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Opposing Views Over the New Deal Expansion of the Federal Government

Lesson Author
Course(s)
Required Time Frame
Two class periods.
Subject(s)
Lesson Abstract
At the end of the lesson on the New Deal, the students will be assigned one of the following individuals (Herbert Hoover, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Alf Landon, Huey P. Long, and Father Charles Coughlin) to research views on the New Deal.
Description

At the end of the lesson on the New Deal, the students will be assigned one of the following individuals (Herbert Hoover, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Alf Landon, Huey P. Long, and Father Charles Coughlin) to research whether they supported or opposed the New Deals programs and identify which specific items they supported or opposed. The students will be given 2 class periods to research on the internet and then bring their information back to the class for presentation.

Rationale (why are you doing this?)
  • It meets Kansas US History Standard, Benchmark 2, Indicator 4
  • It will help put faces and personalities to a few of the people we are studying.
Lesson Objectives - the student will
  • Learn who some of the major players (Herbert Hoover, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Alf Landon, Huey P. Long, and Farther Charles Coughlin) in the New Deal debate were and what their ideas for and criticisms of it were.
  • Practice directed internet research process
  • Read primary source materials to pull out specific material.
District, state, or national performance and knowledge standards/goals/skills met
  • Kansas Standards: Benchmark 2, Indicator 4 (The position of each of the individuals listed in the description of the activity above on the implementation and details of the New Deal).
  •  Kansas Standards: Benchmark 5, Indicators 1, 2 (analyzes a theme in United States history to explain patterns of continuity and change over time, develops historical questions on a specific topic in United States history and analyzes the evidence in primary source documents to speculate on the answers)

    Missouri Standards

2. Continuity and change in the history of Missouri, the United States and the world

6. Relationships of the individual and groups to institutions and cultural traditions

7. The use of tools of social science inquiry (such as surveys, statistics, maps, documents)

Primary sources needed (document, photograph, artifact, diary or letter, audio or visual recording, etc.) needed
  • Alf Landon’s acceptance speech for the 1936 Republican nomination for President.
  • A letter from Herbert Hoover responding to the New Deal programs.
  • Audio and video clips from both Huey Long and Father Charles Coughlin.
Fully describe the activity or assignment in detail. What will both the teacher and the students do?
  • The teacher will introduce the students to the above five individuals by: oral presentation, hand-out, and Power-Point presentation.

The students will:

  1. be assigned one of the individuals to gather information on
  2. use the internet to research whether or not these individuals supported or opposed the New Deal programs
  3. identify what specific points of agreement or disagreement their assigned individual had with the New Deal
  4. present the collected information to the class and help make a collective list for each individual.
  5. The teacher will present the evaluation rubric for comparison.
  6. The students will take notes on the results of the information and be prepared to compare
Assessment: fully explain the assessment method in detail or create and attach a scoring guide
  • Each student will be graded on their completeness of information and any uniqueness of their contribution for their individual as a daily grade. (How well did they identify the position of their person.)
  • The unit test will include an essay question to compare and contrast the major viewpoints on the programs of the New Deal. The students will have researched the information and taken the notes necessary to answer the essay question. The grade for the question will be based on percentage of completeness compared to the rubric.