
This unit covers the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. Students will learn about the causes of the Great Depression.
They will examine policies (acts, tariffs, etc.) initiated during this period in order to further understand how the role of
the federal government's changed. Activities include things like discussion, a concept map, a ranking activity,
anticipation guide, and quickwrite.
Assessment Plan:
Entry-Level: Students will do an
anticipation guide to help them tap
into their prior knowledge and to
activate their thoughts. A class
discussion may be held.
Formative: In pairs, students will Summative: Students will take a
create a concept map that shows they twenty question test to assess their
understand the causes of the Great overall knowledge of the unit.
Depression. The map will be graded Students will also do an essay (see
using a rubric. Students will take an below) where they will answer how
eight question quiz on policies the role of the federal government
enacted during the Hoover and changed during the Great Depression.
Roosevelt Administrations. The The essay will be homework and will
webercise is a good source for be graded using a rubric..
students to use in preparing for the
quiz. Students will also do a ranking
activity using Intel. In their groups,
students will rank what they believe
were the most effective policies
enacted during the Great Depression
and give an explanation why. Lastly,
students will do a quickwrite. They will
put themselves in the shoes of Dust
Bowl refugees and in five minutes
explain what challenges they would
face. A discussion will be held
afterwards.

Lesson 1 (Teacher Lecture)

Student Learning Acceptable Lesson Activities: During lecture on the human toll of the Great
Objective: Evidence Depression, students will follow along with guided notes. Following the
Students will (Assessments): lecture, students will answer the following questions: How would you feel
imagine they are A quickwrite where if you lived during the Dust Bowl? What challenges would you face? What
victims of the Dust the student reflects would your response be? Students will then do a quickwrite answering
Bowl and discuss on the Dust Bowl this question. After five minutes are up, a class discussion will ensue.
how the Dust Bowl will serve as
affected their lives. acceptable
 evidence. Teacher
may either collect
the quickwrite or
hold a class
discussion.
Lesson 2 (Webercise/ iPad Lesson)
Student Learning Acceptable Lesson Activities: Students will do a webercise about the policies
Objective: Evidence: enacted under the Hoover and Roosevelt administrations. Students will
Students will For this section, the use different websites to answer questions and fill in information that will
analyze the policies quiz (which is based help them understand the policies the government implemented to help
(acts, tariffs) off of the webercise) fight the economic crisis.
enacted under the and the ranking
Hoover and activity will serve as Although this is an in class assignment, the teacher should leave this
Roosevelt acceptable assignment as homework just in case students do not finish. Plus,
administrations. evidence. students will use this webercise to study for the eight question quiz. The
next day in class, students will do the ranking activity.
Lesson 3 (Graphic Organizer)
Student Learning Acceptable Lesson Activities: Students will create a concept map with their
Objective: In pairs, Evidence: partners. The purpose of this assignment is to understand the many
students will create The submitted causes of the Great Depression, weaknesses in 1920s practices, and the
a concept map to concept map will role of the Federal Reserve. Complete steps are listed below.
examine the many serve as acceptable
causes of the Great evidence. 1. Go to Brainpop and watch the video titled Great Depression Causes
Depression. for a preview on this lesson.
2. Read the introduction, overview, and the subsection about the Federal
Reserve in the following article titled Causes of the Great Depression.
3. Choose four out of the seven causes discussed in the article for your
concept map.
Options:
1. Agricultural woes
2. Manufacturing overproduction
3. Concentration of wealth
 4. Holding companies
5. Stock speculation
6. Meek Federal Reserve System
7. Unsound banking system
4. Create your concept map using Popplet. The popple (text box) in the
center will contain a title (ex. Great Depression Causes).
5. Create four popples representing the four causes you have chosen.
Each of these four popples should contain a relevant image. I suggest
adding images at the end.
6. Each cause you choose must have two supporting details (two popples
outlined in blue). These supporting details should show how the cause
was a problem.
7. Create one popple (outlined in red) for each cause that explains an
effect.

Unit Resources:
Hoovers Economic Problems for Webercise
Herbert Hoover on the Great Depress & New Deal for Webercise and essay assignment
FDR & the New Deal a Prezi presentation for the Webercise
Causes of the Great Depression for the concept map
Popplet a website where students can make a concept map
Brainpop a video site to use for the Webercise and concept map activity
Quizlet for the quiz
Hoover, Roosevelt, and the Role of the Government for the essay
Intel for the ranking activity
Useful Websites:
Timeline: A basic timeline of the Great Depression by PBS.
Digital History: This site offers primary sources about what minorities faced during the Great Depression such as
deportation.
Multiple Choice Practice Test: Take the following exam in order to test your knowledge on the 1920s and 1930s.
A Depression Art Gallery: Most of the art featured on this site was created during the 1930s.
New Deal Network: This site offers tons of information and sources on the Great Depression.
Franklin D. Roosevelt: Watch a documentary by PBS about the most vital figure in the United States during the Great
Depression.