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 * 1.** I have gathered all these resources together in hopes that they will help my students greater understand our unit on The Great Depression. After concluding our unit on World War One our class will begin learning about the roaring twenties leading into our unit on the Great Depression. This text set is designed to support a ninth grade unit in an American history class. These resources offer a wide variety of teaching methods that should be effective in a heterogeneously grouped classroom. I have chosen to use many different resources that will appeal to a wide range of students so all my students have a chance to succeed. There is listening methods as well as visual methods along with straight forward reading and creative assignments. In my opinion this text set will apply to both high level and struggling learners.
 * 2.**
 * A.****Print Resources:**
 * Text one:** Grapes of Wrath
 * Citation:** Steinbeck, J. (2002 (originally 1939)). //Grapes of Wrath//. New York, NY: Penguin Books.
 * Text Summary:** The Grapes of Wrath is the story of the Joads families struggle through the Great Depression. Throughout the story the book references devastating aspects of the Great Depression some of these including; suffering children, Hoovervilles, oppressive labor conditions, and detachment from family. The family experiences all this as they migrate from being Oklahoma farmers to migrant workers. The journey is a hard one but this is a story of perseverance and determination.
 * Rationale:** This book was published in 1939, right alongside the depression. It is an entertaining story, a classic to many, and is also very educational. The story allows students to follow the lives of a family during such a hard time. Its brutal language is at times questionable but is also part of it relatable charm. It is among the must reads when learning about the Great Depression.
 * Use of text**: Each student will receive a copy of The Grapes of Wrath. Throughout the course they are to read the book as chapters are assigned for homework. After reading the chapter they are to write a journal entry including a summary of the chapter and their thoughts on the reading. At the beginning of class the next day the class will discuss together.
 * Attachment:** This is not attached because of the length of the book.

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 * Text two:** Pantoum of the Great Depression
 * Citation**: PoemHunter.com. (N/A). //Pantoum of the great depression//. Retrieved October 14, 2009 from PoemHunter Website at
 * Text Summary:** The poem begins by describing life before the Great Depression; it states that life just went on with little trouble. However as the poem progresses he references trouble more and more. The trouble or “storms and catastrophes,” as he puts it are the beginning of troubles through the depression. He further explains of everyone suffering but how they refused to let each other see it. The poem concludes with the author referencing how all the people came together, connected by poverty, they did not know when the end would come.
 * Rationale:** I picked this poem in order to show my students a creative way of writing about the depression. The depression affected a lot of people and everyone expressed how they felt about it in different ways; through poetry is one of them. The need to interpret the poetry really appealed to me. I believe discussing this poem will give the a greater understanding of the emotional impact of the Great depression.
 * Use of text:** As a class we will read the poem as a group and than have an open discussion about its literal and figurative meaning. If all goes as plan the students should leave with a better understanding of the emotional impact of the Great Depression.
 * Attachment:** See attachment #1 for a copy of this text.


 * Text three:** Dear Mrs. Roosevelt: Letters from children in the Great Depression
 * Citation:** Knepper, C.D. (2004). //Dear Mrs. Roosevelt Letters from Children of the Great Depression//. New York,NY: Carroll & Graf
 * Text Summary:** This book is composed of hundreds of letters from children to Mrs. Roosevelt during the time of the Great depression. All of which are asking for help. Some of the children request money, others clothes, a few ask for food and other necessities they live without. Their hopes are that Mrs. Roosevelt, who they have heard is a kind and giving women, will help them.
 * Rationale**: Though I can talk about facts of the depression for weeks I believe the best way to get to a student is by talking about life experiences. These children are around their age, some a bit older some a bit younger but all of them are relatable. My hope is that reading these letters asking for such necessary things will help my students to greater understand the impact the depression had on people’s lives.
 * Use of text**: Each student in class will be given a different letter. Their job is to read the letter and write about its author. Not all the letters will give complete information; this is where imagination comes into play. After the students have written a page about the author of their letter they will then present to the class.
 * Attachment:** This is not attached because of the length of the book.

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 * Text four:** More Federal Spending: New Deal or Raw Deal?
 * Citation:** Brouwer, K. (2009, January 15). //Did the new deal end the great depression//. Retrieved October 14, 2009 from Fundmastery blog at
 * Text Summary**: This chart shows the rise and fall of Unemployment before, through and after the depression. It marks the major events that that effect unemployment including wars and the New Deal.
 * Rationale:** This chart is important for the students to see how much the stock market crash affected everyone. Because of the crash unemployment skyrocketed and the chart shows how bad it got. The chart also shows how the new deal ( which will be discussed in class) and World War two helped the economy). For students who are more visual learners this chart will better help them understand.
 * Use of text:** Prior to going over this chart the class will discuss the New Deal and World War two. After that lesson is complete I will hand out this chart to help students better understand their effects on unemployment and how they helped the country. As said previously my hope is for the more visual learners this will help them greater understand the taught concepts.
 * Attachment:** See attachment #2 for copy of this chart


 * Text five:** Down and Out in the Great Depression: Letters from the Forgotten Man
 * Citation:** Mcelvaine, R.S. (1983). //Down and out in the great depression letters from the forgotten man//. New York,NY: The University of North Carolina Press.
 * Text Summary:** Like Dear Mrs. Roosevelt this book in comprised of letters written by men, women and children during the great depression. These letters are to all different people some to family and friends and others reaching all the way to the president .Some letters express fear for the future others are simply just about the authors lives but all express the tragedies of the Great Depression.
 * Rationale:** This book allows my students to get a look at the Great Depression through the eyes of someone who is living in it. Personal stories allow this part of history to come more alive. Events of the Great Depression will gain faces, names and character through these stories, which will make for a greater understanding of the material.
 * Use of text:** Each student will be given a letter, they are to read this letter and then like a pen pal write a response letter. Their letter should show knowledge and understanding of the time and events as they relate to the person they are responding to.
 * Attachment:** This is not attached because of the length of the book.

