Assessment
There are several assessments built into this unit:
- Group newspaper article on welfare mothers
- Individual piece of creative writing based on a 1930s photograph
- Position paper on current welfare state issue
Final evaluation of the unit will contain two items: a two-part essay and a bibliography.
1. Essay:For the first part of the essay, the student will compose a thought- provoking essay question on the Great Depression and its effects today. The student will, at home, answer the question in 250-400 words. On the day that the writing is due, students will turn in the question and answer, as well as a copy of the question only; the teacher will collect the questions and redistribute them. Students will spend the period answering the question they received. The day following the in-class essay, students will assess the piece of writing done by the class member who answered their question.
2. Bibliography:Students will turn in a list of the resources they used on all parts of this project. The bibliography needs to include but is not limited to:
- two web sites
- two specialized books (inc. Hard Times)
- one generalized book (encyclopedia, textbook)
- one photograph
- one oral history interview with a person who lived through the Great Depression
Learning Context/ Introduction
Students frequently echo sentiments such as, "The government is too big," or "The government should make welfare mothers pay for their own needs." It seems that many citizens, high schoolers included, have begun to believe in reduced government combined with increased personal responsibility. Such sentiments suggest a move away from belief in the welfare state, created largely by the New Deal in the 1930s and reinforced by the "Great Society" legislation of the 1960s. By using the American Memory's American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936 - 1940 documents, personal interviews, and the Library of Congress's on-line legislative information THOMAS, students will be able to gain a better understanding of why the government takes care of its people and how this type of welfare state started. Armed with this knowledge, they can then evaluate the current need of government programs, such as welfare, Medicare and Social Security, on the federal and state level.
Objectives
By participating in this project, the students will:
Understand the connection between past and present history, particularly related to government funded programs.
Research legislation from the Depression era and legislation currently proposed on the federal and state levels.
Use the resources from the Library of Congress American Memory Collection, THOMAS, local libraries and personal interviews.
Learn to research different viewpoints on controversial issues using the American Memory collection, THOMAS, email and local libraries.
Write clearly, speak articulately, and think critically.
Present their work publicly in a debate, through email or in a forum.
Procedure
This learning experience consists of three parts:
- A Variety of Perspectives on the Welfare State - Students participating in this lesson will consider their own and their classmates' opinions on the modern welfare state. To help them, they will read selections from Jonathan Kozel's book, Amazing Grace. The lesson concludes with the writing of a newspaper article on welfare.
- Understandings the Times: The 1930s - This lesson focuses on the 1930s. In groups, students will investigate, using Studs Terkel's book, Hard Times, and online resources, either one group of people affected by the Great Depression or the government programs designed to help the people. The culmination of the lesson is a piece of creative writing.
- The New Deal's Legacy - The culminating lesson of the unit asks students to research a modern government program with its roots in the New Deal. Following their research, students participate in a Congressional forum where they debate which programs should be continued and which should be eliminated.
The procedure for each component of this unit is described below.
Part One
A Variety of Perspectives on the Welfare State (2 - 3 days)
Background Reading
To prepare students for this lesson, the teacher may want to have them read selected passages from Jonathan Kozol´s book, Amazing Grace. The book, about life in a New York City ghetto Mott Haven, has much to say about the welfare state. We recommend the following selections:
- Chapter 1: Overall background on Mott Haven and conditions there
- pp. 98-101, 107-111: Rudolph Giuliani´s proposed program and tax cuts
- pp. 180-182: Welfare mothers and the breakdown of the family
- p. 187: Infant mortality rates
- p. 191: Medical apartheid
Considering the Issues
As the unit opens up, students survey the spectrum of viewpoints in the classroom on the contemporary role of government in American society. To start the lesson, students will be asked to comment on a variety of questions related to the welfare state. Here are some sample questions:
- How much should the United States government and state governments be involved in helping improve the lives of its citizens?
- Which group do you think could better help impoverished United States citizens: private charitable organizations or the government?
- Does society owe support to children of single-parent families when the parent is unemployed?
Values Line
After answering the questions, students will place themselves in a "values-line" based on the question:
- Does society owe support to children of single-parent families when the parent is unemployed?
Students who think that unemployed single-parents are lazy, system- abusing citizens should move to one end of the room. Students who, by contrast, feel sympathetic towards these parents and their children should move to the other side of the room. Put students undecided on the issue in a middle ground in the room. Students then discuss with those around them their opinions in order to create one continuous line where students are placed, according to their opinions, with the extremists on the ends and the moderates in the middle. After students form one continuous line, they then pair up to discuss their opinions. One person from each extreme and two students from the middle of the pack form a quartet for discussion.
Newspaper Article
After a discussion where students list the arguments pro and con, the group will collectively write a newspaper article, based on the topic of their conversation. At the end of the lesson, groups can share their articles and the teacher will then facilitate a wrap-up discussion.
Part Two
Understanding the Times: The 1930s (5 - 6 days)
Overview
In this lesson, students will come to grips with what conditions were like in the 1930s. Students will be divided into seven groups of 4-5 students. Six groups will be assigned to research the experience of a group of people affected by the Great Depression. Groups will include but not be limited to: children, laborers, the moneyed, migrants, farmers, artists.
