Compare, contrast and analyze using primary sources from the Calisphere collection 
http://www.calisphere.universityofcalifornia.edu Use primary source images from Calisphere to provide perspective for today's "Hard Times". The themed Calisphere collection 1929-1939: The Great Depression, contains digitized photographs from Dorothea Lange and other depression photographers and highlights the desperation and experiences of those "Hard Times". Collecting, recording and analyzing the images of historic periods are an essential part of preserving history AND using Web 2.0 tools are part of the 21st Century skills set. Use this lesson idea to challenge students to collect their own images. With collaborative tools students can "record for history" the hard times for our time and understand the past while they analyze the present. Start by... 1. Having students access and explore the Hard Times themed collection at
Calisphere: Hard Times in the Great Depression.
2. As students read and study the images and events outlined in the collection, they build a class collabortive Wiki (see sample page in this Google Site) where they can use the 6 Cs of primary source analysis from the University of California Irvine History project (pdf) to study the images and understand their impact. Students individually, or in teams, add pages to the Wiki - each collecting and analyzing a different aspect of the economic downturn. Topics might include: The stock market, housing, everyday life, election, government programs, jobs. View this slideshow with the basic of creating a Google Site.
3.
Students also add to the Wiki by taking their own digital photographs
of hard times they see in their community (foreclosure signs or a
business closing). Students can post the photos they have taken to a web album hosting site such as Picasa http://picasa.google.com/ and even post via their cell phones. For extension they can collect interviews for podcasts (via an iPod with recorder) of people impacted by the "hard times". 4. Keeping current and collaborating on their research, students or teacher creates a class Google Reader for shared
RSS feeds on economic news. Teachers or students add specific articles to share with the class
and also add notes with comments as they research. Students will
be able access the class "reads" in their Reader inbox so that keeping
up and contributing to class materials is easy. (Learn more at "A Good Read"). 5.
For historic news articles, students search via Google News Archive
Search for old newspaper articles on Great Depression topics. http://news.google.com/archivesearch Students can use Timeline view for a graphical display of search finding. 6. In the Wiki. teams of students continue to build out their pages and contribute to the pages of their classmates as they record and analyze the "Hard Times" theme. Hard Times for Our Times can be used in conjunction with the 21st Century Skills Map for Social Studies created by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills and the National Council for Social Studies.
Cheryl Davis - Acalanes Union High School District
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A Lesson Idea |