Introduction for Teachers

Designed by Patty Tuttle-Newby (patty_tuttle@apsva.us) Last updated January 25, 2006 .

This lesson was developed as part of An Adventure of the American Mind Northern Virginia Partnership (AAMNVA) , a federally funded professional development program to assist educators in using Library of Congress primary resources to support student learning.

This LibraryQuest was designed to be the culminating activity in an interdisciplinary unit on the boom period of the 1920s. In it, students are introduced to influential Americans from the decade, including artists, musicians, inventors, and entrepreneurs. Students use primary and secondary sources to explore the decade and the people, then choose one person to research. Students will write a biographical essay and portray the historical figure in a role play.

School District and State: Arlington County, Virginia

Unit Number/Title: Unit 6, The Boom to Bust Period

Conceptual Unit Question: Did the 1920s really roar?

Enduring Understanding(s): The ideas and activities of individual people played a major role in the transformation of the United States during the 1920s.

Knowledge Goals:

• Technological developments caused big changes in American life, especially in the areas of transportation and communication.
• Prohibition was an unsuccessful attempt by the government to control people's behavior.
• Thousands of African Americans migrated north to work in growing industrial cities and to escape violence and discrimination in the south.
• The 1920s was an important decade for American art, literature and music.
• The leaders of the Harlem Renaissance drew upon the heritage of black culture to establish themselves as powerful forces for cultural change.

Skill Goals:

USI.1 The student will develop skills for historical and geographical analysis, including the ability to:

• identify and interpret primary and secondary source documents to increase understanding of events and life in United States history;
• sequence events in United States history;
• interpret ideas and events;
• interpret ideas and events from different historical perspectives;
• evaluate and discuss issues orally and in writing;
• make connections between past and present.

Key Concepts:

There are multiple perspectives in history.

The lives and stories of people who lived through a time period can tell us a lot about the time period.