 |
The New Deal: North Carolina's Reconstruction?
Jackie Brooks and Deborah Pendleton |
This lesson plan is a guide for teachers that will
result in imaginary Works Progress Administration (WPA) interviews similar to those found in American
Life Histories, 1936-1940 of American
Memory of the Library of
Congress that demonstrate students' interpretation of the question,
"Was the New Deal North Carolina's 'Reconstruction'?"
A written WPA report on an imaginary North Carolina resident who lived
during the Reconstruction and Depression eras is the product of this assignment.
Students must complete research of the American
Life Histories, 1936-1940, select an occupation for future research, and explore
additional print and electronic sources. The "interview" must be historically
accurate, support a thesis that answers the question, and include an appropriate
sensory illustration.
To view samples of students' project go to the
Student Project.
|
The student project will demonstrate mastery of a variety of objectives
that include creative writing, historical appreciation and criticism, recognition
of bias, and incorporation of text and illustration reflecting primary
source research.
In this project students will:
- Demonstrate an understanding of the degree to which the Depression/New
Deal amended the economic destruction of the Civil War.
- Utilize the American
Life Histories, 1936-1940 as both a primary resource as well as a model
for student-written interview documents.
- Identify point of view/bias in historical documents, both text and pictorial.
- Provide historical support for a thesis through the use of creative writing.
|
|
Three weeks or 12 to 15 class periods.
This estimate reflects the approximate time frame to implement and complete
this assignment. All background knowledge on the Reconstruction era should
have been completed prior to the introduction of this project.
|
|
Eighth grade students. |
|
This interdisciplinary project encompasses the subject areas of social
studies, language arts, visual art, music, and technology. It specifically
addresses objectives from the North Carolina Standard Course of Study for
eighth grade social
studies, language
arts, and information
skills. |
Standards |
McREL 4th Edition Standards & Benchmarks
Historical Understanding
Standard 1. Understands and knows how to analyze chronological relationships and patterns
Standard 2. Understands the historical perspective
Language Arts
Standard 4. Gathers and uses information for research purposes
Standard 7. Uses reading skills and strategies to understand and interpret a variety of informational texts
Standard 9. Uses viewing skills and strategies to understand and interpret visual media
US History
Standard 23. Understand the causes of the Great Depression and how it affected American Society
Standard 24. Understands how the New Deal addressed the Great Depression, transformed American federalism, and initiated the welfare state |
|
-
American Life
Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1940
-
America from the Great
Depression to World War II: Photographs from the FSA-OWI, 1935-1945
-
Documenting the American
South
-
Southern Folklife
Collection
-
New Deal Network
-
North Carolina Division of Archives
and History
-
Southern Historical Collection, University
of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: Manuscripts Division
-
North Carolina and the New Deal by Anthony Badger.
North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, Division of Archives and
History, Raleigh, N.C., 1981.
-
Hard Times by John Bell. North Carolina Department of
Cultural Resources, Division of Archives and History, Raleigh, N.C., 1982.
|
Step 1: Introducing the Project 1-2 class periods
-
Classroom teacher will introduce the question "Was the Depression North
Carolina's 'Reconstruction'?" for initial reaction from students and to
review the Civil War/Reconstruction Era.
-
Students will receive the assignment with specific objectives and guidelines
enumerated by the rubric.
-
The instructor will explain the rubric in detail, stressing the importance
of research, drawing conclusions, and answering the question.
-
Opportunities will be provided for individual and group questioning.
Step 2: Researching the New Deal
Time will vary
-
Students will research the impact of the Depression and New Deal programs
on the social, economic and/or political life of the individual in preparation
for the writing assignment.
-
Students may interview individuals who were living during the Great Depression.
-
Students should search for a specific illustration for the assignment.
Step 3: Introducing American Life Histories, 1939-40
1-2 periods
-
The media specialist will introduce and demonstrate use of the American
Memory Collection, specifically the American Life Histories: Manuscript
from the Federal Writers' Project.
-
The media specialist will use the American Life Histories Special Presentation
Voices
from the Thirties to introduce the collection and the work of
the Federal Writers' Project.
- To assist students in conducting searches, the media center will demonstrate
use of the Search Tips
page of the American Memory Collection and the Search
Guides located through the Learning
Page.
-
The media specialist will call attention to other online sources as well
as print sources from the school library collection.
Step 4: Exploring American Life Histories, 1936-40
1-5 periods
-
Students will explore the American Memory Collection, American Life Histories.
They should read a variety of interviews, observing point of view/bias
and format of questioning.
-
The following questions will serve to guide students as they research the
American Life Histories, 1936-1940: "How did the Depression affect
different social, economic, geographical, and political dimensions of North
Carolina?" and "If you were going to interview someone from North Carolina
during the Depression, what kind of person would you look for?"
-
The student should select a specific occupation as the basis of further
research and for the "interviewee" in the imaginary Life History report.
Suggested occupations include artist, banker, bootlegger, farmer, lawyer,
merchant, mill worker, preacher, sharecropper, and sheriff. The occupation
request form should include the following: occupation; sex, race, state
geographic location, designated name.
Step 5: Creating the "Interview"
1-2 periods
-
Language arts teacher will guide student writers in format, style, and
tone of the project.
-
The following WPA
Life Histories from North Carolina provide a contrast in writing styles
that will be useful to students as they begin their original interviews:
Stella
Wall,
Aline
Caudle,
Allen
Teavis,
Mary
Allen.
- Students will link reports to images and print or text citations.
- A bibliography will accompany the report.
Evaluation by rubric
for "interview" answering the question "Was the New Deal North Carolina’s
‘Reconstruction’"?
|
