ALEX Classroom Resource

  

Exploration of the Great Depression in Of Mice and Men

  Classroom Resource Information  

Title:

 Exploration of the Great Depression in Of Mice and Men

URL:

 https://learninglab.si.edu/collections/exploration-of-the-great-depression-in-of-mice-and-men/mAjzdULa5FbBF9C0#r

Content Source:

 Smithsonian
Type: Lesson/Unit Plan

Overview:

This is a lesson plan that uses the book Of Mice and Men when teaching about the Great Depression. The collection includes photos and articles detailing the causes and effects of the Great Depression.

Content Standard(s):
Social Studies
SS2010 (2010)
Grade: 6
United States Studies: The Industrial Revolution to the Present
5 ) Explain causes and effects of the Great Depression on the people of the United States.

Examples: economic failure, loss of farms, rising unemployment, building of Hoovervilles

•  Identifying patterns of migration during the Great Depression
•  Locating on a map the area of the United States known as the Dust Bowl
•  Describing the importance of the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt as President of the United States, including the New Deal alphabet agencies
•  Locating on a map the river systems utilized by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) (Alabama)
Unpacked Content
Strand: Economics, Geography, History, Civics and Government
Course Title: United States Studies: The Industrial Revolution to the Present
Evidence Of Student Attainment:
Students:
  • Explain the cause and effects of the Great Depression on the people of the United States.
  • Identify patterns of migration.
  • Locate on a map the area known as the Dust Bowl, as well as the river systems utilized by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA).
  • Describe the importance of the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt.
  • Compare and contrast the policies of Harding, Hoover, and Roosevelt.
Teacher Vocabulary:
  • depression
  • economic failure
  • Hoovervilles
  • migration
  • Dust Bowl
  • New Deal
  • Tennessee Valley Authority
  • river systems
Knowledge:
Students know:
  • What caused the Great Depression and the effect it had on the people of the United States.
Skills:
Students are able to:
  • Examine cause and effect to see relationships between people, places, ideas, and events.
  • Use map skills to locate places of historical significance.
Understanding:
Students understand that:
  • There were many causes and effects of the Great Depression on the people of the U.S.
Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards
AAS Standard:
SS.AAS.6.5- Define economic depression; identify the general factors of the Great Depression including stock market crash of 1929, Dust Bowl, Hoovervilles, and FDR.
SS.AAS.6.5a - Describe the purpose of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and its location.
Social Studies
SS2010 (2010)
Grade: 11
United States History II: The Industrial Revolution to the Present
6 ) Describe social and economic conditions from the 1920s through the Great Depression regarding factors leading to a deepening crisis, including the collapse of the farming economy and the stock market crash of 1929. [A.1.a., A.1.b., A.1.d., A.1.f., A.1.i., A.1.j., A.1.k.]

•  Assessing effects of overproduction, stock market speculation, and restrictive monetary policies on the pending economic crisis
•  Describing the impact of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act on the global economy and the resulting worldwide depression
•  Identifying notable authors of the 1920s, including John Steinbeck, William Faulkner, and Zora Neale Hurston (Alabama)
•  Analyzing the Great Depression for its impact on the American family
Examples: Bonus Army, Hoovervilles, Dust Bowl, Dorothea Lange

Unpacked Content
Strand: Economics, Geography, History, Civics and Government
Course Title: United States History II: The Industrial Revolution to the Present
Evidence Of Student Attainment:
Students:
  • Analyze the social, political, and economic conditions that contributed to the Great Depression.
  • Identify and describe the effects of the Great Depression on American life and art.
Teacher Vocabulary:
  • assess
  • identify
  • analyze
  • Great Depression
  • stock market crash
  • overproduction
  • speculation
  • Smoot-Haley Tariff Act
  • John Steinbeck
  • William Faulkner
  • Zora Neale Hurston
  • Bonus Army
  • Hoovervilles
  • Dust Bowl
  • Dorothea Lange
  • Jim Crow
  • Japanese Internment
  • Southern Tenant Farmers' Union
Knowledge:
Students know:
  • The social, political, and economic conditions from the 1920s through the Great Depression.
  • Social and political factors and policies that were influenced by and that contributed to the deepening crisis during the Great Depression.
  • Economic factors and policies that contributed to the beginning of the Great Depression and the deepening crisis as the Great Depression continued in the United States and globally, including the effects of overproduction, stock market speculation, restrictive monetary policies, the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act.
  • The ways authors' works during the Great Depression were influenced by and influenced the social, political, and economic realities of the time.
  • The impact of the Great Depression on class, region, race, and gender relations during the time period of the 1920s to the 1940s.
Skills:
Students are able to:
  • Analyze the social, political, and economic conditions of a specific historical period.
  • Determine and evaluate the factors that contributed to a specific historical period.
  • Evaluate works of art and literature from a specific time period in order to determine their impact.
  • Determine central ideas of primary and secondary sources.
  • Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources.
Understanding:
Students understand that:
  • There were various political, social and economic conditions that contributed to the Great Depression.
Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards
AAS Standard:
SS.AAS.11.6- Define economic depression; recognize the general causes of the Great Depression including overproduction of crops, stock market crash; recognize the effects of the Great Depression including collapse of the farm economy, unemployment, bank failure, homelessness and soup kitchens.
Tags: Great Depression, Of Mice and Men, The Dust Bowl
License Type: Custom Permission Type
See Terms: https://www.si.edu/Termsofuse
For full descriptions of license types and a guide to usage, visit :
https://creativecommons.org/licenses
Accessibility
Comments
  This resource provided by:  
Author: Ginger Boyd
This site may contain links to other websites or content belonging to or originating from third parties or links to websites and features in banners or other advertising. Such external links are not investigated, monitored, or checked for accuracy, adequacy, validity, reliability, availability, or completeness by us. WE DO NOT WARRANT, ENDORSE, GUARANTEE, OR ASSUME RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ACCURACY OR RELIABILITY OF ANY INFORMATION OFFERED BY THIRD-PARTY WEBSITES LINKED THROUGH THIS SITE.
Copyright © 2017, Alabama Learning Exchange
Alabama State Department of Education
Alabama State Department of Education