ROBYN GLOYD, REBECCA JONES DAN OLSEN, AMBER POOL, MIKE SYCZ

OUT OF THE DUST BOWL

SUMMARYThis unit, Out of the Dust: Overcoming hardships, will focus on the multiple ways communities work through hardships, using the experiences of the Oklahoma dust bowl survivors as a reference point and example. Created for fifth grade students, this unit will allow students to explore the ways communities face hardships, how they can overcome them, and the examples they find in their own communities.

By integrating Math, Social Studies, Science, Language Arts, and Art, the students will learn about ways people experience and overcome hardships by exploring reading accounts of dust bowl survivors (fiction and nonfiction), exploring the ways humans impact their environments and vice versa, exploring the ways hardships impact creative ability and vice versa, and exploring the ways in which the people in a community help one another in the midst of hardships.

Our unit will begin by exploring the theme of overcoming hardships by learning about the Oklahoma dust bowl and its survivors, but this will only be the starting place for the exploration of ways people survive difficulties in their own communities.

MAJOR CONCEPTSLanguage Arts

Note taking Compare and Contrast Using graphic organizers Essay writing

Art Two-dimensional collage art Three-dimensional collage art Connection between visual art and the real world Identifying Hobo Signs and their uses

Social Studies Causes and effects of the Market Crash of 1929 Great Depression: Start to finish Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal The Dust Bowl and Modern Migration

MAJOR CONCEPTSScience

Causes and effects of erosion on the environment Water Cycle How ecosystems function The scientific method Collecting and analyzing data Being responsible with environmental resources

Math Graph differentiation (bar, line, circle) Graph interpretation Graph analysis Graph making

SUNSHINE STATE STANDARDSLanguage Arts

Standard: Reading Process, Reading Comprehension- The student uses a variety of strategies to comprehend grade level text. The student uses a variety of strategies to comprehend grade level text.  

Standard: Writing Process, Prewriting- The student will use prewriting strategies to generate ideas and formulate a plan.

Standard: Drafting- The student will write a draft appropriate to the topic, audience, and purpose.  

Standard: Revising- The student will revise and refine the draft for clarity and effectiveness.

Standard: Publishing- The student will write a final product for the intended audience.  Standard: Communication, Listening and Speaking- The student effectively applies

listening and speaking strategies.   Art

Standard: Skills and Techniques-The student understands and applies media, techniques, and processes.

Standard: Creation and Communication- The student creates and communicates a range of subject matter, symbols, and ideas using knowledge of structures and functions of visual arts.

Standard: Cultural and Historical Connections- The student understands the visual arts in relation to history and culture.

Standard: Applications to Life- The student makes connections between the visual arts, other disciplines, and thereal world.

SUNSHINE STATE STANDARDS

Social StudiesStandard:Time, Continuity, and Change [History]

Standard:People, Places, and Environments [Geography]

Standard:Production, Distribution, and Consumption [Economics]

SUNSHINE STATE STANDARDSMath

Standard: Data Analysis and Probability

ScienceStandard: Force and MotionStandard: Processes that Shape the EarthStandard: How Living Things Interact with Their EnvironmentStandard: The Nature of Science

GRADE LEVEL EXPECTATIONSLanguage Arts

LA.5.1.7.3 Benchmark Description: The student will determine the main idea or essential message in grade-level text through inferring, paraphrasing, summarizing, and identifying relevant details

LA.5.1.7.6   Benchmark Description: The student will identify themes or topics across a variety of fiction and nonfiction selections

LA.5.1.7.8   Benchmark Description: The student will use strategies to repair comprehension of grade-appropriate text when self-monitoring indicates confusion, including but not limited to rereading, checking context clues, predicting, note-making, summarizing, using graphic and semantic organizers, questioning, and clarifying by checking other sources.

LA.5.1.7.7   Benchmark Description: The student will compare and contrast elements in multiple texts LA.5.3.1.1   Benchmark Description: The student will prewrite by generating ideas from multiple sources (e.g., text,

brainstorming, graphic organizer, drawing, writer's notebook, group discussion, printed material) based upon teacher-directed topics and personal interests;  

LA.5.3.1.3   Benchmark Description: The student will prewrite by organizing ideas using strategies and tools (e.g., technology, graphic organizer, KWL chart, log).  

