The Grandparent/Elder Project

Unit III: Lesson Two

What can be learned from a document?

1. This lesson uses the same document, "Women and the Changing Times," a transcript of an oral interview, that was used in the Interview unit. If you have completed Unit II with your students, direct them to locate the document and their notes from the earlier lesson, both of which should have been placed in the project folder. For those who do not wish to use Unit II: Interviewing a Grandparent/Elder, an alternative page, Studying a Life History, is provided.
2. Direct the students to read the instructions Studying Documents (or the alternative Studying a Life History page.)
3. In this lesson, students learn about the Great Depression from a primary source document. It is best if students record the details that they learn from the interview. The Document Observation Sheet may be used for note taking.
4. The printed document may also be used to teach annotation.
5. A class discussion on what this document reveals about family life in the Great Depression is very valuable.