Part 3- Multi-Media Resources

Music

“Duke Ellington- Sir Duke” Newsound: 2000.

“Jazz for a Rainy Afternoon” 32 Jazz New York: 1999.

“Late Night Jazz Essentials” Universal Music Special Markets:

1999.

These CD’s of Jazz music will set the mood as I introduce the unit. I often like to play the music as the students are entering the room or during transitions. It generates some interest for the time period. I’ll especially hi-light the piano solos since this is the type of music Billie Joe loved so much.

Video

“Seabiscuit.” Universal Studios & Dreamworks: 2003.

“Surviving the Dustbowl.” PBS American Experience: 1999.

“A & E presents The Great Depression.” History Channel: 1998.

“The Grapes of Wrath.” 20th Century Fox: 1940.

Though I will not show any of these videos in their entirety, each has scenes and snippets that illustrate the hopelessness of the Great Depression in an unforgettable manner. Most of these scenes will be used at the front of the novel unit to establish the background.

Photography

Ganzel, Bill. “Dust Bowl Descant.” University of Nebraska Press.

1984.

This book is the source for my photo gallery activity and for the I-Poem materials. The hopeless faces I looked into on these pages fascinated me. I only hope my students will be equally entranced.

Internet

Nara.gov/exhall/newdeal

Pbs.org-history-dustbowl

These were my two favorite web sites for detailed, accessible, illustrated information. My students will see photos and information from these sites in their packet and in my background lesson in class. I’ll also recommend these as preferred sites for the ABC book research that each student will complete independently.

Part 3- Activities not in the packet

*Discuss the specific passages that deal with loss and establishing identity. Connect those to overall patterns/themes in the novel. Journal how these passages relate to the students’ current life experiences.

*Interview a person who lived during the 1930’s. Where did he or she live? What was their experience as compared to Billie Joe’s?

*Define “simile.” Write original similes.

*Study the poetry of Langston Hughes (especially “I Do Not Like My Father Much” and “Jazz Makes Me Sing”).

*Chart the changes in Billie Joe as the novel progresses.

*Chart the changes in Billie Joe’s father throughout the novel.

*I will prepare overhead transparencies with intriguing quotes (accounts of dust bowl life) from my resources. Discussion of these quotes will begin several daily lessons.

Part 1

The students I will target are tenth graders in my Language Enrichment class. Since this is an elective course, I am freer to choose the curriculum than I am in my standard English II class of strictly world literature. The main reason I chose this novel is because I was riveted from the first reading, and I am hopeful that my students will see themselves in the themes of loss and leaving home to establish their own identities.

Though the students in this class are capable of reading on a higher level, the text is a valid choice because the themes and concepts correlate so well with their US History and their upcoming eleventh grade English. In US History, students study the depression era in detail; the social studies department will love me when they find out how I am supporting their curriculum! Additionally, juniors read The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck; Out of the Dust is a worthy introduction to the often-intimidating classic. Beyond social studies, classroom discussions may correlate with several science goals. In our background on “factors that caused the dust bowl,” we will consider soil conservation, erosion, crop rotation, and human influence on ecology.

My broad goals involve understanding causes of the great depression, understanding the characters in light of the themes of loss and coming of age, and considering the writer’s craft with the hope that some of those techniques will seep into their own writing!

ACTIVITY / GOAL

Research for ABC book

/ Become familiar with life/culture in the 1930’s
Illustrate an Entry / Look closely at the text.
Create a visual representation to experience the novel through art.
Story Quilt activity / Connect one sentence to the work as a whole.
Articulate (orally) major themes that are emerging
Justify the title / Be aware of the importance of the titles
Think critically about choices the author makes
Poem for 2 voices / Experience two characters by examining their values and personalities
Be sensitive the importance of word choice in revealing voice.
I-poem / Become familiar with life/culture in the 1930’s
Feel the hopelessness of the dust bowl migrants
Perform an entry / Read for understanding (so that later discussions of themes will be productive)
Internalize the text (through drama in this case)
Choose the most important word / Think critically about writer’s choices
Articulate/defend a decision orally
Illustrate a simile / Be able to define simile
Gain awareness of the choices good writers make (hopefully translating into their own writing at some point)
Consider the power and interest provided by similes