LA.5.3.2.1   Benchmark Description: The student will draft writing by using a prewriting plan to focus on the main idea with ample development of supporting details, elaborating on organized information using descriptive language, supporting details, and word choices appropriate to the selected tone and mood;  

LA.5.3.2.2 Benchmark Description: The student will draft writing by organizing information into a logical sequence and combining or deleting sentences to enhance clarity

LA.5.3.3.2   Benchmark Description: The student will revise by creating clarity and logic by deleting extraneous or repetitious information and tightening plot or central idea through the use of sequential organization, appropriate transitional phrases, and introductory phrases and clauses that vary rhythm and sentence structure;  

LA.5.3.3.4   Benchmark Description: The student will revise by applying appropriate tools or strategies to evaluate and refine the draft (e.g., peer review, checklists, rubrics).

LA.5.3.5.1   Benchmark Description: The student will prepare writing using technology in a format appropriate to audience and purpose (e.g., manuscript, multimedia);

LA.5.3.5.3   Benchmark Description: The student will share the writing with the intended audience. LA.5.5.2.1   Benchmark Description: The student will listen and speak to gain and share information for a variety of purposes,

including personal interviews, dramatic and poetic recitations, and formal presentations; and   LA.5.5.2.2   Benchmark Description: The student will make formal oral presentations for a variety of purposes and occasions,

demonstrating appropriate language choices, body language, eye contact and the use of gestures, the use of supporting graphics (charts, illustrations, images, props), and available technologies.  

GRADE LEVEL EXPECTATIONSArt

Benchmark VA.A.1.2.1: The student uses and organizes two-dimensional and three-dimensionalmedia, techniques, tools, and processes to produce works of art that are derived from personalexperience, observation, or imagination.

Benchmark VA.A.1.2.2: The student uses control in handling tools and materials in a safe andresponsible manner.

Benchmark VA.A.1.2.4: uses good craftsmanship in a variety of two-dimensional and three-dimensional media.

Benchmark VA.B.1.2.1: The student understands that subject matter used to create unique worksof art can come from personal experience, observation, imagination, and themes.

Benchmark VA.C.1.2.2: The student understands how artists have used visual languages andsymbol systems through time and across cultures.

Benchmark VA.E.1.2.1: The student understands the influence of artists on the quality of everydaylife.

GRADE LEVEL EXPECTATIONSSocial Studies

The student understands selected social and cultural transformations of the 1920’s and 1930’s (for example, impact of the automobile, racial tensions, role of women).

The student understands the social and economic impact of the Great Depression on American society (for example, business failures, unemployment, home foreclosures, breadlines).

The student extends and refines use of maps, globes, charts, graphs, and other geographic tools including map keys and symbols to gather and interpret data and to draw conclusions about physical patterns (for example, in the United States).

The student knows how regions in the United States are constructed according to physical criteria and human criteria. The student understands varying perceptions of regions throughout the United States. The student understands reasons certain areas of the United States are more densely populated than others. The student understands ways the physical environment supports and constrains human activities in the United States. The student understands ways human activity has affected the physical environment in various places and times in the

United States. The student knows examples from United States history that demonstrate an understanding that all decisions involve

opportunity costs and that making effective decisions involves considering the costs and the benefits associated with alternative choices.

The student understands that scarcity of resources requires choices on many levels, from the individual to societal. The student understands the basic concept of credit. The student understands that any consumer has certain rights (for example, an individual, a household, a government). The student understands the roles that money plays in a market economy. The student understands basic services that banks and other financial institutions in the economy provide to

consumers, savers, borrowers, and businesses. The student knows ways the Federal government provides goods and services through taxation and borrowing (for

example, highways, military defense).

GRADE LEVEL EXPECTATIONSScience

Uses scientific tools (for example, stopwatch, meter stick, compass) to measure speed, distance, and direction of an object.

Knows that rocks are constantly being formed and worn away. Understands how atmospheric pressure affects the water cycle. Understands how eroded materials are transported and deposited over time in new

areas to form new features (for example, deltas, beaches, dunes). Understands how the surface of the Earth is shaped by both slow processes (for

example, weathering, erosion, deposition) and rapid, cataclysmic events (for example, earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes).

Extends and refines knowledge of ways people can reuse, recycle, and reduce the use of resources to improve and protect the quality of life.

