Mrs. Lloyd

Great Depression Diaries

The fifth grade social studies Great Depression Diary PBL meets the Gold Standard PBL elements of challenging question, sustained inquiry, authenticity, reflection and critique and revision. The students were given a challenging question, “Did the government get the United States out of the Great Depression?” The students then engaged in sustained inquiry as to whether the government pulled the United States out of the Great Depression and how it affected Americans. They researched life before the Great Depression and the events leading up to and during the Great Depression. They also researched important leaders of that time and the influence they held. Students also researched how these events affected their people similar to their character. For example, if their character was an eleven year old child they would research how the Great Depression would have impacted them. The students took this information and created a diary from the perspective of their character reflecting on the events of that time. After the students created their diary, they critiqued and revised their work to share with their classmates.