Lesson Topic The creation of the Civilian Conservation Corps, its impact on during the New Deal, and its legacy to the present.

SC Standards and

Indicators

USHC-6.4 Analyze President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal as a response to the economic crisis of the Great Depression, including the effectiveness of New Deal programs in relieving suffering and achieving economic recovery, in protecting the rights of women and minorities, and in making significant reforms to protect the economy such as Social Security and labor laws.

Common Core

Strategy(ies)

addressed

Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization,

and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.

Write arguments focused on discipline specific content.

Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary

sources, connecting insights gained from specific details to and understanding

of the whole text.

Evaluate authors differing points of view on the same historical event or issue

by assessing the author’s claims, reasoning, and evidence.

Integrate information from diverse sources, both primary and secondary, into

coherent understanding of an idea or event, noting discrepancies among

sources.

Academic Vocabulary • Great Depression • Black Tuesday • Herbert Hoover • bonus march • Eleanor Roosevelt • New Deal • Public Works Administration • National Labor Relations Act • Brain Trust • Fair Labor Standards Act

Lesson Title The Civilian Conservation Corps

Teacher Daniel Gidick

Grade Level 11th grade US History Duration of Lesson 1/4 of 1 block

• laissez-faire • Emergency Banking Relief Act • Fireside chats • Civilian Conservation Corps • Federal Emergency Relief Act (FERA) • John Steinbeck, Grapes of Wrath • Deficit spending

Lesson Materials

Needed (attached at

end of lesson)

Library of Congress images of the CCC

Content Narrative (What is the background information that needs to be taught to understand the context of the lesson? Be sure to include necessary citations)

Relief, recovery, and reform were the goals of the New Deal legislation that

was passed from 1933 through 1935. Because of the immediacy of need, relief

and recovery were the priorities for the first 100 days of the new Congress

from March 9 to June 16, 1933. His aim was to seek practical solutions to real-

world problems, and he did it on a broad. Along with programs of the New

Deal, Congress approved legislation that gave the president powers

unprecedented in American history.

The creation of multitudes of programs was a new phenomenon in America.

To communicate with the American people and reassure them about the

blizzard of changes, Roosevelt regularly addressed the nation via radio in his

informal fireside chats. In these distressed times people took great comfort

from hearing the genial FDR tell them that things were on the way to being

better and the action that was being taken. That something was being done,

generated a new optimism.

Arguably the most famous and most popular of the New Deal programs was

the Civilian Conservation Corps. Roosevelt proposed legislation “for the

purpose of unemployment through the performance of useful public work and

other purposes” which ultimately created the Civilian Conservation Corps.

More than three million men would serve in the CCC learning skills and the

value of work while contributing the betterment of their nation. Requirements

for the CCC were basic as males between 18-25 from destitute families and

who were of decent health were accepted. Pay was limited to $30 a month with

$25 being sent back home to families in need. CCC recruits were allowed to

keep $5 for themselves but were provided with clothes, housing, three meals,

and toiletries. CCC programs were not limited to just forestry work but

included vocational and classroom training as many came into the Corps with

little education. More than 4,500 camp were opened during the nine years the

CCC operated. African Americans were also allowed to enroll in the CCC and

compromised ten percent of CCC’ers but served in segregated camps in many

(but not all) camps.

Below is a list of CCC projects:

3 billion trees planted

45 million tree and shrubs relocated

Built 45,854 bridges

Built 205 lodges and museums

Restored 360 Civil War battlefields

Built Camp David

Improved/built 1000 national, state, county, and city parks,

Built 138,000 miles of trails and roads

Built 4,622 fish rearing ponds

Fought forest fires for 6 million man days

Built 3,470 forest lookout towers

Installed 27,191 miles of fencing

Laid 5,000 miles of water lines

Built 32,149 wildlife shelters

Built 7,622 dams

Built 8,065 wells and pump houses

Laid 89,000 miles of telephone lines

The United States entry into the Second World War would mean the end of the CCC as young men were required to serve their country again, but with rifles, tanks, and planes, and not shovels and trucks.

Economists debate whether Roosevelt's programs or the natural progress of the

economic cycle played a greater role in getting the country on the road to

recovery. But the lasting legacy of the New Deal was to reinstate a Progressive

stamp on national politics and to temper traditional American laissez-faire with

enough regulation to moderate the boom-and-bust cycles characteristic of

capitalism.

Work Cited: Flynn, Kathryn A., and Richard Polese. The New Deal: A 75th Anniversary

Celebration. Layton, UT: Gibbs Smith, 2008.

Lesson Set

Content Objective(s) Students will analyze President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal as a response to the economic crisis of the Great Depression, including the effectiveness of New Deal programs in relieving suffering and achieving economic recovery, in protecting the rights of women and minorities, and in making significant reforms to protect the economy such as Social Security and labor laws.

Literacy Objective(s)

Use local texts, photographs, and documents to observe and interpret social

studies trends and relationships

Interpret calendars, time lines, maps, charts, tables, graphs, flow charts,

diagrams, photographs, paintings, cartoons, architectural drawings, documents,

letters, censuses, and other artifacts

Locate, gather, and process information from a variety of primary and

secondary sources including maps

Use a variety of media to develop and organize integrated summaries of social studies information

Lesson Importance This lesson focuses on the active role taken by the Federal government during the New Deal, attempts to have students apply these lessons to the present by asking them if a CCC organization would be appropriate for the present. This brings in issues about government spending, job creation, conservation, and work ethic.