MathMA.5.S.7.1 Data Analysis Students will interpret, analyze, and compare data represented on line graphs or

double bar graphs. Students will identify, interpret, or describe a graph that shows a quantity that

changes over time.

LEARNING GOALS

Language Arts To be able to assess prior knowledge about a subject, set personal learning

goals, and assess learning that has been accomplished To develop compare and contrast skills. To develop and strengthen note taking skills To develop and strengthen writing skills, such as using graphic organizers, pre-

write, edit, and publish Develop creative writing skills

Art To identify the key components in creating two-dimensional and three-

dimensional collage art. To apply those component skills into making a two-dimensional and three-

dimensional pieces of collage art. To be able to identify hobo signs and their uses. To be able to depict the lifestyle of someone living during the Great Depression

and display it in their art projects.

LEARNING GOALSSocial Studies

To identify the events that led to the Market Crash of 1929 and the key historical events during the Great Depression through class lecture and watching the PBS documentary The Panic is On.

To understand the social repercussions of the Great Depression such as unemployment, foreclosures, breadlines, and the welfare system through watching the PBS documentary The Panic is On.

To identify how individuals and the government overcame the hardships of the Great Depression through class lecture, and watching video interviews of survivors of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl.

To understand that scarce resources requires individuals and governments to make difficult decisions through class lectures.

To identify the primary cause of modern migration and the consequences migration has on the social make-up of regions through class lectures and examining the Dust Bowl migration of the 1930s.

Math To be able to learn about different causes and effects of erosion. To be able to learn how to purify water with household items. To be able to understand what caused the Dust Bowl and what were its effects on the

environment. To be able to record and organize data from the class experiments.

LEARNING GOALS

Math

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMESLanguage Arts

When provided with the subject The Dust Bowl, students will be able to, within a fifteen minute duration, describe what they know about the subject with a partner, summarize their knowledge, and present their knowledge with the class.

Students will be able to compare and contrast hardships experienced in Out of the Dust, with those their community has faced, with 80% accuracy.

As a culminating activity, a group of students will be able to select an event from Out of the Dust and re-tell it, answering who, what, where, when, and why questions, in a newspaper article format, with 80% accuracy, and present article to classmates, teacher, and parents.

To prepare for a two page essay, students will be able to create an essay map recalling specific generous acts from the story Out of the Dust, and be able to describe the help that was given, the reason the person needed the help, and details about the person who provided the help, with 100% accuracy, based on created developed rubric.

Students will be able to write a five paragraph essay describing a generous act from the story, Out of the Dust, using supporting details and information from the story, an effective organizational pattern, and correct punctuation, grammar, and sentence structure with 80% accuracy, based on teacher created rubric.

While reading/listening to the story, Out of the Dust, students will be able to attend to the story, ask questions relevant to the story and answer comprehension questions with 80% accuracy.

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMESArt

The student will be able to correctly identify hobo signs and their uses on a 25-question test, with 80% accuracy.

Given the materials, the student will be able to create a two-dimensional collage hobo sign that could be used in today’s world, with 80% accuracy based on class rubric.

The student will be able to cooperate with another peer to create a diorama depicting the lifestyle of Depression Era people, with 80% accuracy based on a class rubric.

The student will be able to give a presentation about their diorama and explain why they chose that specific lifestyle to depict and how the Dust Bowl affected that lifestyle, with 80% accuracy based on class rubric.

Given the materials, the student will be able to create a two-dimensional collage poster to advertise either the talent show or the president's ball from Out of the Dust, with 80% accuracy based on a class rubric.

The student will be able to give a presentation about their collage poster and answer class questions given at the beginning of the project, with 80% accuracy.

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMESSocial Studies

Students will be able to answer their own KWL assessment from the beginning of the unit, with 80% accuracy.

Students will be able to write a 3-5 page paper on the Great Depression, with 80% accuracy based on a class rubric.

Students will demonstrate understanding of the personal hardship that individuals faced during the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl by writing a series of journal entries based on their own fictional character from the era, with 80% accuracy based on a class rubric.

Students will be able to answer a five question short answer quiz on modern migration, with 80% accuracy.

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMESScience

Student will be able to know the causes of wind erosion and answer questions related to the experiment on what causes and what are the effects of this type of erosion with 80% accuracy.

Student will be able to effectively purify water with household items provided and answer questions on how the filtration process works with 80% accuracy.

