dust bowl unit rationale for unit - ira and lula · dust bowl unit rationale for unit: ... poem and...

Joshua NeyTSL 5143

June 11, 2003

Dust Bowl Unit

Rationale for Unit: The way geography is taught is often disconnected from peoples’ lives.

We can talk about the tallest mountain or the capital of Zimbabwe but will any of this mean

something to our students? While exploring geography, teachers should explore geographic

“issues” in a way that will engage their students. In this way, I have attempted to gather

materials that interest students and help them explore some of the geographic issues and

dispositions that helped to cause the Dust Bowl. They will be using geographic tools but in a

way that involves more than just labeling a map. They will be exploring the cultural geography

as well as the physical geography of the region. I have modified this unit for English Language

Learners by using visuals throughout the unit. I have used some text in the unit but most of the

text’s language is rudimentary with many visuals in the book. When the text is more difficult I

have paired students up, stronger readers with weaker readers which will not only benefit ELL

students but any student who is not particularly strong in reading. This is a sub-unit within a

larger unit about America. Some of the questions explored within this unit will be seen

throughout the larger unit, including: What is America? What does it mean to be American? Is

there one unifying culture and set of values in America? Much of the focus on the larger portion

of the unit will be about the idea of America as a “nation of immigrants,” both positive and

negative reactions to this ideal.

Unit Objective: Students will understand the geography and environmental factors that led to

the Dust Bowl. They will be able to identify the regions affected by the Dust Bowl. They will

understand the human geographic issues surrounding the Dust Bowl.

The Dust Bowl: An Exploration of Geographic Issues Day One – Introductory Lesson

Grade Level: 7th

Subject: World Geography (United States Geography)

Duration: 50 minutes

Content and Language Objectives: Students will be able to synthesize some of the causes for

the Dust Bowl.

Important Terms:

Dust Bowl

Clover

Teaching Methods: During the whole-group session, the teaching method used will be teacher-

led with guided student discussion. By first presenting information to the class, the teacher can

make sure to provide the necessary background knowledge needed for the activity. By guiding

students’ discussion, the teacher can help students practice discussion skills while making sure

that they are covering pertinent information. After the discussion of the fast-writes and the poem

and photo, students will be assigned a scrapbook topic that they will research and present to the

class at the end of the unit. They will be given time during each day to work on this project.

Activities:

Photographs from the Dust Bowl will be on display throughout the room. These will be used to

pique students’ interest. Before class, an informal dialogue with students will be encouraged

about these photographs. Visuals are very important to ELL students and this will assist them in

understanding some of the problems and issues of this unit.

Opening – 5 - 10 minutes

The first thing I will have students complete is a “Fast-Write.” I will use this in order to gauge

students’ knowledge and understanding of the causes of the Dust Bowl. I will explain how to do

a fast write and that the students should not stop writing throughout the process even if they have

no ideas. Students will understand that the language is not as important as getting the ideas out.

This is important in for the ELL students in the classroom. I want them to get comfortable with

writing and ideas. An informal exercise such as this should assist those ELL students who are

developing their writing skills.

After the fast-write I will ask for volunteers to share their fast-writes with the rest of the class.

While students are sharing their fast-writes I will write key phrases and words that they may

mention on an overhead. Writing on an overhead will assist the ELL student in understanding

the key terms and phrases for this unit. Then I will lead a discussion on what the students have

mentioned and attempt to activate prior knowledge a little more.

Following this activity, I will collect their work, which will be a portion of their grade for this

unit. This will satisfy the portion of the unit grade that will be entitled participation. Students

who are absent will be given the opportunity to make up this work by writing a short paragraph

about what they know about the Dust Bowl.

Poem and Photograph Discussion - 15 –20 minutes

Then I will put up a transparency of a girl eating with a saucer covering her milk. I will then

handout a copy of “Rules for Dining” by Karen Hesse. I will introduce the passage and then

read the poem aloud. Before discussing some of the meaning in the poem I will ask them if they

understand what is happening in the photo. Why does she have a saucer over her milk? What

about the cardboard covering the window? What does “aren't we in clover “ mean? What is

clover? Why do you think people would live in an area that would have problems such as this?