Connections to prior

and future learning

Students will have read the section in the textbook the night before dealing with this specific content. This lesson will build upon their familiarity they have with events leading to the New Deal.

Anticipatory Set/

Hook (Engage)

Provide the students with copies of the 9 CCC images from the Library of Congress without any caption or background information. They are to generate ideas about what is going on in the pictures. Then tell them that these images are all a part of government designed work program. Ask them to think about how this might relate to the New Deal and the Great Depression and what was needed at this time.

Skill Development

Initial “explain” portion of the lesson. Introduce vocabulary, explain/demonstrate/model the skill

required for the literacy objective, introduce content components.

The content portion is only a brief introduction; the bulk of the student learning will take place

during the guided practice activity.

Introduce content

components

Provide the background lecture and context for the New Deal & CCC and host a class discussion with Q & A and lecture

What is an example of good investment for the nation?

When is a good time to make such investments?

What is the role of government during economically hard times?

How do prevent people for relying on the government for help?

Was there another historical instance of government work programs?

Which factors about the New Deal would you change?

What were strengths of the New Deal and weaknesses?

If you could redo this, what would you do?

“I do”

Skill from objective

introduce/explain/model

Class discussion/background lecture about the New Deal & CCC.

A handy video series from YouTube about the CCC to aid in class discussion

http://www.youtube.com/channel/HCUN1zki6JCJ4

Guided Practice

This is the inquiry portion of the lesson, student-centered & often cooperative learning strategies

used, teacher acting as facilitator, also known as Explore.

“We do”

Activity Description

Include student “explore” components and opportunities for them to explain their learning.

Create a timeline of New Deal legislation and select the five most important events and explain each ones importance.

Map of CCC projects: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/map-widget/ccc-map/

Which regions benefited most from CCC projects? Why might this be so?

Checking for

Understanding-

“Informal”

Assessment

Any misinterpretations will be corrected to insure correct content.

How did the CCC attempt to “stimulate and reorganize the use of our natural resources?”

Closure

Teacher will re-visit content and answer students’ questions developed during the Guided Practice

component. Summarize the lesson, clarify content, and revisit content and literacy objectives.

Content Solidified

Research and discuss the current economic status of the United States, including unemployment numbers and the potential need for conservation efforts. Have students decide if a modern version of the CCC would be appropriate today and begin outlining arguments that support their positions. They will then present their argument to the class and discuss their class findings.

Independent Practice

“You Do”

For homework students will research and discuss the current economic status of the United States, including unemployment numbers and the potential need for conservation efforts. Have students decide if a modern version of the CCC would be appropriate today and begin outlining arguments that support their positions. They will then present their argument to the class and discuss their class findings.

What would the goal of this modern CCC be?

Who could join? For how long?

What type of projects would they have to do?

In our area what types of projects could be done?

How would you fund this program?

What problems do you predict in creating this modern program?

Summative/ “Formal” Assessment

Assessment

Student response paper/ presentation about their modern day CCC.

Differentiation

During Lesson Students will have access to notes. Teacher will stress and underline on the Smart Board important content. Heavy use of images to concentrate material. Groups will be selected by teacher to insure that weak students work with stronger students.

Assessment Teacher will provide copy of power point notes to students who require them. Study guided reading material is provided for struggling students. Extended time as required.

Reflection

Lesson Reflection (What went well in the

lesson? What might you do differently the next

time you teach it? Evaluate the success of

the lesson)

After using this lesson for two Honors US History classes, I was generally pleased with the class discussion but felt that the lesson lacked when it came to their modern day application of CCC project. Also time limited the outside research that could be done by the students. Some raised valuable points about low payment and deficient spending while others championed the need for service by citizens and a desire for conservation. Due to the nature of the state End of Course test and the time limits placed on this course, little instructional time can be devoted to writing skills/research. Since students are assessed on multiple choice tests, this is the arena that they are most comfortable in demonstrating their understanding of the content.

Materials Needed for Lesson

Lesson

Materials

and

Handout

s

Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division

CCC workers transplanting a beaver family from a ranch location where they were damaging

crops to a forest watershed location where they will help to conserve the water supply.

Salmon National Forest, Idaho.

CCC worker building a keystone bridge, Staatsburg, NY.

CCC workers in a machine shop.

CCC workers in the field

Assistant Procurement Officer administering the oath to those who have successfully passed

their examination, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

.

CCC recruits on the Train to Philadelphia

Cooks and bakers class, Lompoc, California.

Lunchtime at CCC Camp, TVA #22, located on the hill above Fall Creek, south of the

Clinch River, near Esco, Tennessee. Taken 11-17-33.

Sgt. Burke, of the U.S. Army, talking to a group of boys just arrived from New York as

replacements for CCC Camp, TVA #22, near Esco, Tennessee, telling them the rules of the

camp before they go to their lunch. Behind the boys are some of the tents in which they are

living, pending the completion of the barracks which will be their winter quarters. The iron

cones behind the two boys at the left of the picture are heating stoves for the tents. Taken 11-

17-33.