Student will be able to correctly record and organize data from their experiments with 90% accuracy.

Student will be able to complete a KWL chart on what caused the Dust Bowl and answering "want to know" questions with 75% accuracy.

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMESMath

The student will correctly create X and Y axes on line paper with 100% accuracy.

The student will correctly label X and Y axes on line paper with 100% accuracy.

The student will correctly identify line graphs, bar graphs, and/or circle graphs with 100% accuracy.

The student will correctly plot data points on line paper with 80% accuracy.

The student will correctly create data intervals on line paper with 80% accuracy.

LESSON PLAN OVERVIEWLanguage Arts

The Language Arts component of this ITU will explore the ways communitiesovercome hardships by reading the story, Out of the Dust, a fictional account of onefamily's struggles and triumphs and those of their community of farmers inOklahoma during the dust bowl. Students will complete a KWL chart, examining whatthey already know about the dust bowl, what they want to know, and culminating inwhat they learned. They will compare and contrast the experiences of the characters inthe story with those struggles in their own community. They will learn note taking skillsas they keep a story journal to use throughout the unit. They will learn how to effectivelyuse an essay map and will write a five paragraph essay describing a generous act from

thestory. As a culminating activity, the students will chose events from the story to presentin a newspaper format, which will be presented at the class parent's night.

LESSON PLAN OVERVIEWArt

The visual arts component of this interdisciplinary thematic unit will focus on thestudents’ understanding and application of two-dimensional and three-dimensional art.Students will use a variety of media to explore the lifestyles of those living during the GreatDepression. They will then use their new found knowledge to create their collage artwork.The first week, students will take excerpts from the book Out of the Dust, by Karen Hess. Theywill use the excerpts to create a two-dimensional collage poster advertising one of two eventsthat occur in the story. Students will also be paired up for their diorama home project. Thediorama will depict the lifestyle of someone living during the Great Depression. The secondweek, students will watch a film called Riding the Rails. It is a documentary about teenagerswho were forced to survive on their own by traveling on trains to get from one destination tothe next. After the documentary, the students will be introduced to hobo signs. Hobo signswere a form of communication that hobos used during the Great Depression to giveinformation and warnings to fellow travelers. The students will study hobo signs and be givena test on them. During the last week of the unit, the students will create their own hobo sign thatcould be useful for a traveler today. They will also bring in their completed dioramas and sharethem with the class. All the students’ artwork will be on display during the culminating parentsnight.

LESSON PLAN OVERVIEWSocial Studies

The Social Studies component of this interdisciplinary unit will examine howAmericans overcame hardships during the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl in1930s America. Students will first examine the economic factors leading up to themarket crash of 1929 and collapse of the banking system. Then, the unit will cover

thesocial effects and hardship associated with the Great Depression includingunemployment, inflation, foreclosures, breadlines, and the welfare system. The unitwill also cover the Dust Bowl in the Midwest with a lesson on modern migration andits effects on the social make-up of a region including overpopulation, underpopulation, and discrimination. Finally, the lesson will conclude with anexamination of the New Deal policies and how the United States eventually pulleditself out of the Great Depression.

LESSON PLAN OVERVIEWScience

The Science component of this interdisciplinary unit will focus on erosion and

how ecosystems on earth change through natural occurrences and through human

intervention. Students will learn from reading accounts of the Dust Bowl what were

the chain of events that led to the catastrophe. Students will conduct experiments to

learn what are the causes and effects of erosion. Students will learn about using the

scientific method to investigate the question of what caused the Dust Bowl and what

can people do to prevent that type of event from happening again.

LESSON PLAN OVERVIEW

MathThe math component of our unit will focus on reading and understanding linear

graphs. Students will learn how to understand raw data from the Dust Bowl era (1934)

and construct a graph using temperatures from 1934 and 2009. Students will learn how

to label axes correctly, plot data points, and connect the data points on graph paper.

The lesson fits into the ITU as part of a greater understanding of the impact these

high temperature have on our environment and communities overall.