If students have brought up causes for the Dust Bowl in our previous discussion, we will

elaborate a bit on them.

Explanation of Dust Bowl – 5-10 minutes

I will be using guided notes to explain some of the causes of the Dust Bowl and the region

affected (using maps). This is going to be a brief overview of some of the material that will be

covered throughout the entire unit. The notes that I will be using will be on the overhead

projector, which will help the ELL student. The notes will have missing words and as I go over

the notes they will be asked to fill the missing words in as I write them on the overhead.

Explanation of Scrapbook Project – 10-15 minutes

During this time the scrapbook project for the entire unit will be explained. The scrapbook

project involves the students’ explorations during the unit. They will be able to use photographs,

lyrics, maps, interviews and creative writing to complete their scrapbook. It will be a group

project, and groups will be assigned based on heterogeneous reading ability. Each group

member will be responsible for at least four pages in the scrapbook. They will be given forms

for peer evaluations as well as being graded on content and completeness of the project. I will

also give and explain the rubric for the project. While they are working on the project, I will be

circulating, asking questions, checking for comprehension, and providing feedback to individual

students. This project will account for the major portion of the grade for this unit. A project

such as this should assist the ELL learner because they will be able to demonstrate

comprehension in a way where language is not the main focus.

Assessment:

The assessment for this lesson includes a fast-write in which language is not as important as

getting ideas out. I will be writing comments on the fast-write and returning it to students but all

students will be given credit no matter the content. If an ELL student has no background

knowledge of the Dust Bowl they will not be penalized. I will also be introducing the project for

this unit, which will be the major portion of the grade. Because language fluency will not be

necessary to be successful in this project it will also improve the ELL students chance for

success while also giving them time to work on academic language by working with their peers.

The Dust Bowl: An Exploration of Geographic Issues Day Two – People

Grade Level: 7th



Content Objectives: Students will understand who was most affected by the Dust Bowl.

Language Objectives: Students will opine why they think the poor were most affected by the

Dust Bowl.

Important Terms:

Contemporary

Jalopies

Knell

Teaching Methods and Activities:



about these photographs.

Opening – 15 - 20 minutes

Students will be paired up and be given lyrics to the Woody Guthrie song “Dusty Old Dust.”

Having the actual lyrics will assist the ELL student in understanding the language of the song. I

believe the song will engage students because the music tells a compelling story. They will be

asked to read along as the song is played. After the song is over, they will be given questions

that they can answer together. Pairing the language learner up with the fluent speaker will assist

the ELL student practice their language skills and they will be able to develop their academic

language. The questions will begin with some general comprehension questions (when did the

song take place) and will gradually get to more critical thinking type questions. After, they have

completed this we will discuss some of their answers. I will put up an overhead and together as a

class we will make a graphic organizer called a concept map. I will demonstrate this by using a

think aloud about something that I noticed about the song (the year). I will then ask them what

sort of heading we should give this on the organizer. They will follow along on their blank

organizer. I will then ask about some of the things that they noticed about the song and ask for

headings as we go along. I will put the photograph from the day before on the overhead and the

teacher will explain that the poem that we read yesterday (this is modern historical fiction), the

photograph, and this song were supposed to be contemporary to one another. We will discuss

some of the similarities and differences amongst these three items. Do you think the person

singing the song is rich or poor? How about the person in the photograph? What do you see in

the photograph and the song that would make you think that? What can we infer by looking at

these sources about the people who were affected by the Dust Bowl? The will turn in their

graphic organizer for a participation grade.

