Welcome to Semester 2 of your 11th Grade US History course.
This is our new learning target:
LT1: I
can assess the social, political, economic and military conflicts that faced
“the Greatest Generation.”
Sooooo... there's a lot going on in this target, so let's do a little predictive Q&A here!
Q1: What the heck is the "Greatest Generation," Mr. Galanis?!
A1: Well, that's a term coined by a famous journalist named Tom Brokaw to describe a specific generation of Americans. Those people who lived through the Great Depression as children, and then grew up to be sent to fight in World War II.
Q2: Well, so what, why do I care about them?
A2: Well, this is my grandparents generation, so I guess your great grandparents generation. A lot of the times when, in popular culture, we talk about "the good old days" we're talking about this generation's lifetime. Their experiences can help us understand and contextualize a lot of aspects of our own lives, the implications and seriousness, and horror of war, sacrifice, what it means to be American, as well as point out some of the not-so-great things that happened in our country in this era.
Q3: So what are we going to be doing?
A3: There will be writing, a short presentation, a test, and a lot of document analysis.
Q4: How long is it?
A4: As it's planned now, we're looking to see this target extending from now up until February vacation. Depending on snow days, there is potential it may go to the end of February (which would be one additional week following break)
Q5 Well, what are some of the things we're learning about in this target?
A5 The Great Depression, The New Deal, The home front and the front lines during WWII (focusing on PEOPLE, we won't be doing a comprehensive study of the war, sorry WWII buffs), considering the idea of "the good old days."
IN CLASS TODAY (after reading everything I typed above this....)
Watch this video about the BOOM of the 20s (this would have actually fit in our last target, but it wasn't what I decided to focus on. We do need to have an idea of this stuff though in order for this next target to make sense). In your notebook, put this into your notes under "The ROARING ECONOMY OF THE 1920s!" (Warning: the video does sort of just end, I know)
Watch this video from our friend John Green (remember, CC is your friend)! Take notes under the heading "THE GREAT DEPRESSION"
Once you've finished watching these videos, respond to the following question in about a page! (can be typed or written)
"Why Did the Great Depression Happen v. 1.0" (We will be writing this assignment in multiple drafts as you gain more knowledge over the next several days. For now, you have the information from today)
How did America change from the roaring 20s into the 1930s (i.e. what was it like in the ROARING 20s vs. the GREAT DEPRESSION)? Why did the Great Depression happen?
"The 1930s was an era in US History known as the Great Depression. This era followed the "Roaring 20s" when the nation's economy was booming"
