Alabama Social Studies SS24.US2.4b
The Standard
- SS24.US2.4
- Analyze the causes of the Great Depression, including the effects of overproduction, stock market speculation, buying on credit, international trade policy, and restrictive monetary policies.
Critique the effectiveness of the New Deal in managing problems of the Great Depression through relief, recovery, and reform programs; expansion of the executive branch; and the application of Keynesian economic theory.
2024 Alabama Course of Study: Social Studies
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students judge how relief, recovery, and reform programs addressed the Depression, using specific examples. They explain how new federal agencies expanded presidential power and weigh New Deal spending against Keynes's argument for boosting demand.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students can distinguish CCC jobs, AAA farm supports, and Social Security benefits. They can explain how new agencies increased Roosevelt's reach. They use persistent unemployment to argue that the New Deal eased hardship but did not end the Depression.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may label Social Security as short-term relief rather than long-term reform. Some credit Roosevelt alone for laws Congress passed. Others assume New Deal spending fully matched Keynes's advice or ended unemployment.
How to Assess It
- Exit ticket: Sort the CCC, AAA, and Social Security into relief, recovery, or reform. In three sentences, assess the New Deal's limits using persistent unemployment, expanded presidential power, and Keynes's case for more spending.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give groups CCC, AAA, and Social Security cards; have them place each on a relief, recovery, or reform mat and defend their choices.
Ask: Did putting new agencies under Roosevelt's direction solve problems faster, or give the president too much power?
Read short program descriptions and have students move to a relief, recovery, reform, or mixed corner, then explain each choice.
Give students a mock federal recession budget; ask whether Keynes would fund road repairs or cut spending, and why.
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Related Standards
- SS24.US2.5a
Describe the effects of New Deal programs on Alabama, outlining the problems they sought to address.
- SS24.5.8
Analyze how the government-funded New Deal programs of President Franklin D. Roosevelt impacted American society.
- SS24.US2.4
Analyze the causes of the Great Depression, including the effects of overproduction, stock market speculation, buying on credit, international trade policy, and...
- SS24.US2.5b
Analyze the impact of the Great Depression and the resulting social programs on the American family and minority groups.
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