Effective Projects Case Study

Great Depression Current Events Scrapbook at Hampton School District

www.sau21.org/ha

This is a story about a project that started 3/1/2007.

For more information, please contact: Christina Hamilton at chamilton@sau21.org.

While studying the Great Depression of the 1930s, students collect articles on current events pertaining to the United States’ domestic and foreign economic policies.  Students spend two weeks collecting articles that discuss how the United States is allocating its resources.  Students are encouraged to read online news sources to find the most current and up to date information. Students then summarize these articles in their scrapbook and find parallels between the United States economy during the Great Depression and the United States economy today.

Funding: This project was supported by $0 from  and $0 in local funds. The project illustrates how federal funding supports “Data collection and analysis – Implementing individualized instruction by collecting, managing, and analyzing data to inform and enhance teaching and school improvement efforts.” The project addressed the following grades and content areas: 

   Gr6-8          SocSt   

The Setting: I teach in a suburban school.  The school has access to technology, with a limited number of computers in every classroom and shared mobile labs.

The plot: The school does not have as many computers as we would like.  We work out schedules to share computers.  Though we realize we have more than many schools across the country it is often a challenge to plan curriculum that requires Internet resources when we cannot guarantee our students will have access. The biggest challenge is ensuring that all students have access to current news sources.  Many students do not live in homes that have newspapers or Internet access, while others have access to many resources.

The teachers: 1 teacher was directly involved. I am the social studies teacher.  I created and initiated the project with all my students.

The students: This lesson promotes the importance of following current events, encourages students to read newspapers and understand newspaper formats, and provides skill-builders in comparing and contrasting historical events with current events.

The data: Each student turns in a self-created Great Depression Current Events scrapbook that is graded for content and structure.

The difference: Students gained skills in reading and comprehending news articles.  The students also gained greater awareness of current events and their abilities to analyze them and compare them with past events. Their understanding and achievement was demonstrated by their finished products of Great Depression Current Events scrapbooks. Once students are confident in their abilities to follow and understand current events, it becomes a part of their daily routine.  Many students watching the morning or evening news and read news articles and connect them to lessons in school.

Essential conditions: Sources for current United States news regarding domestic and foreign economic policies are essential for the completion and success of this project.

Changes for the future: I need to spend time in class demonstrating how to read news articles and explain the format of newspapers and news sources so that students can quickly access information. Provide a more detailed and specific rubric for students to follow and include a self-evaluation and checklist.

Recommendations: Emphasize the importance of current events in the classroom and encourage finding parallels with past and current events and issues so that students can see how we, as a country, have learned from our mistakes!

Telling our story: Parents and Guardians view student work during quarterly learning celebrations.  Projects are also kept in the students’ permanent portfolios.

Documents to share:  none at this time