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 * B.****Media Resources:**
 * Text one:** YouTube video: 1929 Wall Street Stock Market Crash
 * Citation**

Rationale: This video is fairly short yet concise. It takes the major points of the crash from beginning to end and explains them. The video also incorporates taping of experts, pictures and video footage. Students who learn better from hearing as well as students, who prefer to see, will benefit from this video. Visit[| Passion Flower Side Effects] Visit[| Passion Flower Side Effects] Visit[| Passion Flower Side Effects] Visit[| Passion Flower Side Effects]
 * Text Summary:** The video begins explaining how good life was in the early twenties; no one was expecting the prosperity to end…and then it crashed. Unemployment rises, sales plummeted, and everyone was failing economically. People were desperate to bring up the stock market after its crash because everyone was being affected The video takes all these ideas and puts it in a fairly clear and concise timeline.
 * Use of text:** This video will be watched early on in the Great Depression unit. Its purpose is to give a quick overview of what the students will learn in the upcoming weeks.
 * Attachment:** not attached but available online for free
 * Text two:** Brother can you spare a dime (song lyrics)
 * Citation:** Lyrics.time . (2002). //Brother can you spare a dime song lyrics//. Retrieved October 14, 2009 from lyrics time website at
 * Text Summary**: The song tells the story of a man coming from wealth and falling into poverty. He explains that he used to think he was building a dream (the American Dream). At one point there was money to earn but with the Great Depression came poverty. The point of the lyrics is to demonstrate the rise and fall of hopes. Everyone needs help from each other at this point.
 * Rationale:** This song not only demonstrates the mood of the time but the music of it. It gives the students a chance to learn more about the culture of the time while also focusing on the ideas of the Great Depression.
 * Use of text:** As a class we will listen to the song together with a print out of the lyrics to follow along. After listening we will go over the song and what it meant to the students.
 * Attachment**: See attachment #3 for copy of these lyrics.
 * C.****Online Interactive Resources:**
 * Text one:** Do you think you know all about the Great Depression? Maybe you do, maybe you don’t. (Online quiz)
 * Text Summary**: This is a ten question quiz on all different aspect of the Great Depression.
 * Rationale:** This quiz is a way to see how well students are grasping information without having to strictly grade them.
 * Use of text:** A few days before the students are to take a test on the Great Depression unit I will have them take this online test. The test will allow them to test what they know and what they will need to study for the upcoming test.
 * Attachment:** not attached but available online for free
 * Text two:** Depression Era Web quest
 * Citation:** Hafey . (N/A). //Depression era webquest//. Retrieved October 14, 2009 from Depression era WebQuest site at
 * Text Summary:** This web quest takes the student through a scavenger hunt of questions about famous people, places, buildings, historical events and games during the Great Depression.
 * Rationale:** This web quest gives students a chance to look up different important aspect of the Great Depression. Because it is set up in a “scavenger hunt” form it will seem less intimidating to students and will give them a chance to have fun searching for answers in history.
 * Use of text:** Closer to the end of the Great Depression unit I will take the students to the computer lab in order to do this assignment. This text will allow students to search the web for answers to important questions about the Great Depression. Once they complete their web quest we will go over and discuss the answers as a class.
 * Attachment:** not attached but available online for free


 * Text Summary:** This site is full of lesson plans in a chronological order of how they should be taught from the beginning to the end of a Great Depression unite. Each lesson plan includes an objective, materials, prior knowledge, key vocabulary and procedures. This site will all but actually teach the course for a teacher using it.
 * Rationale:** This site is very beneficial especially to a new teacher. It allows them to see all the key points that should be hit in the Great Depression unit and gives them a way to teach it.
 * Use of text:** This text could be used to help a teacher come up with new ways and interesting ideas of how to teach the subject matter of The Great Depression.
 * Attachment:** not attached but available online for free

3. This diverse text set along with other resources will greatly benefit students on their Great Depression unit. Each piece of texts appeals to different aspect of teaching. For the students who like reading there are books, for those who like movies there are video clips, there’s quizzes to test knowledge and activities to improve knowledge. Because there is so much reading students will not be able to complete it all which is why for two of the books they will each only be assigned one letter. Though I know it is unlikely I would like to be able to use all these texts, since many of them are very different. I suppose if things are going slower than anticipated I would use only one of the letter book and also cut the Grapes of Wrath down to a passage as opposed to the entire book. However I would hate to do this which is why I did my best to pick texts that were not overly time consuming. 4. Content: With the completion of the Great Depression unit and use of this text set students will be able to understand the events of the Great Depression and how they were affected by social customs, economic downfall and governmental involvement. [NCSS I, c: Learners can apply an understanding of culture as an integrated whole that explains the functions and interactions of language, literature, the arts, traditions, beliefs and values, and behavior patterns.]

Reading: Students will be able to write a five paragraph essay that will express their understanding of The Great Depression and how it affected life around the United States. W-8-1.2: Students demonstrate command of the structures of sentences, paragraphs, and text by using the paragraph form: indenting, main idea, supporting det