New Deal Expert Group
The seventh group will become experts on the New Deal measures: WPA (Works Progress Administration), CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps), AAA (Agricultural Adjustment Act), FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation), NRA (National Recovery Administration), Social Security, bank recovery, TVA/CBRP (Tennessee Valley Authority/Columbia Reclamation Project).
This group work will comprise two steps. The first will be to research Roosevelt's New Deal legislation, often called Alphabet Soup. The second will be to communicate with the other six groups to see how the legislation affected the people in the depression. After researching and advising, the New Deal students compose dialogues, soliloquies, letters or fictional memoirs from the viewpoint of an administrator of one New Deal program.
People Affected by Depression Experts Group
Six groups (mentioned above) will focus on specific topics. To introduce students to their groups, they will read some short selections on their group from Studs Terkel's Hard Times. For the next 3-4 days, students will research their group's experience during the Great Depression. For research, they will use the American Memory collection, American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936 - 1940 in conjunction with segments from John Steinbeck´s Grapes of Wrath, the recent PBS series on the Great Depression and independent library research. The focus of their research should be:
- What was life like for their group of people in the 1930s?
- How did the New Deal affect the lives of these people?
Creative Writing Photo Assignment
To demonstrate an understanding of their theme, each student will find a photograph from the Great Depression that illustrates the group's identity. Photos from the American Memory collection, from books on the depression era, and from the classic portraits taken by Dorothea Lange and Walker Evans provide a rich visual anthology for students to draw from. Using the photograph, they will create a dialogue, soliloquy, letter or fictional memoir based on the people in the photographs. These writings need to reflect the students' understanding of the group's character and the historical period of the Great Depression. Students will share their writings with classmates to get peer assessment and learn from the work of their fellow researchers.
Part Two Assignment: Creative Writing (Groups)Part Two Assignment: Creative Writing (New Deal)
Part Three
The New Deal's Legacy (5 - 6 days)
Overview
Students will begin this lesson by reviewing the New Deal measures. After this review, the class will discuss the question: Do these programs still exist today and, if so, in what form? The teacher will guide the students here, suggesting modern welfare programs, farm subsidies, AmeriCorps, minimum wage, FDIC, the Columbia River Reclamation Project, and Social Security as modern day programs with their roots in the New Deal. In groups, students will be assigned one of the existing programs. Using THOMAS, the Library of Congress's on-line legislative site, students will identify at least two current pieces (one provided, one researched) of proposed legislation dealing with their program.
Position Paper
After examining and researching these pieces of legislation, student groups will prepare a position paper on their program. The position paper should contain two main elements. First, a brief overview of the contemporary program should be given. Second, the position paper needs to address the following questions:
- Who does this program benefit?
- Given the budgetary restrictions of the government, should the existing program remain intact, be reduced, or be expanded?
- What is your opinion on the pieces of legislation that you investigated?
Congressional Policy Forum
After the group position papers are completed, the students will participate in a Congressional Policy Forum. One student from each group will directly participate in the forum as a Congressperson. The remainder of the students will serve as Legislative Assistants. These Legislative Assistants (LAs) will advise their Congressperson when needed. During the forum, the Congresspersons, with help from their LAs, will each justify the need for their piece of legislation. After all policies are heard, all students will debate the pros and cons of each policy. Finally, the class members will vote on which three pieces of legislation they will recommend to Congress.
Part Three Assignment: Position Paper
Resources/Materials
General Great Depression Sites
FDR Cartoon DatabaseContains cartoons from the presidency of FDR. Many of the cartoons are about the Great Depression and in particular, the New Deal.
Groups affected by the Great Depression
Farmers
Voices from the Dust Bowl, 1940 - 1941, American Memory
Laborers
American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936 - 1940, American Memory:
- Italian Munitions Worker: A laborer discusses making ends meet, the New Deal and the Great Depression
- I Wanted to be a Merchant: A wholesale/retail grocery store owner who discusses the causes of the Great Depression and the plight of the farmer
- Cosmetics and Coal A coal mine owner who looses much in the depression.
The Moneyed
American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936 - 1940, American Memory:
Recovery: A Finance Officer from the U.S. Treasury discusses bank closures, the cause of the Great Depression and how he, personally, was not hit too hard by the depression.
Migrants
American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936 - 1940, American Memory:
Afternoon in a Pushcart Peddlers Colony: Memoir of a colony of artists, musicians, plumbers and other unemployed who make their living as pushcart peddlers in New York City.
Surviving the Dust Bowl: Rich resource based on the PBS film "Surviving the Dust Bowl" with a timeline, maps, and other related links.
America from the Great Depression to World War II: Photographs from the FSA-OWI, 1935 - 1945 American Memory
Artists
African-American Mosaic exhibition: Overview of how the WPA helped black artists
New Deal Sites
The New Deal Network: An excellent site with extensive document and photo libraries. Both libraries contain primary source materials on how various groups were affected by the Great Depression and the New Deal.
Extension
To enrich classroom discussion, a teacher could connect with a willing colleague from another school. Students from each school could share their pieces of writing and respond via e-mail to the viewpoints expressed by their electronic classmates.
Duration
Two to three weeks. Estimated time for each lesson is stated at the end of lesson description.
Author
Douglas Perry and Wendy Sauer
Source
Reproduced from the Library of Congress web site for teachers. Original lesson plan created as part of the Library of Congress American Memory Fellows Program.
