Crossroads: High School Curriculum
Unit X: The Age of Franklin D. Roosevelt: 1933-1945
Lesson 1
Procedure for Roosevelt Administration Portfolio
TASK: It is your job to create and collect a portfolio of works and objects that represent the New Deal programs of the 1930s, their effects on the lives of individual Americans, and modern remnants of the programs.
PROCEDURE: The following two lists identify possible projects that you can include in your portfolio. One list addresses the New Deal programs and the changing role of the federal government in solving the nation's domestic problems. The other addresses the short-term and long-term impacts of the New Deal on the lives of the American people. In certain instances, projects may address both governmental roles and people's lives.
You can use several together, or develop a set of works and objects of your own choice and creation to complete your portfolio. The important thing is to present evidence that demonstrates that you have met the three objectives of this lesson.
Possible Portfolio Projects [A]
*Interview a person who remembers the Great Depression (see CROSSROADS Resource "Depression Era Interview Questions"). Find out what life was like for this person, and his or her family and friends. Find out if your interview subject experienced hard times, and his or her opinion of political leaders of the day. Ask about state and local leaders they might remember. Write a report based on your interview.
*Collect pictures of Depression-era posters.
*Make a poster illustrating causes of the Great Depression, the ways that the Depression affected Americans' lives, and some of the remedies devised by the federal government.
*Devise a crossword puzzle or word-search puzzle using names and terms associated with the Great Depression and the New Deal.
*Assemble a picture presentation for the class on any of the WPA construction and art projects. Be sure to include examples found in your community or region.
*Write a dramatized debate between Herbert Hoover and Franklin D. Roosevelt on the topic: Resolved, That the Federal Government should give direct aid to citizens during a severe depression.
*Make a poster illustrating one of the New Deal agencies and its job in Depression
A Crossroads Resource America.
Possible Portfolio Projects [B]
*Make a collage of pictures, drawings, headlines, graphs, and charts showing economic problems of the modern United States that resemble problems the nation experienced during the Great Depression. Also show attempts to solve these problems.
*Create a political cartoon illustrating the effects of the New Deal on American culture.
*Write a position paper on the long-term impact of the New Deal legislation on the American economy, political life, and society.
*Research the federal deficits and surpluses from 1930 to 1990.
*Create a poem depicting the lives of ordinary people during the Great Depression and the New Deal programs designed to lift people out of the Great Depression.
*Find and read some of the literature that was written under the auspices of the WriterÕs Project. Analyze these works for their political and economic themes.