Today, Ms. Gonzalez brought the 5th grade down to the St. Julie Learning center, to learn about the great depression. We began with a brief overview of the optimism of the 1920s, and the circumstances that led to stock market speculation. We talked about how stock markets work, and how buying on credit led Americans to end up owing much more then what they had. After discussing briefly the stock market crash and its effect on the economy, we began a 1930s webquest created by students in the Indiana University School of Education. We gave each member of the class a role in the 1930s job market, and discussed how one in four of them would realistically be unemployed. After students were given their job, they used links from the great depression webquest site to research the income of such a worker. With income in hand, they saw the average cost of goods such as winter coats, the types of food they would eat, beds, and appliances. The cost of these goods, relative to their income was surprising. We ran a little short on time, but Ms. Gonzalez expressed interest in following up with her class next week.
Resources:
The Great Depression PowerPoint Presentation: http://webzoom.freewebs.com/centralhistory/A%20C%2014%20US%20CHAPTER%2014.ppt
Webquest:The Great Depression: http://education.iupui.edu/webquests/depression/webquest.htm
1932 Consumer Goods Price List: http://www.todaysteacher.com/TheGreatDepressionWebQuest/1932PriceList.htm
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