Daily Activities – FDR Dies
The daily activities created for each of the Today in Georgia History segments are designed to meet the Georgia Performance Standards for Reading Across the Curriculum, and Grade Eight: Georgia Studies. For each date, educators can choose from three optional activities differentiated for various levels of student ability. Each activity focuses on engaging the student in context specific vocabulary and improving the student’s ability to communicate about historical topics.
One suggestion is to use the Today in Georgia History video segments and daily activities as a “bell ringer” at the beginning of each class period. Using the same activity daily provides consistency and structure for the students and may help teachers utilize the first 15-20 minutes of class more effectively.
Optional Activities:
Level 1: Provide the students with the vocabulary list and have them use their textbook, a dictionary, or other teacher provided materials to define each term. After watching the video have the students write a complete sentence for each of the vocabulary terms. Student created sentences should reflect the meaning of the word based on the context of the video segment. Have students share a sampling of sentences as a way to check for understanding.
Level 2: Provide the students with the vocabulary list for that day’s segment before watching the video and have them guess the meaning of each word based on their previous knowledge. The teacher may choose to let the students work alone or in groups. After watching the video, have the students revise their definitions to better reflect the meaning of the words based on the context of the video. As a final step, have the students compare and contrast their definitions to their textbook, dictionary or other teacher provided materials definitions.
Level 3: Provide the students with the vocabulary list and have them use their textbook, a dictionary, or other teacher provided materials to define each term. After watching the video, have the students write a five sentence paragraph based on the provided writing prompts.
Vocabulary/Writing Prompts:
Vocabulary Terms
Regained
Consciousness
Cerebral
Hemorrhage
Great Depression
Memorial
Writing Prompts
1. In a five-sentence paragraph, use evidence from the segment to explain why Americans
were so impacted by his death.
2. Why did FDR have such strong ties to Georgia? In a five-sentence paragraph discuss the
important role Georgia played in FDR’s life and death.
3. Use your knowledge of American History to write a five-sentence paragraph detailing
another example of one person’s death causing the entire nation to mourn.
Related Georgia Performance Standards:
Reading Across the Curriculum (Grades 6-12)
SSRC1 Students will enhance reading in all curriculum areas by:
c. Building vocabulary knowledge
• Demonstrate an understanding of contextual vocabulary in various subjects.
• Use content vocabulary in writing and speaking.
• Explore understanding of new words found in subject area texts.
d. Establishing context
• Explore life experiences related to subject area content.
• Discuss in both writing and speaking how certain words are subject area
related.
• Determine strategies for finding content and contextual meaning for unknown
words.
Common Core, College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Writing
Text Types and Purposes
1. Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using
valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
www.todayingeorgiahistory.org
2. Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas and
information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and
analysis of content.
3. Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective
technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.
National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies
Theme 2: Time Continuity and Change; Theme 6: Power Authority and Governance
Grade 8 Georgia Studies
SS8H9 The student will describe the impact of World War II on Georgia’s development
economically, socially, and politically.
a. Describe the impact of events leading up to American involvement in World War II;
include Lend-Lease and the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
b. Evaluate the importance of Bell Aircraft, military bases, the Savannah and Brunswick
shipyards, Richard Russell, and Carl Vinson.
c. Explain the impact of the Holocaust on Georgians.
d. Discuss President Roosevelt’s ties to Georgia including his visits to Warm Springs and
his impact on the state.
United States History, 9-12
SSUSH18 The student will describe Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal as a response to the
depression and compare the ways governmental programs aided those in need.
a. Describe the creation of the Tennessee Valley Authority as a works program and as an
effort to control the environment.
b. Explain the Wagner Act and the rise of industrial unionism.
c. Explain the passage of the Social Security Act as a part of the second New Deal.
d. Identify Eleanor Roosevelt as a symbol of social progress and women’s activism.
e. Identify the political challenges to Roosevelt’s domestic and international leadership;
include the role of Huey Long, the “court packing bill,” and the Neutrality Act.
SSUSH19 The student will identify the origins, major developments, and the domestic impact
of World War II, especially the growth of the federal government.
a. Explain A. Philip Randolph’s proposed march on Washington, D.C., and President
Franklin D. Roosevelt’s response.
b. Explain the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the internment of Japanese-
Americans, German-Americans, and Italian-Americans.
c. Explain major events; include the lend-lease program, the Battle of Midway, D-Day,
and the fall of Berlin.
d. Describe war mobilization, as indicated by rationing, war-time conversion, and the
role of women in war industries.
e. Describe the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos and the scientific, economic, and
military implications of developing the atomic bomb.
f. Compare the geographic locations of the European Theater and the Pacific Theater
and the difficulties the U.S. faced in delivering weapons, food, and medical supplies to
troops.
Grade Five United States History Since
SS5H5 The student will explain how the Great Depression and New Deal affected the lives of
millions of Americans.
a. Discuss the Stock Market Crash of 1929, Herbert Hoover, Franklin Roosevelt, the Dust
Bowl, and soup kitchens.
b. Analyze the main features of the New Deal; include the significance of the Civilian
Conservation Corps, the Works Progress Administration, and the Tennessee Valley
Authority.
c. Discuss important cultural elements of the 1930s; include Duke Ellington, Margaret
Mitchell, and Jesse Owens.
SS5H6 The student will explain the reasons for America’s involvement in World War II.
a. Describe Germany’s aggression in Europe and Japan’s aggression in Asia.
b. Describe major events in the war in both Europe and the Pacific; include Pearl Harbor,
Iwo Jima, D-Day, VE and VJ Days, and the Holocaust.
c. Discuss President Truman’s decision to drop the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and
Nagasaki.
d. Identify Roosevelt, Stalin, Churchill, Hirohito, Truman, Mussolini, and Hitler.
e. Describe the effects of rationing and the changing role of women and African-
Americans; include “Rosie the Riveter” and the Tuskegee Airmen.
f. Explain the U.S. role in the formation of the United Nations.