Economy+1920s

Usha's comments in Blue.

Your name: Julia Chmiel

**Initial Reading and Assessment of Textbook Treatment of the Topic**

Name of Gr. 10 Textbook examined:

Name of more "scholarly" source examined:

__Your Initial Thoughts:__ Please provide a **brief** (5-10 sentences) initial assessment of the textbook's treatment of the subject. We have not developed any particular criteria by which to assess the textbook so this is really simply you initial reactions, feelings, questions about what you have read. Thanks! Strangely enough I found that the grade 10 history text book, Canada Our Century, Our History, discussed the Canadian economy in more depth compared to my more scholarly source, A Little History of Canada. The high school source broke down some of the major contributing factors, such as the post-war employment slum, into clear reasons for the stock market crash in 1929. It was great to see the text's coverage of what what going on throughout the country during the interwar years, such as the Winnipeg General Strike, instead of being limited to Ontario (which commonly happened when I was in high school). I assumed, and was not mistaken by the textbook's overall attribution to the stock market crash as the pivotal moment for the depression of the 1930's. Conversely, the scholarly text counted other factors, like Canada's dependency on American industries, as contributing elements to Canada's in particular, economic crash. Overall, I was very impressed by the high school text's coverage of the 1920's economic situation. It was a great way to introduce students to ecominc history without overwhelming them with terminology and concepts. On the other hand, I thought maybe the scholarly source might have included more on this topic, but it really was more of a social history text.

Thanks for your comments, Julia. Isn't that interesting! It speaks to the significance that teachers attribute to the stock market crash. Do you think it is warranted? Or is it overemphasized? You're right that it's a way to introduce students to economic history in a way that is not overwhelming. Response: Although the stock market crash is merely the climax to many other factors that led to the Great Depression, which was social/political/agricultural as much as it was economic, I do think that for a grade ten class it is appropriate to focus on this event as it gives context for Canada's place within the global depression that occurred and many other themes can be discussed once this topic has been taught, such as growing consumerism after the war, employment, industrial conditions and labour concerns, and therefore women's issues, and social history themes in general. Furthermore, it is a fairly simple way, like I mentioned before, for discussing important topics like an open market economy, foreign capital, and the stock market.

Question: List some of the factors that were occurring in the years after WWI that led to the stock market crash, in 1929. Now, looking at these factors (list a few: such as high inflation and unemployment, if students need direction), do you think the Canadian government acted appropriately to these concerns/issues, or were they beyond the control of the ruling body? (critique the piece, decode the puzzle) Your core question "Did the government act appropriately?" is clearly a critical challenge. Don't worry about the scaffolding (i.e. list some of the factors) just yet since we'll talk about how to effectively scaffold student thinking about the question throughout the lesson plan - listing might be one of the things they have to do - but we can consider that a bit later. Learning Target: The main habit of mind that I want to use for the upcoming activity is -managing impulsivity. By using the timeline option for the lesson plan I think this will help students evaluate some of the larger/key issues that served as precursors to the Depression. It also allows them to engage in a cause and effect activity. They could do this collaboratively or on their own, but I think this topic allows for a good oportunity for building a variety of skills that might ultimately lead to an ISU/essay assignment.

-students will have to examine/learn new vocabulary dealing with the economy -students will use reason to evaluate changes that took place in Canada's economy after the war - such as the opening of the stock market to public investments -students will be made aware that they are examining this time period/subject matter so that they will understand the causes of the Great Depression which followed the Stock Market Crash, in 1929. As a result, they will be introduced to the key learning component of cause and effect, and evaluation, weighing of options -this excercise will also help with the skill of building an argument because students will eventually be asked to justify their answer from the critical challenge question in part using evidence that they gathered/were given during the "Economy in the 1920's" lesson -students will be introduced to global connectivity through the period of the Great Depression -the hook for examining 2 car ads from the time will build the skill of awareness of bias within primary sources -
 * Identify Key Learning and Skills for Summative Assessment**


 * Frame Critical Challenge**

Question: List some of the factors that were occurring in the years after WWI that led to the stock market crash, in 1929. Now, looking at these factors, do you think the Canadian government acted appropriately to these concerns/issues, or were they beyond the control of the ruling body?

-historical perspective -continuity and change
 * Historical Thinking**
 * -**examining the evidence


 * Intellectual Tools**

-managing impulsivity

-there will be a class lecture that will bridge the changes that occurred in Canada when the soldiers came home after the war. The economy will be addressed within this larger picture as one proponent of the laize-faire attitude that dominated the larger Canadian society/culture -this will be given previous to the topic of the stock market crash so that the information will generally taken as reasons for the crash and students can have more time for critical thought when they have to rexamine this lecture when framing their answer to the critical challenge question.
 * Background Knowledge:**
 * -**students will be given the "minds on" taks of examining two primary docs and will pull out relevant info about what the ads tell about the Canadian economy in the 1920s

-continuity and change
 * Criteria for Judgement:**
 * Habit of Mind:**

-building vocab
 * Thinking Strategies:**