CULMINATING ACTIVITIES

As a culminating activity, the class will be hosting a parent night where they will have the opportunity to display a project from each of the disciplines they explored as they examined the theme, Overcoming Hardships. The following projects/presentations will be shown:

A newspaper article depicting favorite scenes from the story, Out of the Dust

Collage art poster depicting scenes from the story, Out of the Dust, diorama depicting the lifestyle of someone living during the Great Depression, and modern day hobo signs

Portfolio containing personal migration journals and Great Depression papers

Science experiment

UNIT SCHEDULE-WEEK ONE

UNIT SCHEDULE-WEEK TWO

UNIT SCHEDULE-WEEK THREE

ASSESSMENTS KWL assessment on the Great Depression and the dust bowl 5 question short answer essay test on modern migration, teacher created rubric Circle area of the Dust Bowl on Map Teacher created rubric for two essays Teacher created rubric for two journals Teacher created rubric for newspaper article Teacher observation sheet for presentation of newspaper article 25 question test on Hobo Signs Riding the Rails Art Project KWL assessment on the cultural aspect of the Dust Bowl (i.e. style of dress, how house looked, what

people did for fun, etc.) Partner project on creating and presenting a diorama of the Dust Bowl Collage poster project on Out of the Dust Dust Bowl line graphing. Daily temperature line graphing. Precipitation line graphing. Unemployment bar graph. Students chart unemployment statistics during 1930 (the year following market

crash of 1929 and first year of Dust Bowl). Class experiment on erosion, teacher created rubric 20 Question test on the causes and effects of the Erosion Class experiment on Water Filtration, teacher created rubric

MEDIA LIST

Books TV DVD player Lap top Printer Projector DVDs

Weather almanac handouts

Select websites Map of the United

States On-line videos

REFERENCES-BOOKS Barnes, R. (1987). Teaching Art to Young Children 4-

9. London, UK: Unwin Hyman LTD. Guthrie, W. (1940). Dust Bowl Ballads (CD). Buddha

Recording Label. Hesse, K. (1997). Out of the Dust: A Novel. New

York, New York: Scholastic Inc. Uys, M. and Lovell, L. (Producers and Directors).

(1998). Riding the Rails. United States: WGBH Studio.

Macmillan & McGraw-Hill (2003). Our Nation. New York: Author.

REFERENCES-WEBSITES http

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http://weather.about.com/od/imagegallery/ig/Global-Warming-Images-Graphs.--5K/1934-US-Temperature-Records.htm

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/research/prelim/drought/zimage.html http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/research/drought/palmer-maps/?

index=zndx&month%5B%5D=5&beg_year=1934&end_year=1934&submitted=Submit http://www.teachervision.fen.com/tv/printables/orange/ss-102.pdf http://1269.educatorpages.com/Page.aspx?p=1267 http://www.shmoop.com/great-depression/graphing-depression-statistics-activity.html http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/03/040319072053.htm http://www.weru.ksu.edu/vids/dust002.mpg http://

www.classzone.com/books/earth_science/terc/content/visualizations/es1205/es1205page01.cfm?chapter_no=visualization

http://www.survivaloutdoorskills.com/purifying_water.htm http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_ideas/EnvSci_p052.shtml http://www.reachoutmichigan.org/funexperiments/quick/hawaii/Wind.html http://www.weru.ksu.edu/

REFERENCES-WEBSITES http://www.livinghistoryfarm.org/farminginthe30s/water_02.html http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/dustbowl/ http://www.weru.ksu.edu/new_weru/multimedia/dustbowl/dustbowlpics.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Depressionhttp:/ www.english.illinois.edu/maps/depression/depression.htm http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/rails/ http://www.google.com/images?q=The+great+depression&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mo

zilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=6ydXTMKGMIm8sQPpjKHaAg&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=4&ved=0CD0QsAQwAw&biw=1128&bih=515

http://www.worldpath.net/~minstrel/hobosign.htm http://www.livinghistoryfarm.org/farminginthe30s/movies/hankel_money_01.html http://www.livinghistoryfarm.org/farminginthe30s/movies/hankel_money_04.html http://www.livinghistoryfarm.org/farminginthe30s/movies/hankel_water_21.html http://www.livinghistoryfarm.org/farminginthe30s/movies/schmitt_money_04.htm

l http://www.livinghistoryfarm.org/farminginthe30s/movies/jensen_water_02.html http://www.livinghistoryfarm.org/farminginthe30s/movies/bolton_life_29.html http://www.livinghistoryfarm.org/farminginthe30s/movies/thompson_water_06.ht

ml http://www.livinghistoryfarm.org/farminginthe30s/movies/evans_money_06.html