The Embodied Presidency Template
The Embodied Presidency
Lesson Title
Depressed? Try some Alphabet Soup!
Grade Level
10
Estimated Time Required
(Provide the estimated instructional time necessary for the lesson plan. First give the
number of days required and then the time required each day in half-hour segments.)
Number of Days: 2
Number of Half-Hour Segments per Day: 3
Could have gone for 3 if continued into Court Packing……
Author Information
Name: Mary Helen Earle
School: Hillside High School
Brief Description of the Lesson
After introducing Depression era and needs of people, examine FDR’s attempts to help
people with government programs. Explore which programs were accepted by the other
branches of government, which were modified and which exist today in some fashion.
Lesson Plan Objectives
Content Objectives:
1. Students will empathize with the pain, struggles of people in 1930’s
2. Students will appreciate FDR’s efforts for improvements
3. Students will grasp complications of power struggle among government branches
4. Students will see balance of power in action
Skill Objectives:
1. Students will be able to differentiate between primary and secondary sources
2. Students will be able to interpret primary documents/political cartoons
3. Students will be able to determine level of objectivity in sources
North Carolina Social Studies Curriculum Alignment
Standard Course of Study
Click on the appropriate grade level. Cut and Paste the appropriate Competency Goal(s)
and Objective(s).
Eleventh Grade United States History
9.03 Analyze the significance of social, intellectual, and technological changes of lifestyles in the United States.
9.05 Assess the impact of New Deal reforms in enlarging the role of the federal government in American life.
Tenth Grade Civics and Economics
2.02 Explain how the United States Constitution defines the framework, organization and structure of the three
branches of government at the national level.
2.03 Explain how the United States Constitution grants and limits the authority of public officials and government
agencies.
2.04 Describe how the United States Constitution may be changed and analyze the impact of specific changes.
2.05 Analyze court cases that illustrate that the United States Constitution is the supreme law of the land.
2.09 Describe the services provided by selected government agencies and how funding is provided
Eighth Grade North Carolina: Creation and Development of the State
6.01 Identify the causes and effects of the Great Depression and analyze the impact of New Deal policies on
Depression Era life in North Carolina.
Print and Non-print Materials
Materials (textbook segments or readings)
Dear Mrs. Roosevelt: Letters from Children of the Great Depression, Robert Cohen,
University of North Carolina Press, 2002
Non-print Materials (videos, images, etc.)* Items in file for downloading
Faces of Depression Power point
Farm Security DVD
Photo Images
Picture Files, Documents
100 Day Document and Questionnaire
Pre and Post Test
Fireside Chat Excerpts# 2 and 9, Editorial Cartoon Reactions
Statistics of Depression
OCC Handout
Cartoons and Letter
Letters2Mrs.R
Supplies (paper, note cards, scissors, etc.)
Rubber Chicken
Gavel
Copies of Documents
Document Analysis Sheet
Technology Needs
(Include computer hardware and software, audio-visual components, and internet sites
needed to teach the lesson.)
CD Projector, Computer, Speakers, fdrlibrary.marist.edu, CD of 30’s music
Pre-Lesson Expectations
(Provide a brief statement of the context for the lesson. Where should the lesson fit in the
sequence of the class? What should a student know before beginning the lesson?)
This lesson fits at the middle of our sessions on The United States Constitution (2.022.04). We will have studied how there are 3 distinct branches, each official and agency
has limits to its power, how the Constitution can be changed. FDR and his administration
provide excellent examples. The lesson also provides a great lead-in to the services
provided by selected government agencies and how funding is provided (2.09).
Activities
(Provide a step-by-step sequence of instructions for the teacher to teach the lesson. It is
very important to be as specific as possible. A teacher should be able to follow the
sequence and know not only what they should be doing in each step but also what the
expectations are for the students in the appropriate steps.)
