Paired Writing: Hoover and FDR

Taking on the persona of FDR and Hoover, students will write responses to citizens seeking help with real world problems.

A lesson plan for grades 9–12 English Language Arts and Social Studies

By Angie Panel Holthausen

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Learning outcomes

Students will:

• identify how the Great Depression affected various groups in society.
• propose solutions for some of those problems.
• know the general political philosophies of Herbert Hoover and Franklin Delano Roosevelt and apply them to real world problems.
• become familiar with New Deal legislation.

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

1 Hour

Materials/resources

Copies of problem statements, cut into strips (see attachment below).

Pre-activities

For teachers: Read the problem statements. Brainstorm possible government actions that could be taken to address the problems. Cut them into strips; each student will need a problem statement.

For students: Students will need to have studied Hoover’s presidency, the crash of the stock market, the election of FDR and his general approach to solving problems (an active government, pump priming).

Activities

1. First, tell students they will receive a slip of paper that has a problem stated on it. They will pretend they are the person with the problem, and will write FDR or Hoover with a suggestion about how they might help.
2. Hand out problem statements, trying to plan it so that when students switch papers, they will be responding to a problem different from the one they had. One way to do this is to have each students write the number of their problem at the top of their paper and remember it. Then you can ask them what number they were as you redistribute papers, and you can make sure they don’t get the same one.
3. Important: Assign one side of the room to write to Hoover, and assign the other side of the room to write to FDR. Don’t let them choose! They’ll switch sides in a moment.
4. Allow students sufficient time to understand their problem and formulate a letter requesting help. Circulate and help those students who need assistance. Encourage them to be creative but realistic!
5. When students are done, deliver their paper to another student on the other side of the room. Inform them that they are now the opposite president (if they wrote to FDR, they will now pretend to be Hoover, and vice versa). They should write a response to the request which IS IN KEEPING WITH THAT PRESIDENT’S POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY. Help them review those philosophies, if necessary (Hoover was fiscally conservative - he believed in small government and rugged individualism; FDR was fiscally liberal - he believed in using the power of government to solve problems). Give them time to record their responses at the bottom or on the back of the request letter they received.
6. When everyone is done, discuss the problems and answers. There are five problems in all, and at this point students have only been exposed to two of them, so they will be interested in hearing what the other problems and solution ideas were.

Assessment

Grade the letters based on how creative and realistic their suggested solutions were, and how appropriate their responses were when considering which President they were impersonating.

Supplemental information

Attachment: Great Depression Problem Statements