1930s American popular culture
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can explain how popular culture developed in the 1930s.
Key learning points
- The New Deal extended specific support to help jobless artists.
- Jazz remained popular although many individual artists suffered.
- Radio ownership doubled in the 1930s.
- A wide range of literature, ranging from novels to comics, flourished.
- Cinemas remained a very popular form of entertainment.
Keywords
Congress - the group of elected politicians responsible for passing laws in the USA are known as Congress
Escapism - escapism refers to types of entertainment or imagination that help you to forget about your work and your problems
Common misconception
During the Great Depression, Americans had significantly less access to entertainment.
Americans continued to access entertainments on a large scale. Radio ownership doubled, cinema attendance recovered as a form of escapism and new forms of popular literature like comics flourished.
Teacher tip
Show students a short clip from either the Wizard of Oz (1939), Snow White (1938) or 42nd Street (1933). Ask students why, despite falling incomes, millions of Americans continued to visit cinemas to watch films like these.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Write the missing word. Something may be declared if it is not allowed under the laws of a political system.
Q2.How many Americans were unemployed by 1933?
Q3.What type of opponent to the New Deal was Alf Landan?
Q4.Who proposed the 'Share Our Wealth' plan?
Q5.Write the missing word. In 1937, President Roosevelt introduced an unpopular plan to the Supreme Court but this faced widespread opposition and was abandoned.
Q6.Starting with the earliest, sort the following events and periods into chronological order.
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Write the missing word. refers to types of entertainment or imagination that help you to forget about your work and your problems.
Q2.How did radio ownership in the USA change between 1930 and 1940?
Q3.What was Duke Ellington famous for?
Q4.How many artists were employed by Federal Project Number One?
Q5.Which example best demonstrates that Federal Project Number One was able to benefit ordinary Americans well as artists?
Q6.Starting with the earliest, sort the following stages of film history into chornological order.
To help you plan your 11 history lesson on: 1930s American popular culture, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 11 history lesson on: 1930s American popular culture, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 4 history lessons from the America 1920–1973, Opportunity and inequality unit, dive into the full secondary history curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.