Explanation of Scrapbook - 15 –20 minutes

I will show the students an example of a scrapbook that was created by an inhabitant of the Dust

Bowl, Charles Todd during the Dust Bowl (located at http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/afctshtml

/script.html). I will be using a project to display the web page for the students. I will show the

students the biographical information about Charles Todd and then explain that the students will

be creating their scrapbooks as if they were keeping it during the time of the Dust Bowl. As a

group, they will need to decide whose scrapbook they are creating. They will be given a

question sheet that they will need to include as part of their character sketch on the first page of

their scrapbook. It will include questions such as the person’s name, age, where they live (city,

county, state), who is in their family, what type of job they or their parents do, what types of

chores they do, do they go to school or not, and some general insights as to what they do in their

“spare time.” The students may choose to create a completely fictional character or base their

character on an actual person living during the time. If they choose the later, they may want to

include a photograph of that person if available. I will also explain to students that their

character sketch must be in paragraph form but the page may also include other information

(pictures, drawings, etc…). The students will also be made aware that during the evaluation of

the character sketch, I will be looking for plausibility and accuracy of information presented. As

they will be doing the scrapbook project as a group and I will be forming the groups in order to

make sure the groups are heterogeneous in terms of reading ability, this will assist the ELL

student because they will be able to talk about their ideas and use the other students to assist with

any misunderstandings. The ELL student may be able to do the character sketch, I expect that

the character sketch will be done as a group and this will assist the ELL student because they will

not be responsible for writing a complicated paragraph although they will help in coming up with

ideas for their character sketch.

Scrapbook Project – 20-25 minutes

I will have materials for the students to peruse and the students will have the rest of the class to

work on their scrapbooks. I will have books on various aspects of the Dust Bowl, including

picture books, fiction books, and non-fiction books. They will also have use of the Internet

during this time. They will need to decide on who the person that is “writing” the scrapbook will

be. These materials should help them in deciding this. I will be circulating amongst the students

asking questions, checking for comprehension, and providing feedback. In this way I should be

able to give special attention to any of the ELL students in the classroom. They will need to

provide me with information on their person by the end of class, as I will need to approve the

project. I will also have materials that they will need (construction paper and the like) for them

to start the project.

Assessment:

Students will be asked to turn in their graphic organizer for a participation grade as this does not

focus on academic language it should help the ELL be successful and it will help them (as well

as the other students) understand the Dust Bowl. I will also be introducing the project for this

unit that will be the major portion of the grade. Because language fluency will not be necessary

to be successful in this project it will also improve the ELL students chance for success while

also giving them time to work on academic language by working with their peers. There will be

an informal evaluation as I circulate around the classroom while students are working on their

scrapbook project.

The Dust Bowl: An Exploration of Geographic Issues Day Three – Physical Geography

Grade Level: 7th



Content Objectives: Students will understand some of the environmental causes of the Dust

Bowl and how geography and human foibles led to this environmental disaster.

Language Objectives: Students will opine why geographic factors led to the human disaster

that was the Dust Bowl.

Important Terms:

Black Blizzards

Okies

Arkies





Opening – 20-25 minutes

Because the reading I have chosen for them to analyze is difficult (11.7 on the Flesch-Kincaid

reading scale), I will pair the students up according to reading ability and willingness to work

together. They will have used this type of paired reading before, but I will demonstrate the

strategy again to help them recall. I will ask a proficient reader to volunteer to help me

demonstrate using the first paragraph of the text. The student will be the questioner for the first

sentence but we will be switching roles between each sentence. I will explain to students that it

will be necessary to speak quietly (six inch voices) and read silently while everyone is working.

To gauge understanding I will ask them to write down a question for each paragraph and with

their partner’s assistance come up with a probable answer to this question. This will be turned in

for a grade. I will read over them and if I feel that the students need to think further, I will ask

questions that they will need to respond too. I will be circulating amongst the students asking

questions, checking for comprehension, and providing feedback. While this activity may be

difficult for the ELL student they will be paired with a stronger reader and I will be circulating

and helping these students as much as I can. I am hoping that pairing the student up with a

stronger reader will help them develop the academic language necessary to succeed.

Scrapbook Project – 20-25 minutes

Students will have time to complete any pages that they started during the last class period or any

supplemental pages that they will need to include. I will be circulating amongst the students,

asking questions, checking for comprehension, and providing feedback.

Assessment:

Students will be paired with each other. Pairing ELL students up with stronger reader will assist

them being successful during this exercise. While they are paired up they will be asked to

answer comprehension questions about the text that they have been assigned. There will also be

informal assessment during scrapbook time; the teacher can spend this time with one on one with

ELL students who may need more assistance.

