New Deal Agencies
In this lesson, students, list the goals and strategies of the First and Second New Deal programs and identify the agencies that were created to fight the economic problems of the Great Depression.  Students will also create artwork that illustrates the goals of one of the New Deal agencies.

The five (5) lessons below are from the "New Deal Network." The unit is entitled The Great Depression and the Arts.  This unit was originally designed for grades 8-12, however these lessons can be modified to fit the middle school curriculum.  Teachers should introduce these lessons after examining the causes of the Great Depression.
Lesson 1: Documentary Film—"The Plow that Broke the Plains"
This lesson gives students the opportunity examine a film script to see how the problems and potential solutions to the Dust Bowl were presented by a New Deal agency.

Lesson 2: Documenting the Migrant Experience
In this lesson, students assess multiple narratives regarding the migrant experience and identify the point of view from which each narrative was constructed.

Lesson 3: Film Study of "The Grapes of Wrath"
In this lesson, students view the film "The Grapes of Wrath" as a "cultural document" of its time and as a visual document depicting the effects of the Dust Bowl on tenant farmers.

Lesson 4: The New Deal's Federal Theatre Project
This lesson acquaints students with the New Deal's Federal Theatre Project and the social, economic, and political issues which were the focus of Living Newspaper productions of the FTP.

Lesson 5: Evaluation Activities
These concluding activities are meant to draw the lessons in this unit together and provide students an opportunity to synthesize the diverse materials and activities.

The Great Depression and FDR
In this lesson, students recognize some of the causes and effects of the Great Depression, and thereby understand the motive behind Roosevelt's New Deal program for the United States.

Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?: The Great Depression 1929-1941
This unit is broken into nine (9) mini-lessons. In the unit, students will investigate the events which precipitated the Great Depression, research the lives of individuals who experienced the depression, gain an appreciation for the hardships endured by a majority of Americans.  In addition, students will examine the initiatives and programs which made up Roosevelt's New Deal and the lasting legacy of these programs.   

The Great Depression and the 1990's
By using the American Memory's American Life Histories, 1936-1940 documents, personal interviews, and the Library of Congress's on-line legislative information, 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.

Roosevelt's New Deal
This lesson plan instructs students on conducting online research and examining the New Deal.

Riding the Rails (PBS): Teacher's Guide
Students will learn about "teenage hobos" in this depression-era lesson plan. Emphasis is put on the causes of homelessness and what made these young men leave home. The plan also outlines topics for discussion, as well as small group activities.

Surviving the Dust Bowl (PBS): Teacher's Guide
In this PBS lesson plan, students begin studying "The Dust Bowl" and how Farmers reacted to it. The Teacher's guide includes eight (8) activities and discussion topics. PBS recommends the purchase of the film Surviving the Dust Bowl in order to fully utilize this lesson plan.

Living Without Technology
Presented by PBS, this lesson plan introduces a project that allows students to experience the difficulties of the Great Depression. Students are instructed to live 24 hours without many of today's modern comforts.

Visions in the Dust
This lesson plan uses photographic examination to teach students about the Dustbowl. This Library of Congress lesson plan also uses PBS resources.

Worth a Thousand Words: Depression-Era Photographs
Using the authentic photographs that were taken to introduce the New Deal, students will follow this MarcoPolo lesson plan and learn about the depression.  
 

The New Deal: Alphabet Soup of Agencies
This activity sheet provides students with each agency and they include the correct information.

POTUS (Presidents of the United States)
In this resource you will find background information on each of the presidents, including Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR).

The five (5) links below are part of the Library of Congress' unit on the Great Depression, Figuring Somepin' 'Bout the Great Depression. They all offer great ways for students to interpret primary sources about the Great Depression:
Walker Evans Image Project
Depression era photos of the hard life by this FSA photographer.

Course Models: Great Depression
Part of the California History-Social Science content standards and annotated course which include: background information, focus questions, pupil activities and handouts, assessment, and references to books, articles, web sites, literature, audio-video programs, and historic site.

The New Deal
Multiple Choice Quiz, Fill-in-the-Blank, Flashcards, American History Glossary, American History Appendix. The Student Resources section of The American Nation companion web site features introductions to chapters, interactive quizzes, flashcards, web links, an American History Glossary, and an American History Appendix.

The Hoover Dam
A companion to the American Experience video series, the site focuses on the Hoover Dam construction. There is a timeline of construction, Dam facts and environmental issues, maps of the Dam, stories of key characters and incidents and a teacher's guide.

Breadline: 1929-1939
Part of PBS's People's Century television series, this site explores the massive unemployment in America during the Depression and offers interviews, a timeline, and a teacher's guide

American Life Histories, 1936-1940
These life histories were written by the staff of the Folklore Project of the Federal Writers' Project for the U.S. Works Progress (later Work Projects) Administration (WPA) from 1936-1940. The Library of Congress collection includes 2,900 documents representing the work of over 300 writers from 24 states.

Surviving the Dust Bowl
Part of PBS's American Experience television series, this site examines the region in the Southwest renamed the "Dust Bowl" because of a catastrophic eight-year drought. Included is a time line, maps, eyewitness accounts, New Deal remedies, people and events from the era, and a teacher's guide.

Voices from the Dust Bowl (Library of Congress)
This site documents the everyday life of residents in central California in 1940 and 1941. There are audio recordings, photographs, manuscript materials, publications, related sources and more.

Riding the Rails
Part of PBS's American Experience television series, this site focuses on the plight of more than a quarter million teenagers living on the road in America. There is a timeline, maps, "tales from the rails", Hobo songs, a teacher's guide, recommended resources and more.

American in the 1930s
This University of Virginia production features a museum for American studies, cultural maps, on-going hypertext projects, an electronic classroom, and special features.

Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum
The Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum Educational Program website includes biographies of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Eleanor Roosevelt, a Roosevelt Timeline, Online Documents and Photographs, a Research Guide and Puzzles and Activities.

The Flint Sit-Down Strike, 1936-1937
This site is an audio gallery of the strike that features a slide show and timeline.

Depression Papers of Herbert Hoover. A large collection
Tariffs and Agriculture, Economic Stability Program, Relief, Unemployment and Public Works, The Dust Bowl, Banks & Finance, The Federal Budget, Economic Recovery Measures and the Bonus March.

Studs Terkel: Conversations
Produced by the Chicago Historical Society, this site explores the life and work of Studs Terkel, an important American oral historian. Galleries focus on interviews that Mr. Terkel did for his books, including one on the Depression, and also contains a multimedia interview with him.

The Depression News
From the Michigan Historical Museum, the site explores the depression in a newspaper format and provides teacher and student resources.

The New Deal, Debunked Again
The loink provides access to views critical of or hostile to Roosevelt including The Roosevelt Myth (John T. Flynn), Communism at Pearl Harbor (Anthony Kubek), Roosevelt's Road to Russia (George N. Crocker) and The Yalta Betrayal (Felix Wittmer).

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