Reenacting the Great Depression with Slides

Submitted by: Terri Sather
Endorsed by: Don Descy
Mankato State University

Date: May 1997

Description:

Many event are better understood with role playing.  The Great Depression is generally understood
as a period of poverty.  This can be better understood by bringing a picture of the period to life.

Grade Level: Grades 10-12/

Subject: Social Studies/US History

Goal:

The students will be able to recreate an imagined dialogue based upon a given picture/slide.

Objectives:

1.  The students will visualize the feelings of people, of all ages, during the Great Depression.
2.  The students will demonstrate their knowledge of feelings and ideas taking place and affecting
the lives of people during the Great Depression.

Background Information for the Teacher:

The teacher will need to locate 3-5 slides depicting the Great Depression.
(The number will depend on how many students are in the class.)
Paper copies then should to be made of these slides.  Any Kinko's, or major copy shop should be able to do this.
This does not violate Copyright laws because it is solely for teaching purposes.
Write the caption of each picture on the back.

Concepts Covered in the Lesson:

The primary concept covered in this lesson is the Great Depression and the people who survived it.

Materials or Equipment List:

3-5 slides with paper copy of each
slide projector

Procedure:

1.  Break students up into groups.  This should be preassigned so the number of students in a group matches the number of people in each slide.  You should have at least 2 people in each slide but three is the best number.

2.  Give each group a paper copy of their slide.

3.  Give the students approximately 5-10 minutes to create a dialogue.

4.  Each group will give a presentation of their dialogue in front of the class.

Assessment:

The dialogue for each slide should fit the slide.  If people are standing in a lunch line,
then the dialogue should reflect this.  Also their should be full participation from every member
of a group, with at least one line per student.

Useful Internet Resources:

http://www.escape.com/~paulg53/politics/great_depression.shtml
http://newdeal.feri.org/classrm/index.htm
 
 

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