The Dust Bowl: An Exploration of Geographic Issues Day Four – Life in the Dust Bowl

Grade Level: 7th



Content Objectives: Understanding the human geographic issues encountered during the Dust

Bowl. How the Dust Bowl not only affected those people living in the effected states but in

states that these people migrated to.

Language Objectives: Students will be able to opine how the migration of people out of the

Dust Bowl affected the regions that they migrated too. They will be able to synthesize why

people would have wanted to move.





Opening – 20-25 minutes

Students will be asked to get into their scrapbook groups. Rather than working on their

scrapbooks, students will be partaking in student-led book discussions using children’s literature.

The reading level in these books are low and there are many visuals which will assist the ELL

students understanding of the material. I will assign the roles that the students are to take during

the book discussion, group leader and spokesperson. If the ELL student feels comfortable in

doing it they can take one of these roles or they can just discuss the book in their group. For

homework the students will be asked write a letter as if they are a character in the book that they

read to a relative who does not live in the Dust Bowl describing aspects of their daily life. This

will give the ELL student an opportunity to practice writing in a non-timed situation. They will

need to practice writing if they are to be successful on tests such as the FCAT but in doing an

assignment such as this they will be given an opportunity to do something creative and

(hopefully) non-stressful.

Explanation of Scrapbook Project – 20-25 minutes

Students will be given access to diary entries and other personal ephemera of people living in the

Dust Bowl and will be encouraged to complete their page(s) on life in the Dust Bowl. The

homework will also need to be included in their scrapbook I will be circulating amongst the

students, asking questions, checking for comprehension, and providing feedback. This time will

also be used to give any ELL students one on one time with the teacher who will be checking on

their progress.

Assessment:

For homework the students will be asked write a letter as if they are a character in the book that

they read to a relative who does not live in the Dust Bowl describing aspects of their daily life.

This will give the ELL student an opportunity to practice writing in a non-timed situation. They

will need to practice writing if they are to be successful on tests such as the FCAT but in doing

an assignment such as this they will be given an opportunity to do something creative and

(hopefully) non-stressful. There will also be continued work on their scrapbook project that is

the major component of this unit.

The Dust Bowl: An Exploration of Geographic Issues Day Five – Migration Patterns

Grade Level: 7th



Content Objectives: Understanding the human geographic issues encountered during the Dust

Bowl. How the Dust Bowl not only affected those people living in the effected states but in

states that these people migrated to. (Yes this is the same as the previous lesson)

Language Objectives: Students will be able to opine how the migration of people out of the

Dust Bowl affected the regions that they migrated too. They will be able to synthesize why

people would have wanted to move. (Yes this is the same as the previous lesson)

Important Terms:

Okies

Arkies





Opening – 10 minutes

I will ask students for a show of hands of those who have ever moved, and then ask for reasons

they moved. I will then ask if there are any other reasons why people may move. If the ELL

student happens to be from another country or area they may be able to share some of their

experiences with the class, in this way students will come to understand and value differing

experiences. The students will also know that people have migrated in the United States for

some of the same reasons as the ELL students family did (if that is the case). I will write the

reasons on the overhead. I will then ask students to think about the people living in the Dust

Bowl. If they lived during that time, would they have wanted to move? Why or why not? Ask

students to think about some of the things you need to move (money, a place to go,

transportation, etc.). Ask students if they think that the people living in the Dust Bowl would

have had these things.

I will then explain to students that for the rest of the period, they are going to be “Okies” who

decided to migrate from the Dust Bowl to California. I will ask students where they think this

term may come from and then explain it to the rest of the class.

Main Activity – 40 minutes

I will explain to students that they are going to be making a traveler’s guidebook for their trip to

add to their scrapbook. Things they will need to include will be (these can be written on the

overhead for reference):

1. Their reasons for leaving the Dust Bowl

2. A list of supplies that they will need on their journey, such as food, transportation, clothing,

etc.

3. How long the journey would have taken in the 1930s.

4. Where they would have gone, why, and the route they would have taken (maps can be

provided)

5. Activities they would engage in during this migration, such as cooking food on a campfire,

sleeping on the ground or in the car, etc.

