4-Week Unit Plan for Combined 11th
Grade U.S. History and English
Literature
Developed by
Daniel McFarlane
Student Learning Outcomes/Objectives
• Understand and comprehend the social and
economic themes of the Great Depression through
literature and historical study
New York State Standards: English Language Arts
Commencement Level/11th grade
New York State Standards: Social Studies
Commencement Level
ISTE NETS and Performance Indicators for
Students (NET-S)
Communication and Collaboration
Students use digital media and environments to communicate and
work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual
learning and contribute to the learning of others. Students:
• A. interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others
employing a variety of digital environments and media
• B. communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple
audiences using a variety of media and formats
• C. develop cultural understanding and global awareness by
engaging with learners of other cultures
• D. contribute to project teams to produce original works or solve
problems
Student Demographics/Population
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11th grade U.S. History class
Student population: 18
1 student with a visual impairment
Majority of students are at or just above
reading grade level literacy.
• Small percentage have a learning disabilityReading comprehension and decoding.
Two Different Learning Groups
1 student with visual impairment.
• Student will be assigned the same reading list, but required text has been modified with
larger print.
• The student will be accommodated by having their chosen reading assigned one-week
earlier to provide additional time.
• A laptop will be used when running videos to accommodate student’s vision
impairment and video magnifying software will be used as needed.
• Final assessment project will have an operating system with special-accessibility options
(screen enlargement, adjustment of keyboard, etc..).
Students with reading comprehension and decoding issues
• A variety of graphic organizer software and reading strategies will be implemented to
assist in reading the assigned text (K-W-L, SQ3R, etc.).
• Additional time will be provided for the students to read assigned text and 1:1 time
with reading teacher to assist in comprehension and decoding. The reading teacher will
use talking electronic software to pronounce challenging words for the students.
• Students may work with the reading teacher or myself for the learning log. This will
help with comprehension and development.
Target Goals: Essential Questions
• How does the economy change citizens’
perceptions about government?
• How does the government change society
through domestic policy?
• How do social issues impact literature and
authors’ views and perceptions of history?
• What is the difference between a piece of
written literature and the presentation of
authentic historical facts, data and events?
Lesson Structure
The Hook
– http://www.bringinghistoryhome.org/assets/bringinghistoryhome/4thgrade/unit-2/4_dep_depression_game.pdf
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This game is designed as a class simulation to provide a realistic and tangible feel for how people, politicians,
banks and others interacted and dealt with the worst economic period in American history. This emulates
the real life trauma that different people endured during The Great Depression.
The Bridge
– Review previous lessons and issues that led to the Great Depression.
– Review previous English courses for contextualization related to this
course and unit.
Special Materials
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Large Print books
Laptop Computer
Operating system special-accessibility options (screen enlargement)
Letter and word magnification software
Steps of the Lesson
4 Week Unit/11th Grade
• Introduce the Great Depression and Wall Street
Collapse of 1929.
• Discuss period literature and its importance to
History.
• Choose one of three readings for class:
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Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
A Room of My Own: A Novel by Ann Tatlock
Dear Mrs. Roosevelt: Letters from Children of the Great Depression by Robert Cohen, Editor
• Video presentation
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Franklin D. Roosevelt and 1933 announcement of government actions for recovery.
http://www.besthistorysites.net/USHistory_GreatDepression.shtml
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This video is being shown to show why John Steinbeck wrote about the Great Depression years and
what Americans were enduring during that historical period.
Steps of Lesson Continued…
• Compare and contrast business interests and overall
American economic collapse and unemployment (19291940).
• Discuss issues surrounding the presidential election
between Hoover and Roosevelt (1932).
• Understand voting patterns of 1932 with other American
elections and the economic climate.
• Discuss readings by students and social/economic issues
of the era.
• Mini-assessment (students in pairs-use computers to
compare/contrast election of 1932 to 2008 and
document findings-followed by class discussion).
John Steinbeck and the “Grapes of Wrath” video
presentation
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqaTv8cCWeg&feature=player_detailpage
Steps of lesson Continued…
• Discuss New Deal-policies and initiatives.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/business/economywatch/fireside-chats/
• The outcome for the audio portion of FDR’s discussion on the New
Deal is to understand what was being said then and how the
President presented his ideas and how he wanted to get America
back to work.
• Economic issues in Europe-lead in to WWII.
• America’s entry into WWII and economic implications.
• Readings should be complete by end of unit (4 week period).
Assessment/Rubric Based
Great Depression/Economy/Elections and Literature
• Students are provided the following as there
assessment for this unit:
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Assessment rationale: This assessment is designed to provide an authentic way to collaborate and work
together in demonstrating a grasp of all the critical events for The Great Depression and its associated
literature. I believe as a group-based project, they will better learn and have the opportunity to use a
form of technology to convey understanding of concepts and materials.
Technology-based Presentation/Learning Log
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Students will utilize the website Webspiration to collaboratively develop a comprehensive timeline to demonstrate a clear and concise understanding of events, literature, politics, government
programs and social and economic impacts of that era. Students will be broken up into six (6)
groups of three (3) to do this component and presentation. Students will use graphics, colors,
dates, fonts and overall creativity to produce their time lines.
