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Students on Site > Educators > Lesson Plans > The Great Depression

Fourth Grade Lesson:
The Great Depression

State Student Outcome(s)
Explain the rights and responsibilities people have as members/citizens of a state; describe and explain, from multiple perspectives, an historical event or experience; identify ways in which individuals and groups in the state depend on each other; describe ways in which the people in the state work independently and cooperatively to accomplish goals.
Curriculum Link
Chapter 9, Michigan, The World Around Us
Key Terms
The Great Depression, stock market crash, poverty
Key Tools/Documents
Timeline, Large Map #2 (1910s), Letter - Mrs. Stone to the Mayor (1930), Letter - Mayor to Mrs. Stone (1930), Unemployment Commission Letter and Flyer (1930s)
Guiding Questions
What caused the Great Depression? How did it impact daily life for Ann Arbor residents? What steps did Ann Arbor’s mayor and other residents take to help people in need?
Activities
  • Add The Great Depression 1929-1930s to class timeline as introduction to lesson. Encourage students to share previous knowledge of the Great Depression, including the stock market crash and its nationwide impact. Use Large Map #2 (1910s) to show what Ann Arbor was like during this time period. Point out the home of Mrs. Peter Stone.
  • In small groups, students read Letter - Mrs. Stone to the Mayor (1930). Students should think about and write responses to the following questions:
    1. What were Mrs. Stone’s problems and worries?
    2. Why didn’t she want her name published?
    3. If you were the major of Ann Arbor, what would you write back to Mrs. Stone?
  • In large groups, students share responses in order to describe how the Great Depression impacted Ann Arbor residents. Encourage students to think about how the Great Depression affected children’s daily lives. Discuss with students how the mayor and other town leaders took measures to help Ann Arbor residents in need.
Supplemental Activities
  • Students write a short letter as the mayor of Ann Arbor responding to Mrs. Stone’s letter.
  • Students write a journal entry imagining that they were children living in Ann Arbor during the Great Depression.
Challenge
Invite students to use the SOS website to read Letter - Mayor to Mrs. Stone (1930) or Application for Relief-Second Baptist Church (1930s).
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