Out of the Dust

By Karen Hesse

6-8 (Middle School)

Language Arts/US History

Tenacious Tigers

R. Daigle, E. Jones,

K. Smallwood, A. Taylor

Grand Bay Middle School

Grand Bay, AL

Introduction Task Process Evaluation Conclusion Teacher Page

Introduction

“In the house, dust blew through the cracks in the walls, it covered the floorboards and heaped against the doors. It floated in the air, everywhere.” Out of the Dust—Karen Hesse

Travel back in time 70 years and experience life during the Depression and the Dust Bowl. This WebQuest is designed to allow students to explore the novel Out of the Dust and experience the every day life of the Dust Bowl Era.

Introduction Task Process Evaluation Conclusion Teacher Page

Task

Students will complete two individual and one group activity as they travel back in time to the Midwest during the 1930’s.

Everyone will complete:

· poetry project

· group project

o Timeline

· one individual project

o Descriptive Picture Essay

o Daily Newspaper

Introduction Task Process Evaluation Conclusion Teacher Page

Process

Poetry Project (required by all)

Using the theme word assigned by the teacher, create a descriptive free verse poem using the passage entitled Real Snow from the novel, Out of the Dust.

Reminder:

· Use your senses (sight, smell, sound, taste, and touch) to develop a list of descriptive words for your poem.

· Use the attached web template to help with your brainstorming.

· Using these words from your web template, create a free verse poem describing your theme word. First, create a rough draft including the following:

o Minimum 10 lines

o Begin and end with theme word

o Use your rubric for guidelines when proofreading your poem

· Publish your final copy (11”x17” art paper) including vivid illustrations for your class presentation

Group Project (required by all)

Using the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) website timeline of the Dust Bowl, create a timeline of the Dust Bowl during the 1930’s.

Directions:

1. Read and study the PBS website timeline for your assigned year.

2. Highlight key information within your year.

3. Using your own words, summarize the key information in a concise manner.

4. Add illustration (11”x17” art paper) based on the summarization of your year to create a visual record of the event(s).

· The finished product should include illustrations and a short written summary of the key events for each year for a brief presentation to your class. Your project will be linked together with others from within your class to form a complete timeline.

Individual Project (Choose 1 of the following)

1. Descriptive Picture Essays

Using the link to the famous Dust Bowl photographs, first view and read about the history behind each photo. Choose one photograph and write a short story about your photo choice. Use your imagination to bring the characters to life by creating dialogue and historically accurate description. View the Descriptive Picture Essay rubric for guidelines in grading.

Reminder:

Steps to Writing

· Pre-write—Gather ideas

· First Draft—Write your first draft, concentrating on ideas rather than grammar.

· Revise—Reorganize ideas and use the thesaurus to choose descriptive vocabulary.

· Proofread—Correct grammar and punctuation errors.

· Publish—Write your final copy for others to enjoy!

2. Dust Bowl Newspaper

Using information found under Descriptive pictures and website time line, create a Newspaper that is historically accurate. Use the Newspaper template as an organizational guideline. You will want to view the Newspaper Rubric for grading guidelines.

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Evaluation

You will receive a grade on the following projects:

· poetry project (see rubric)

· group project

o Timeline (see rubric)

· one individual project

o Descriptive Picture Essay (see rubric)

o Daily Newspaper (see rubric)

Introduction Task Process Evaluation Conclusion Teacher Page

Conclusion

As you are winding down from Out of the Dust, there should be a certain amount of respect for the people who lived during the Dust Bowl Era. You should have learned about the Dust Bowl’s effects on the people in the Midwest and how even when life throws you a curve ball you can always count on better times ahead.

Back to Student Page

Introduction Task Process Evaluation Conclusion Teacher Page

Teacher Page

This thematic WebQuest is designed to immerse the reader into the time period of the 1930’s. They will experience the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression using the novel, Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse, and various internet resources.

Subject Area: Language Arts/US History/Technology

Grade Level: 6-8 (Middle School)

Learner Information:

These activities can be easily modified to accommodate various learning styles. They are designed for any child from the advanced to the learning disabled student.

Standards/Curriculum:

Social Studies

· Read, interpret, and organize information using a variety of sources and tools.

· Apply reference skills in independent investigations of selected topics.

· Describe patterns of population movement.

· Describe the magnitude and significance of the immigration movement from 1900 to 1928.

· Demonstrate an understanding of the reasons for hardships and struggles faced by various groups of people in America during the 1920s.

· Discuss characteristics and distinctive features of life in America during the 1920s.

· Identify the contributing factors of the stock market crash of 1929 and the Great Depression.

· Describe the impact of the Great Depression on American economic and cultural life.

· Discuss the disasters of the early 1900s.

Language Arts

· Interpret and construct meaning by applying appropriate strategies to materials across the curriculum

· Recognize various forms of literature according to characteristics

· Determine the author’s purpose

· To persuade

· To inform

· To entertain

· Recognize the characteristics and cultural influences of works of literature representative of various eras.

· Demonstrate an awareness of the research process.

· Use available computer technology to enhance reading and writing skills

Technology

· Demonstrate correct procedures for opening, closing and saving files using menu options and commands in appropriate grade/subject instructional software.

· Access and exit software

· Manage files (save, retrieve)

· Demonstrate respect for the work of others

· Practice responsible computer use.

· Use a variety of media and technology resources for directed and independent learning activities across the curriculum.

· Use appropriate techniques for producing and publishing documents.

· Create and save a new document

· Use New

· Open, view, print, and close documents

· Format documents

· Edit text

· Insert graphics/size graphics

· Use Spell Check

Resources: