Great Depression Speech Activity
***Complete this activity within groups of two!***
Practice!
What do you see in this photograph? Where and when is it from? Why was it taken?
How is this picture different than what you think is the typical and ideal American life?
You are a Great Depression era politician. Democrat, Republican, Union Party, doesn’t matter what political ideology you stand by, you know you have to come up with a solution to right this economic disaster! But first, you need to do your research! You cannot know how to help your people, unless you know their circumstances first!
On the next two slides you will select and analyze a photograph and an interview examining the experiences of one of your constituents. You will use the information you gained from your analysis to decide what solution you want to endorse to fix the problem!
Photographs
Use the online databases attached to this slide to find a photograph that represents an issue that your people are facing because of the economic crisis. Examine and analyze the photo. Complete the Photograph Analysis Sheet with your observations and thoughts. While you are completing your analysis jot down notes on the following question…. As a politician, how would you address the issue shown in the photograph?
https://libguides.kent-school.edu/great-depression/great-depression-photographs
Interviews
Explore the interviews attached to this slide. Pick one that represents an issue your people are facing that you would like to address. Watch the whole video and fill out the Primary Source Analysis Sheet with your thoughts and analysis. While you are completing your analysis jot down notes on the following question…. As a politician, how would you address the issues discussed in this interview?
Pick a politician!
New Deal
Conservative Opposition
Based on what you discovered during your research… which strategy would you like to address to use to address the issues you found? Pick one of the political figures listed below as your political role model. If you need a refresher on who they are refer to the Standard 18 slideshow or press their names to watch a video or read an article! P.S. You do not actually have to agree with their political stances to pick them!
Speech Writing
Now that you have researched issues caused by the Great Depression and selected your stance on how to address these issues, you need to write a speech to turn public opinions towards your plan!
Write a speech containing...
This speech should be written together as a pair! One person should write down the speech and the other will need to film your speech as a flipgrid video. Your speech should last for 2 -5 minutes.
Submit your written speech to the dropbox and the video to flipgrid.
React!
Watch one of your classmate’s flipgrids. Text in a reaction as if you were the American people experiencing the issues the politician was addressing. Do you think their policies will fit your needs? Why or why not? Make your own suggestion!
Rubric
Student writes a speech as a Great Depression era politician and records it. Student writes a reaction post to another student’s speech. Their speech and reaction post includes all aspects and addresses all questions of the instructions.
Meets Expectations (2), Does Not Meet Expectations (1), Does Not Address (0)
Student researches and analyzes primary sources to determine the experiences of Americans during the Great Depression.
Meets Expectations (2), Does Not Meet Expectations (1), Does Not Address (0)
Student displays understanding of different political plans to address the economic disaster and can apply them to the issues Americans were facing and display how these plans would affect the American people.
Meets Expectations (2), Does Not Meet Expectations (1), Does Not Address (0)
_ earned points / 6 points = GRADE