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Roaring Twenties, Stock Market Crash, Great Depression
John Martin
Roaring Twenties, Stock Market Crash, Great Depres
This lesson plan will utilize local newspaper articles to allow students the opportunity to see how events such as the influenza epidemic of 1919, the droughts of early 1920's, the coming of the boll weevil, the stock market crash, and the Great Depression affected lives of this time period.
Copies of the following articles: (Articles are used by permission from The LaGrange Daily News)
I-"Influenza Rapidly Increasing In City", The LaGrange Graphic, October 31, 1918, Page 1.
2-"Oh, You Flu", The LaGrange Graphic, October 31, 1918, Page 4.
3-"Emergency Fund To Relieve 'Flu' Crisis", The LaGrange Graphic, November 21, 1918, Page 1.
4-Untitled list of Red Cross nurses assisting with flu epidemic, The LaGrange Graphic, November 21, 1918, Page 1.
5-"Flu More Deadly Than German Bullets", The LaGrange Graphic, November 21, 1918, Page 6.
6-"1925 The Year Of The Drought", LaGrange Daily News Reprint, February 26, 1970, Pages 1 and 4.
7-"A Critical Time In LaGrange", LaGrange Daily News Reprint, February 26, 1970, Page 1.
60 minutes
1
How did the boll weevil, the Great Depression, the stock market crash, the flu epidemic of 1920, and the droughts of the early 1920s effect the life of people of the 1920s and 1930s?
As students enter the class they are to write down at least six feelings that they have had or seen others experience when they are confronted with a tragedy.
http://www.1songlyrics.com/w/walter-brennan/boll-weevil.html Use this website to access the words for Walter Brennan's song, "Boll Weevil" to discuss the meaning of the song and how the boll weevil had decimated the cotton crop of Georgia and the south.
NOTES TO TEACHER: The people of LaGrange were dealt multiple tragedies leading up to the Great Depression. The boll weevil blight, the Influenza Pandemic, and the drought of 1925 all preceded the beginning of the Great Depression in 1929. By looking at these events and trying to get a glimpse of how the people of LaGrange and the surrounding area dealt with these difficult times, students shall be able to have an appreciation for how these multiple "tragedies" affected them.
Students in groups of 2, 3, or 4 will analyze the local newspaper articles provided. They will glean information concerning the impact on LaGrange citizens of events leading to the Great Depression.
Each group will summarize their article and present it to the class in a creative manner, such as man-on-the-street interviews, TV news show, etc.
The instructor will use the essay material (located under Linked Files)to lead the class into a discussion of the effects of these tragedies on the citizens of LaGrange and the surrounding area.
Each student will choose either an individual or a group activity to express the effects of the Great Depression on the citizens of LaGrange:
1-As an individual activity draw a political cartoon that depicts one or more of these events and demonstrates the effects on the people of this area.
2-In groups of 2 or 3 students act out as a skit or role-play one of the following events
A)-Imagine that you are a parent of a 5-year-old child and demonstrate how it made you feel when you found out that this child had come down with the dreaded flu.
B)-Imagine that your grandfather lost all of his money in The Stock Market Crash of 1929 and act out or tell how it made him and all of your family feel.
C)-Imagine that your father (the only working parent in your family) has lost his job and your family is going to have to move to find work. How does this make you and your family feel?
None
Red Cross Nurses Article 5_SI2 Martin
Oh You Flu Article 2_SI2 Martin
Influenza Rapidly Increasing In City Article 1_SI2
Flu More Deadly Than German Bullets Article 6_SI2
Emergency Funds to Relieve Flu Crisis Article 4_SI
Drought In LaGrange Article 9_SI2 Martin
1925 The Year of the Drought Articles 8 and 9_SI2