Henrico Staff Development

Our 7th grade Social Studies teacher Mr. Berry used Mash-On, an online website, to enhance digital pictures that students took in order to show their understanding of the Great Depression. There were 10 questions that students needed to answer for this assignment. The questions were:

1.    How did the stock market crash affect investors?
2.    How did tariffs affect the US economy?
3.    What role did the Federal Reserve play in the Great Depression?
4.    How did foreclosures affect people?

5.    What happened to banks during the Great Depression?
6.    How did the Dust Bowl affect farmers on the Great Plains?
7.    What were breadlines and soup kitchens?
8.    What was the goal of the New Deal?
9.    How was American society affected by the WPA and CCC?
10.    What ended the Great Depression?

Students then answered these questions in picture form. For each answer,they took one picture and added a caption that answers the question.  Each student created his or her own comic strip about the Great Depression.  The results were fantastic!

[flashvideo file=http://teachers.henrico.k12.va.us/wilder/saunders_d/StudentSamples/Lifeishard.flv /]

Mr. Baker’s Civics and Economics Class at L. Douglas Wilder Middle School compiled a rap which focuses on today’s economy with an emphasis on the recession, opportunity costs, scarcity, and hope for the future. The class created the rap using garage band, and uploaded the final version to the web using iWeb.