6. Photographs from their journey (an assortment of photographs can be provided by the

teacher)

7. Students may also include drawings or other things in their guidebook they think would be

relevant to the trip.

I will provide students with handouts, photographs, access to interviews, and access to websites

about the migration west. Materials can be set up in centers to allow all students access to all

materials. Allow them the next 40 minutes to gather their research and work on their

guidebooks. Students who do not finish during this time can finish at home or there will also be

time at the end of the unit to complete any work that was not finished. I will circulate during this

time assisting students and asking questions. I will be using this time to assist the ELL student in

comprehension but they will also be able to talk with peers about the project.

Closing – 10 minutes

After students have gathered back together, I will ask them about some of the things they found.

Was it easy to move? Do they think it was better than staying in the Dust Bowl? I will explain

to students that not all people left and ask why they think people may have wanted to stay. Then

I will compare to their own lives – would they want to leave their homes for a new place?

Would they want to leave their family and friends? I will ask students to think about if they

would have wanted to stay or leave the Dust Bowl and take a class vote. Allow students to share

their reasons why they wanted to stay or leave. I believe that this activity will help the ELL

student in synthesizing some of the material that we have been talking about in class.

Assessment:

While there is no formal assessment in this class, there will be informal assessment as I will be

circulating amongst the class and checking for comprehension. The will also be working on their

unit scrapbook project and because language fluency will not be necessary to be successful in

this project it will also improve the ELL students chance for success while also giving them time

to work on academic language by working with their peers.

The Dust Bowl: An Exploration of Geographic Issues Day Six – Completion of Scrapbook

Grade Level: 7th



Content and Language Objectives: Students will be given time to discuss their scrapbook

with their group members and will be able to synthesize the content that they have been

exploring.





Scrapbook – 50 minutes

During this lesson, students will be given the opportunity to put together their scrapbooks. Any

pages that aren’t completed should be completed. I will be circulating amongst the students,

asking questions, checking for comprehension, and providing feedback on their project. ELL

students will have time to ask me more questions, ask questions of their peers and this will help

in their understanding of the unit.

Assessment:

There is no formal assessment going on in this particular lesson but I will be informally assessing

students understanding of the material. They will be completing their scrapbook project, which

is the main portion of their grade for this unit.

The Dust Bowl: An Exploration of Geographic Issues Day Seven – Scrapbook Sharing

Grade Level: 7th



Content and Language Objectives: Students will be given time to discuss their scrapbook

with the class and will be able to synthesize the content that they have been exploring.





Scrapbook – 40-50 Minutes

Students will be sharing their scrapbook with the rest of the class. Each group will be asked to

present their pages to the rest of the class. Each individual should discuss the pages that they

completed during the project. Students will be encouraged to ask questions of those presenting,

especially if they have found things that may be complementary or contradictory to the

information being presented.

Closing – 5-10

Students will be asked to complete an “exit” card. They are to write down something that they

have learned in the unit that they did not know before. If time permits, we will discuss these

items and discuss some of the strategies that were used during the unit. Were these helpful?

What was particularly helpful, what sort of things did they enjoy?

Assessment:

The assessment for this lesson includes a fast-write in which language is not as important as

getting ideas out. I will be writing comments on the fast-write and returning it to students but all

students will be given credit no matter the content. If an ELL student has no background

knowledge of the Dust Bowl they will not be penalized. I will also be introducing the project for

this unit that will be the major portion of the grade. Because language fluency will not be

necessary to be successful in this project it will also improve the ELL students chance for

success while also giving them time to work on academic language by working with their peers.

Scrapbook Rubric:

______5 Points for Creativity and Aesthetics.

______10 Points for Neatness, Grammar and Spelling (no penalty for misspellings or grammar

usage in dialect)

______10 Points Group Cooperation and Conduct (Based on Peer Review)

______10 Points Promptness

______10 Points for Scrapbook Character Proposal

______10 Points for Page(s) on Life in the Dust Bowl

______10 Points for Page(s) on Geography of Dust Bowl

______10 Points for Page(s) on Migration

______10 Points for Supplemental or “Free” Pages (At least one per group member)

______15 Points for Completeness and Accuracy.

______Total (Possible 100)

Unit Plan Bibliography

Booth, D. & Reczuch, K. (1996). The Dust Bowl. New York: Kids Can Press Ltd.

