Sherri J.

Anderson

(1a) Name of Cool Tool: Storybird (www.storybird.com) Books youll always

remember.

(1b) Georgia Standard:

SS5H5: Explain how the Great Depression and New Deal affected the lives of
millions of Americans.
a. Discuss the Stock Market Crash of 1929, Herbert Hoover, Franklin Roosevelt, the
Dust Bowl, and soup kitchens.
b. Analyze the main features of the New Deal; include the significance of the Civilian
Conservation Corps, Works Progress Administration, and the Tennessee Valley
Authority.
c. Discuss important cultural elements of the 1930s; include Duke Ellington, Margaret
Mitchell, and Jesse Owens.

(2) Learning Goal(s):

Fifth grade students will explain how the Great Depression and the New Deal affected
the lives of millions of Americans in the 1930s.
Students will demonstrate the immense economic unsteadiness that affected millions
of Americans during this time.
Students will describe key important individuals, events, and contributions during the
Great Depression and New Deal era.
Students will explain the Great Depression, when it begin, and how long it lasted.
Students will explain how the New Deal was in response to the Great Depression in
an attempt to rebuild the United States economy.

(3) Objective:
Given a visual story, students will describe the impact of the Great Depression and
New Deal on individuals, families, minorities, and popular cultures during the 1930s.

(4) Description of Learning Activity(s):

A) OPENING - We will begin the lesson with a brief discussion of the Roaring 20s
followed by a PowerPoint slide of America during that time. This period followed WW1
when Americans wanted to enjoy life and enjoy a life of freedom. The teacher will
show a slide of different pictures from the 1920s and students have to explain what
each picture symbolizes. For example, the teacher will show a picture of a woman
with a short hair cut and mini skirt, which symbolizes women no longer wear long hair
or long dresses, they could their appearance from the traditional method. Other
pictures may include images of teenagers dancing, telephones, flappers, radio motion
pictures, automobiles, and other significant images. This activity allows students to
use critical thinking and assist them with activities associated with the Great
Depression and New Deal Era.

B) The teacher will begin the Great Depression unit with a Brain Pop video labeled
Great Depression. Students (as a whole group), will answer the quiz at the end. The
teacher will call on various students to answer the questions. However, the teacher
will explain each question, especially if theres and uncertainty.

C) Next, the teacher will show a PowerPoint about the Great Depression and New
Deal Era. With a partner, students will use a Graphic Organizer to take notes.

D) TEACH THE CLASS: Students will be placed in small groups. Groups must select
a speaker. Each group will be designated to a station that contains key notes about
the Great Depression or the New Deal. Each group must decide whether the hint
(words/notes/article) is referring to the GD or ND. After 20 minutes, the speaker will
explain the specific event to the class.

E) Homework (Anchor Activity) - Students will create a book on Story Bird, explaining
the Great Depression and New Deal and present it to the class.

Learning Material: Computer (Internet as needed), Brain Pop, PowerPoint slide,

Images of Roaring 20s, Great Depression, and New Deal, Journal, Story Bird

(5) Use Webbs DOK to identify level of cognitive rigor for each objective:
DOK (Depth of Knowledge) Level 2 Skills/Concepts:
Students are required to describe people, events, contributions, and concepts during
the Great Depression and New Deal Era. Students will use this information to create a
visual story to describe the issues/problems during this time as well as the
significance of the New Deal and its contribution to the American economy.

(6) Explain how the activity(s) is differentiated and how you varied the level of
cognitive demand:
The opening activity will give students a brief description of what life was like in
American from 1920-1929. During this time, people had a carefree attitude and truly
enjoyed their lives. Students will be shown different images of that time period and
explain each image. This will assist all students (low proficiency, basic, and above
proficiency) as they could relate the images to what life was like for American during
that time. Additionally, all students could benefit from the brain pop activity (whole
class instruction).
The PowerPoint/Graphic Organizer allows students to work with each other and
discuss the Great Depression and New Deal era. I will offer questions to guide the
students thinking:
How do you think living conditions were like during the 1920s in America based on
the images?
How do you think the people in the images feel?
Do you think you would like to live during this period?
How do the images make you feel?

By allowing students to teach the class, it gives them a blended learning model
approach. This allows the teacher to address the different needs of individual students
in the class. Additionally, students will be engaged more versus the traditional method.
Furthermore, it allows students to demonstrate their depth of understanding about the
Great Depression and New Deal. Also, students will be about to bond closer with each
other.
The anchor activity allows students to be creative as they want and have fun while
learning. Storybird uses the students words but beautiful artwork from the website.
Its a way for students to write a story instead of writing an essay to demonstrate an
understanding of a particular subject. Students could help each other or receive
assistance from parents.

(7) Identify the chosen technology(s) and describe how it enhances the
learning activity(s):
The chosen technology is a Storybird. It is a free online tool that allows anyone to
create a visual, art-inspired story within seconds and share it. Students are able to
choose what photos they want in their book as well as integrate their own channel of
communication. They create their beliefs through storytelling and Storybird will
create the illustrations. Additionally, it helps to develop language knowledge such as
reading comprehension and writing.
Storybird enhances the learning activity by creating vivid colors and beautiful art
designs to attract audiences of all ages. It contains three types of stories to choose
from: Picture books, poetry, and longform books. If a teacher (or parent) would like to
purchase the book(s), it could be printed through the online shop for a fee. There is a
stereotype that history is boring. By using Storybird, its more interesting and
students have a feel of what our economy was dealing with in 1930s while viewing
beautiful artwork. Furthermore, students are able to create their own personalized
stories to explain their understanding of the standard.

(8) Attach a developmentally appropriate sample of a student product for the

objective. If you need to include a picture, insert the picture into a Word file
before submitting. (Do not upload picture files!)