Day 1
1. Begin class with Pre-Test, either open-ended or multiple choice as Warm-Up or BellRinger (15 minutes)
2. Start playing CD with music of ‘30’s, cue up power point, “Faces of the Depression”
(3 minutes)
3. Hand out facts and figures of stock values, unemployment numbers, salaries, prices
and discuss Dust Bowl, harsh realities, personal anecdotes (20 minutes)
4. Show first half of “Farm Security Administration” DVD (7 minutes)
5. Have students or you read letters to Mrs. Roosevelt from citizens requesting clothes,
money (15 minutes)---60 minute total
6. Divide into groups and brainstorm different things you would do if you were the
president (10 minutes)
7. Distribute copy of Fireside Chat #2 to each group along with questionnaire. Discuss
Primary Source, its importance (15 minutes)
8. Homework Assignment- Each student will write a short essay (200-300 words) on
what problems FDR addressed and his solutions (5 minutes to assign and wrap-up)---90
minute total
Day 2
1. Begin class with editorial cartoon that follows up on FS Chat # 2. Have each
student write a quick response in journal/notes (8 minutes)
2. Have a number of students volunteer to share their analysis of primary document
(FDR Fireside Chat #2) (15 minutes)
3. Hand out FDR’s first 100 Day Initiatives. Focus on National Industrial Recovery
Act of 1933. Outline its three Titles as a class and how it was meant to assist
workers. Show pictures of workers and projects.
4. There were over 34,000. Show NRA symbol, results of projects, FDR’s fondness
for Dutch Colonial style (20 minutes)
5. Use CCC handout and editorial cartoons to show rising discontentment (10
minutes) ----63 minutes
6. I would pull out rubber chicken, then introduce “Sick Chicken Case”, highlighting
key points before passing out any documents. Pass out Schechter Poultry Group
vs. United States case filed in New York (10 minutes)
7. NIRA ruled unconstitutional by vote of 9-0, (I always bang gavel before
announcing ruling) 3 weeks before expiration of NRA’s administration
8. The students now go back to work and see what may have caused justices to rule
the way they did. Does the 10th Amendment fit here? (10 minutes)
9. What was FDR’s reaction? Fireside Chat #9 and accompanying cartoon.
10. Distribute for homework. Have students read different portions of talk and
paraphrase it with THE REAL MEANING!!! (No cursing, but creative word use
allowed!) (7 minutes)---90 minutes
Tomorrow-Court Packing…..Why did FDR lose the battle but win the war???
Assessment
(Provide an assessment plan to allow the teacher to evaluate a student’s progress Have
toward meeting the objective(s) of the lesson. The assessment must include a rubric that
tells a teacher how to grade the proposed assessment tool.)
Pre-test for Review and Meet Hillside High School Requirement for Bi-monthly
assessment: Civics and Economics Pre-Test
Civics and Economics Pre-Test
1. What are the three branches of the federal government?
2. What articles of the Constitution describe each one?
3. How many Supreme Court Justices does the Constitution require?
4. Who appoints the Justices and how long do they serve?
5. When was the Great Depression?
6. What were some of the factors that caused the Great Depression?
7. Who was FDR?
8. What was “Alphabet Soup” in government terms?
9. Who pays for government services?
10. What ended the Great Depression?
Questions 1-4 are a review while #5-10 lead into the example of FDR and how he worked
with the Supreme Court and Congress. I will use similar questions as daily objectives
and post-test.
Supplemental Information for Teachers
Related Internet Resources
(Provide web addresses related to the lesson plan that a teacher might use as background
or supplementary material for the lesson.)
www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu
www.HistoricHydePark.org
www.huppi.com/kangaroo/First100days.htm
www.answers.com
Attachments
(List the filenames for charts, presentations, or other materials created for the lesson.)
First 100 Days
Letters2Mrs.Roosevelt
OCC Handout
Cartoons and Letter
C & E Cartoons
Faces of Depression Power Point
Multiple Choice Pre-and Post Test
Lesson Depressed Try Some Alphabet Soup
Outlining the New Deal FS 2
Schechter v.United States
NIRA of 1933