This is a fiction children’s picture book in which a young boy talks with his grandfatherabout the droughts that are occurring presently. The grandfather then talks about what it waslike when the boy’s father was growing up. It outlines ways that people dealt with theproblems encountered during the Dust Bowl; it has beautiful paintings along with well-written prose.

I am using this piece of text in a group book discussion. The book’s reading level is verylow and it is a quick read. I believe that students will enjoy the text because of the greatimages that go along with the text as well as the story itself. I have yet to try a student-ledbook discussion and am wondering how successful I will be but I believe that most learningshould be student-centered and this is a great way to shift the foci of learning from theteacher as deliverer of information to students as active participants in the learning process.

Ganzel, Bill. (1984). Dust Bowl Descent. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press.

This is a book that contains gorgeous photographs from the Dust Bowl. What I reallylike about this book is that there are pictures of a person/place from the Dust Bowl and thenthere will be a photo of the place/person in the late seventies.

I will be using this book for photographs (fair use, right?) to put on the walls and todisplay at various times throughout the unit. Although I haven’t done it, in this lesson I wasthinking that you could have the students create their own captions for the photographs. Ibelieve that visuals are very important in the learning process and having nice photographscan pique students’ interest in a subject and will get them to read more about a subject. Theycan see some of the problems encountered by people and this will (hopefully) lead to askingquestions about the people and the time period. If this were a history classroom, we couldalso examine the authenticity of the photographs because some of them were actually staged.Why were they staged? What were the purposes of the photographer? Do you think it wouldbe wrong to stage a photograph?

Guthrie, Woody. (1940). The Great Dust Storm. On Dust Bowl Ballads [CD]. New York:Ludlow Music, Inc. Lyrics retrieved on 4/20/2003 athttp://www.geocities.com/Nashville/3448/disaster.html

This is one in a series of songs by Woody Guthrie, who suffered through the Dust Bowl,about the Dust Bowl. This particular song is about one of the worst days during the DustBow,l “Black Sunday.”

I think in the discussion of literature use in the classroom that the work of musicians isoften ignored. Although modern students may find the jargon and the music of WoodyGuthrie archaic, I believe that it will also be a great way to get students interested in theplight of those who lived through the Dust Bowl. In my experience, students are interested inmusic and they are willing to listen to different types of music, especially if the songs areshort which most Woody Guthrie songs are. I plan to use other Woody Guthrie songsthroughout the unit on America, especially his “This Land is Your Land” which I imaginemost students will have heard of before but they probably haven’t heard all of the lyrics. I

can recall singing the song in YMCA camp and the latter stanzas weren’t sung. I plan to usemusic at the start of lessons as a hook into the lesson.

Hesse, Karen. (1997). Out of the Dust. New York: Scholastic Books.

This poem is part of a historical fiction work by Karen Hesse. This book is written fromthe perspective of 14 year-old Billie Jo. Hesse uses free verse to communicate some of theissues and problems that the narrator encounters during the Great Depression.

I have used this piece of work in the classroom and I know that students like theparticular poem that I have chose, “Rules of Dining,” because it is a little bit gross.Whenever I got to the last line about “chewing milk” students would say, “eww,” but theywould be interested in why the narrator would have to choose milk. I use it as a read-aloudalong with a photograph from the Dust Bowl. I think in this way this is a great poem to useas a “hook” for the beginning of the unit and that is how I have chosen to use it.

O'Malley, Michael. (1999, December). The Dust Bowl. Between the Wars. Retrieved fromhttp://chnm.gmu.edu/courses/hist409/dust/dust.html

This is historical and geographic background on the causes for the Dust Bowl. This pieceof text talks about agribusiness and how the Dust Bowl wasn’t just an environmental disasterbut an economic disaster as well and this was happening during the Great Depression, whichhad it’s own economic consequences on these people.

