NY Social Studies 11.7a

Social Studies11th GradeKey Idea 11.7

The Standard

The 1920s was a time of cultural change in the country, characterized byclashes between modern and traditional values.

New York State K–12 Social Studies Framework

Key Idea 11.7

PROSPERITY AND DEPRESSION (1920 – 1939): The 1920s and 1930s were a time of cultural and economic changes in the nation. During this period, the nation faced significant domestic challenges, including the Great Depression.

Teacher's field guide

What This Standard Means

What Students Need to Do: Students explain how debates over women’s roles, Prohibition, immigration, the Ku Klux Klan, and evolution reflected competing values. They use evidence to connect each conflict to wider social change.
What Mastery Looks Like: Students can identify modern and traditional viewpoints in a primary source. They can explain why a policy or movement gained support and describe its effects on specific groups.
Common Misconceptions: Students may assume all Americans shared the decade’s prosperity and changing values. They may treat flappers as typical of all women or Prohibition as a ban on drinking itself. They may overlook how racism, nativism, and religious prejudice shaped quotas and Klan membership.
How to Assess It: Exit ticket: Choose Prohibition, immigration quotas, the Klan, women’s roles, or the Scopes trial. Explain the values in conflict and cite one historical detail.

Lesson moves

Ways to Teach It

Give groups source cards on five cultural conflicts, then have them sort each card under modern, traditional, or mixed values.
Ask students to write: Which 1920s conflict best shows fear of social change, and what evidence supports your choice?
Run a matching relay pairing terms such as flapper, quota, speakeasy, fundamentalism, and Klan with causes, viewpoints, and effects.
Have students compare a 1924 immigration quota table with current immigration data, then write two differences in goals and effects.

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