The students’ also will write a total of 4 paragraphs in their learning logs, which is on their
individual Wikispaces, to provide them an opportunity to use their writing skills and reflect on
what they learned over the past month. They will be graded independently on this portion of the
assessment.
Assessment Criterion/Students
Great Depression/Economy/Elections and Literature
– Develop and design a timeline that easily conveys an understanding of the events
from the Great Depression (1929-1940).
– Include the use of readings assigned in class and show connections between
readings and the Great Depression era.
– Show an understanding of dates, facts and time progression for this unit of study.
– The timeline should display a minimum of five events and images related to the
Great Depression and will include components of history taught and assigned
literature. (Examples contained herewith)
– Graphics should show a relationship to the Great Depression and be effective in
conveying the theme of that time.
– All material presented on the timeline should be date accurate and consistent with
the Great Depression.
– Using the timeline show a connection between the events of the Great Depression
and one other time frame that we discussed in U.S. history. Show an understanding
of economics, literature and history. Be creative and innovative in this endeavor.
Examples of Appropriate Images
Project Rubric
4
Contents/Facts
Learning of Content
Dates
Graphics
Creativity/Fonts and Colors
3
2
1
Facts were accurate for all Facts were accurate for
events reported on the
almost all events reported
timeline.
on the timeline.
Facts were accurate for
most of the events
reported on the timeline.
Facts were often
inaccurate for events
reported on the timeline.
The student can accurately
describe the events of The
Great Depression on the
timeline without referring
to it and can quickly
determine which of two
events occurred first.
Accurate and complete
dates were included for
each event during The
Great Depression.
All graphics are effective
and balanced with text
use.
The use of font styles and
colors is consistent and
adds to the creativity of
the poster. It helps
organize the material.
The student can describe
any event of The Great
Depression on the timeline
if allowed to refer to it and
can determine which of
two events occurred first.
The student cannot use the
timeline effectively to
describe events of The
Great Depression nor to
compare events.
Accurate dates were
included for almost every
event during The Great
Depression.
Some graphics are
effective and their use is
balanced with text use.
The use of font styles and
colors is consistent, but is
not creative or used
effectively to organize.
Dates are inaccurate
and/or missing for several
events during The Great
Depression.
Graphics are not effective.
The student can generally
describe the events of The
Great Depression on the
timeline without referring
to it and can quickly
determine which of two
events occurred first.
Accurate and complete
dates were included for
almost every event during
The Great Depression.
All graphics are effective,
but there appear to be too
few or too many.
The use of font styles and
colors is consistent and
somewhat adds to the
creativity of the poster. It
helps organize the material
somewhat.
The use of font styles and
colors is not consistent and
is not creative OR detracts
from the organization.
Project Rubric
Time Use
Resources
Classroom time was used to
work on the project.
Conversations were not
disruptive and focused on
the work.
The timeline contained at
least 8-10 events related to
The Great Depression.
Classroom time was used to
work on the project the
majority of the time.
Conversations were not
disruptive and focused on
the work.
The timeline contained at
least 6-7 events related to
The Great Depression.
Classroom time was used to
work on the project the
majority of the time, but
conversations often were
disruptive or did not focus
on the work.
The timeline contained at
least 5 events related to The
Great Depression.
Student did not use
classroom time to work on
the project and/or was
highly disruptive.
The timeline contained
fewer than 5 events related
to The Great Depression.
Project Rubric
Technology-based Presentation
Graphics
Software Learning
There was extensive use of
graphics, video, and other
forms of technology that
were used effectively.
The student knows how to
use the software and can
accurately and clearly
answer almost any question
related to how to perform
certain functions.
There was an effective use
of graphics, video, and other
forms of technology but
there seemed to be too many
or too few.
The student knows how to
use the software and can
accurately and clearly
answer many questions
related to how to perform
certain functions.
Some graphics, video, and
other forms of technology
were effective.
Several graphics are
not effective.
The student knows how to
use some parts of the
software and can accurately
and clearly answer a few
questions related to how to
perform certain functions.
The student does not
appear to know how
to use the software
without assistance.
Differentiation
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Pairs for computer project
Individual reading assignment of books
Oral
Video (two presented)
Period Literature
Writing on Whiteboard
Q and A sessions
Group work on computers, class discussion
Develop poster project/technology-based presentation
Changes for Next Time
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Evaluate length of unit and time spent presenting.
More options/different options of books.
Rigor of final assessment.
Add a guest speaker to talk about Great Depression.
Teacher Reflections
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Did my teaching meet the goals and objectives of my unit on The Great Depression?
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Did I meet the New York State Standards and ISTE standards for students?
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Did I meet the needs of all my students and provide the tools necessary to help them succeed in this unit?
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Were the choices in literature appropriate and impactful to enhance the study of The Great Depression?
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Were the essential questions that were associated with this unit answered in a comprehensive manner for my students?
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Did the “Bringing History Home-The Great Depression Game” provide a good learning opportunity and meet the goals of
game-based learning?
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Did I use a variety of multimedia to add instructional and experiential value to this unit?
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Was the technology I used accessible to all of my students?
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Did this lesson use best practices effectively?
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Was my assessment authentic and provided a good way to reflect and bring all of the components of this lesson
together?
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Would I make any changes next time to improve this unit for my students?