Hello again, history lovers,
This has been a trying couple of weeks for us. With all of the technical problems of the past weeks, we finally finished Roaring Twenties presentations! Even though we were a day later than planned, I am so pleased with most of the products you presented! The skits were fantastic! I am so proud to see how seriously many of you treated your topic, and I think many of you truly enjoyed this project! Now our attention will to to a much more somber period in US History. The Great Depression is a time when Americans pay for many of the excesses of the Twenties in a manner in which they never dreamed. Due to speculation, buying on margin, and excessive credit being given to those who couldn't afford it, spending declines, jobs are lost, and at one point. 1/4 of our nation is unemployed! There are many parallels between this era and our current credit crisis in America and the world. Watch for similarities and differences as we wade the waters of recession and depression for the next two weeks.
See you Monday!

Agenda Day 1

Monday February 23

Outcome(s): By the end of class students will: summarize the problems threatening the economy in the late 1920’s and early 1930’s, the causes of the Great Depression

· Agenda: Focus Journal It is 1929. Your parents recently bought a profitable pizza place in downtown Lexington. In October of 1929, your world changed. A stock market crash sent shock waves through the nation. People are losing jobs and homes. Your family’s sales drop drastically as unemployment skyrockets. Your parents’ bills are the same but their profits are dwindling. What do you sacrifice to help your family’s business?
·
Instruct Lecture/Discussion 14.1 The Nation’s sick economy
Discuss concepts such as buying on margin/speculation, credit, recession, depression, depression “proof” jobs, Dow Jones, Black Tuesday, GNP

Formative Assessment(s):
· Assess Scarcity ORQ
· Exit Slip: Dirty 4 grading


Agenda Day 2 February 25

Outcome(s):
By the end of class students will understand problems facing the United States during the Great Depression and evaluate President Hoover’s early political responses to the economic situation

Agenda:
· Focus Journal Interpreting Political cartoons
“How did the stock market crash of 1929 affect this man? How does he represent the United States at this pivotal point in history?
· Instruct: Students read TCI Four Economic problems that influenced the Great Depression and choose the best of three options on how to solve the economic crisis

Formative Assessment(s):
· Assess: Students will discuss the ideas of conservative, liberal, and radical responses to the economy and will read about Hoover’s response
· Exit Slip: Explain where Hoover went wrong. Describe two response (or lack of response) that helped Americans sink into the “Great” Depression.

Agenda Day 3 February 27

Outcome(s):
By the end of class, students will become more familiar with the suffering of the average American during the Great Depression and better understand how the depression affected the US socially, politically, and economically.

Agenda:
· Focus: “Broke but not Broken” The Dust Bowl video
· Journal: 5 things I learned about the Dust Bowl
After watching video : Discuss how this weather event further exaggerated the United States’ economic problems during the Great Depression.
· Instruct: Discuss Dust Bowl/Suffering nationwide
· Assess: Students break into learning centers

Formative Assessment(s):

Debriefing of learning centers (discussion)
Collection and grading of the learning centers worksheet

· Debrief/ Exit Slip: Discuss one social, one political, and one economic way that life changed from the twenties to the thirties as a result of the Great Depression