Crossroads: Middle School Curriculum
Lesson Plan#:  CC-0095
 

UNIT X: 
The Age of Franklin D. Roosevelt: 1933 - 1945

Content and Understandings:  

1. The Great Depression had a dramatic effect on American society during the 1930s.

 2. Franklin D. Roosevelt and his Administration changed the role of government in solving the nation's problems.

 3. The New Deal programs improved the lives of individual Americans during the Great Depression.

 4. World War II had a great impact on different groups of people.

 5. The decision by Harry S Truman to drop the atomic bombs on Japan was difficult and controversial.

 

Teacher's Rationale:  

The content and concepts of this unit will encourage students to grasp the challenges that faced the United States during the Great Depression and World War II. Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deals represented a political revolution and provided hope to a discouraged nation.

The goal is for students to experience what life was like during this period in American history, and the methodology is designed to meet this goal. Students will evaluate Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal and debate President Truman's decision to use atomic bombs on Japan. Students will also explore how individual Americans were directly affected by the Great Depression, New Deal programs, and World War II.

 

Table of Contents:  

Question/Problem 1 : In what ways were people's lives affected by the Depression?

Question/Problem 2 : How did Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal change the role of government in the United States, and how did it come to the aid of individual Americans?

Question/Problem 3 : How did World War II affect the lives of the following people?

Question/Problem 4 : Should Harry S. Truman have authorized the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki?