ThinkfinityNY,
a Web-based resource that offers 2,500-plus lessons for
teachers, each lesson aligned with the New York State
Standards. This program, available to all N.Y. State
educators at no cost, was developed jointly with the New
York State Education Department (NYSED), New York State
Teacher Centers, New York Institute of Technology (NYIT),
Thinkfinity and MCI. ~
The lessons
are organized and can be accessed according to the state’s
Learning Standards, key ideas, performance indicators, grade
levels and content areas. A simple click of the mouse
navigates the user through the lessons.
You may
visit the program at
http://www.nyiteez.org/MarcoPoloNY/
or at Virtual Learning System
http://eservices.nysed.gov/vls
.
PBS:
Teacher Source
- Over 4000 lesson plans and activities for all grade
levels. Most a directly related to the hundreds of PBS
video presentations (most available through BOCES)
-
http://www.pbs.org/teachersource/
PBS: Social
Studies Home Page Highly recommended--please visit.
-
ProTeacher Home Page for all US History Lessons
- Links to hundreds of lesson plans related to United
States History from a variety of sources. Search functions
allow for internal and external links to topical lesson
plans.
-
http://www.proteacher.com/090019.shtml
Pro
Teacher Lessons on the Great Depression
Sample:
Visions in the Dust: A Child's Perspective of the
Dust Bowl
-
National History Education
Clearinghouse
- Welcome to the National
History Education Clearinghouse, the central online
location for accessing high-quality resources in K-12
U.S. history education. This site began in 2008 and is
rapidly becoming one of the best sources for United
State History Educators including access to History
Content, Teaching Materials, Best Practices, Issues and
Research, Professional Development, and TAH Grants.
-
http://teachinghistory.org/
SELECTED LESSON PLANS
These lesson plans have been reviewed and
designated as exceptional by educators participating in our
Teach American History Program.
Historical Time Period: The Great Depression
Title of the Lesson Plan: Political Cartoons and
the TVA
Grade Level: High School
(Grade 11)
General Description: This lesson explores
an introduction to analyzing political cartoons, as well
as the content of several political cartoons from the
New Deal era dealing with the controversial Tennessee
Valley Authority program.
URL:
http://newdeal.feri.org/classrm/clastva1.htm
Historical Time Period: The Great
Depression
Title of the Lesson Plan: Images of the
Depression Era
Grade Level: Middle or
High School
General Description: Students examine up
to 70 photographs by Rondal Partridge of the Depression
Era. This lesson includes links to all the photos, as
well as in depth directions for teaching students to
make both observations and inferences based on the
images they view. The author provides notes on the
captions for each group of photos for further extension
with higher level classes.
URL:
http://newdeal.feri.org/classrm/partr1.htm
Historical Time Period: The Great Depression
Title of the Lesson Plan: FDR’s First Inaugural
Address: Declaring “War” on the Great Depression
Grade Level: High School
(Grade 11)
General Description: In this lesson,
students analyze FDR’s Inaugural Address for war
metaphor and references to his plan for the New Deal.
Students then match the New Deal programs depicted in
photographs to the plan that FDR laid out. This
provides an interesting introduction to FDR, the New
Deal, and the justification for expanding executive
power.
URL: http://www.archives.gov/digital_classroom/lessons/fdr_inaugural_address/fdr_inaugural_address.html
Historical Time Period: The Great Depression
Title of the Lesson Plan: Constitutional
Issues: Separation of Powers
Grade Level: High School
(Grade 11)
General Description: This lesson examines
FDR’s court-packing controversy by analyzing a letter
from Frank Garnett to the Office of the Solicitor in the
Justice Department, criticizing FDR’s continued
expansion of executive power. The activities look at
court-packing as a constitutional issue, and the
document is explored from a metaphorical and persuasive
perspective.
URL:http://www.archives.gov/digital_classroom/lessons/separation_of_powers/separation_of_powers.html
Historical Time Period: The Great Depression
Title of the Lesson Plan: The Cultural Environment
during the Great Expression
Grade Level: Grade 11
General Description: This lesson would work
very well as an enrichment or interdisciplinary opportunity,
due to the time required and scope of the activity.
Students engage in a project that entails researching
American art and culture during the Great Depression using
Internet resources, interpreting these findings, and
presenting the information to the class. The lesson is
excellently structured and also includes some interesting
extension ideas.
URL:
www.thinkbright.wned.org/search/viewResource.asp?contentid=4101
Historical Time Period: The Great Depression
Title of the Lesson Plan: Buffalo’s Economy during
the Great Depression
Grade Level: Grade 11 or 12
General Description: This lesson focuses
heavily on economic terms and data. For the US History
class, it offers several graphs that can be analyzed and
discussed. However, for the Economics class, it offers in
depth study of the economy, both historically and present
day. It gives students the opportunity to calculate GDP and
inflation, and to track unemployment as a factor.
URL:
www.thinkbright.wned.org/search/viewResponse.asp?contentid=4103
Historical Time Period: The Great Depression
Title of the Lesson Plan: Great Depression
Narratives
Grade Level: Middle School
General Description: This lesson leads
students through an investigation of primary source
narratives and interviews of the Depression Era. Students
can also view “American Voices: Hard Times,” and interview
someone who lived during the Great Depression.
URL:
www.thinkbright.wned.org/search/viewResource.asp?contentid=4104
Historical Time Period: The Great Depression
Title of the Lesson Plan: Freedom: A History of
US—What’s the Slant?
Grade Level: Middle or High
School
General Description: This lesson introduces
the key figures and events of the Great Depression through
viewing or visiting the companion web site for “Freedom: A
History of US—Depression and War.” Students discuss what
they learn from the presentation, then read an article from
the Great Depression era. The main project of the lesson is
writing a news article about the Depression and publishing a
Great Depression newspaper.
URL:
www.thinkbright.wned.org/search/viewResource.asp?contentid=4147
Historical Time Period: The Great Depression
Title of the Lesson Plan: The Impact of the Dust
Bowl
Grade Level: Middle School
General Description: Students view the Dust
Bowl through the eyes of those who experienced it. The
lesson activities include viewing Dorothea Lange photos,
viewing photos and video about the physical environmental
phenomenon, listening to songs from the era, reading
personal accounts, viewing a clip from “The Grapes of
Wrath,” and evaluating what they have seen and read.
URL:
www.thinkbright.wned.org/search/viewResource.asp?contentid=4105