This is a difficult piece of text and I have chosen to use it in paired reading groupsbecause I think it will assist them in understanding the material in the text. I do not knowhow successful students will be in using this text but during my internship I found that theuse of difficult text can be useful. This text will be used to give students a deeperunderstanding for the context and causes of the Dust Bowl. I have chosen to do it this waybecause rather than giving notes and spoon-feeding students the information, I would likethem to make discoveries on their own. I will be assisting them with this piece of text bycirculating and answering any questions the students may have about the text.

Raven, Margot Theis. (1997). Angels in the Dust. New York: BridgeWater (sic) Books.

This is another fiction children’s picture book. This book is from the perspective of ayoung girl living through the Dust Bowl. It is based on the true story of a woman namedAnnie Cronkhite Bender whose life the author used for many of the events in the story. Ireally like the nice visuals and the text in this book.

I am using this piece of text in a group book discussion also. The book’s reading level isvery low and it is a quick read. I think that picture books are ideal for student-led bookdiscussions because they are a quick read (can be read within 10-15 minutes) and the books’visuals will really grab students’ attention. I am using the book discussion in the middle ofthe unit because I believe that students will have some background on the causes of the DustBowl and I would like for them to get a larger sense of the human geographic consequencesof the Dust Bowl and I believe that these picture books will help them do that. They shouldalso have enough background that they will be able to complete the homework which is totake write a short article as if they were a character in their book to a person who does notlive in the Dust Bowl describing what it is like to live there.

Selected Text from Unit

Rules of Dining

Ma has rules for setting the table.I place plates upside down, glasses bottom side up,napkins folded over forks, knives, and spoons.

When dinner is ready,we sit down togetherand Ma says,“Now.”

We shake out our napkins,spread them on our laps,and flip over our glasses and plates,exposing neat circles,round commentson what life would be without dust.

Daddy says,"The potatoes are peppered plenty tonight, Polly,"and"Chocolate milk for dinner, aren't we in clover!"when really all our pepper and chocolate,it's nothing but dust.

I heard word from Livie Killian.The Killians can't find work,can't get food.Livie's brother, Reuben, fifteen last summer,took off, thinking to make it on his own.I hope he's okay.

With a baby growing inside Ma,it scares me thinking, Where would we be without somewhere to live?Without some work to do?Without something to eat?At least we've got milk.Even if we have to chew it.From Out of the Dust (A Novel) by Karen HesseFebruary 1934

The Great Dust Storm (Dust Storm Disaster)lyrics as recorded by Woody Guthrie

On the 14th day of April of 1935,There struck the worst of dust storms that ever filled the sky.You could see that dust storm comin', the cloud looked deathlike black,And through our mighty nation, it left a dreadful track.

From Oklahoma City to the Arizona line,Dakota and Nebraska to the lazy Rio Grande,It fell across our city like a curtain of black rolled down,We thought it was our judgement, we thought it was our doom.

The radio reported, we listened with alarm,The wild and windy actions of this great mysterious storm;From Albuquerque and Clovis, and all New Mexico,They said it was the blackest that ever they had saw.

From old Dodge City, Kansas, the dust had rung their knell,And a few more comrades sleeping on top of old Boot Hill.From Denver, Colorado, they said it blew so strong,They thought that they could hold out, but they didn't know how long.

Our relatives were huddled into their oil boom shacks,And the children they was cryin' as it whistled through the cracks.And the family it was crowded into their little room,They thought the world had ended, and they thought it was their doom.

The storm took place at sundown, it lasted through the night,When we looked out next morning, we saw a terrible sight.We saw outside our window where wheat fields they had grownWas now a rippling ocean of dust the wind had blown.

It covered up our fences, it covered up our barns,It covered up our tractors in this wild and dusty storm.We loaded our jalopies and piled our families in,We rattled down that highway to never come back again.

The Dust Bowl

Retrieved from: http://chnm.gmu.edu/courses/hist409/dust/dust.html

Americans tend to confuse the "Dust Bowl," a region plagued by dust storms inthe 1930s, with the mass migration of "Okies and Arkies" to California thatoccurred in the same decades. Many people were forced to leave the Dust Bowlfor California. But the majority of 1930s migrants, even migrants from Oklahoma,came from regions of the country largely unaffected by the dust storms.

Most migrants were forced off their lands by the economics of large scaleagribusiness, not by dust storms. Still, those who lived through the dust storms, orlost their land, would never forget them.

Once called the "Great Desert" by European explorers, America's plains stateshave since become the extremely productive farmland. But they confront settlerswith a tough, harsh climate, prone to extremes of temperature and periodicdrought. Winds sweep across the flat, treeless landscape with special fury. Naturalhistories of the region show consistent and recurring cycles of drought, oftenlasting ten years or more, usually accompanied by dust storms of amazing size.Repeatedly in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, strong winds scouredthe terrain and spread clouds of choking dust across the southwestern plains.None of these approached the terrible "dust bowl" of the early 1930s.

In 1931 one of these cyclical droughts struck Texas, the Oklahoma Panhandle,Kansas and the Eastern parts of Colorado and New Mexico. This time, it struck achanged landscape. In the 1920s, technological advances had made more landavailable to the wheat farmer. Increased production drove down prices, which ledto more intensive cultivation of more land in wheat, including some regionswhere the land could barely support wheat under the best of conditions. Diskplows, pulled in long rows by newly available tractors, cut the soil shallowly butmore thoroughly, making it drier and more vulnerable. The combination proveddisastrous when the usual Spring winds came in 1932.

Newspapers and magazines rushed to record the devastation as the "blackblizzards" of dust rolled across the plains. Some of the most enduring images ofthis region, and indeed of the 1930s, come from the work of photographers likeWalker Evans, Dorothea Lange, or Arthur Rothstein. Sent out by the FarmSecurity Administration to document conditions in rural America, they producedapparently objective accounts of America's rural poor. Arthur Rothstein's famous1936 image, "Fleeing a Dust Storm," came from just such an excursion.

Although the FSA presented the image as a spontaneous moment in the face of astorm, in fact Rothstein posed the picture‹he instructed the farmer and his childrenin how and where to walk. There was no storm to flee, as images taken at thesame time and place show. Rothstein used dramatic license to highlight thegenuine devastation the region experienced. The FSA wanted its photographers todraw connections between the Dust Bowl and land mismanagement. In a

fascinating look at how the "documentary sensibility"of the thirties evolved,historian James Curtis has pointed out that Rothstein carried the same bleached,white steer skull around with him as he toured the drought stricken plains, placingthe skull for maximum effect. Some plains residents, especially Republicanopponents of the New Deal, objected to the depictions and pointed out that aphotographer could place a steer skull in any dry spot and convey an artificialsense of devastation. Such criticism endangered the FSA' project. "If you havethat goddam skull," one of Rothstein's supervisors wrote him, "hide it for Christ'ssake."

To convey a sense of the genuine devastation of the Dust Bowl, Rothstein drewon Pare Lorentz's documentary film The Plow that Broke the Plains (1936).Lorentz's film was sponsored by the WPA, which hoped to dramatize both theplight of small farmers on the plains and the relationship between the dust bowland international, technology-dependent agribusiness. The film, which included astunning score by the composer Virgil Thomson, helped establish the"documentary sensibility" of artists in the 1930s. As the selection included hereshows, it used cinematic techniques to link the small farmer's struggle tointernational commerce, technological change, and overproduction. And likemuch of 30s documentary, it invested local tragedies with an epic quality.

Those caught in the dust bowl remembered it with fear, wonder and sometimes despair.Excerpts from the diary of Ann Marie Lowe, who lived through drought and dust stormsin Southeastern North Dakota, document the community's struggle and eventual collapse,as well as her suspicion of the New Deal and its clumsy attempts to ease their situation.Woody Guthrie's recollections of Oklahoma describe the relentless dust and its effects onthe lungs. Born in Oklahoma, Guthrie experienced the dust bowl and its resultingeconomic dislocations firsthand. He's best known today as the author of This Land isYour Land. challenged by capital-intensive mechanized farming, small farmers weredriven to the roads. Historians of the dust bowl conclude there is no easy fix: intensive,mechanized agriculture in such marginal lands will always make them especiallysusceptible to disaster.

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