TeachRock

Disclaimer

This lesson contains primary source documents and other materials that may include terms and images reflecting the attitudes, perspectives, and beliefs of different times that today are considered offensive and demeaning. Teachrock.org does not endorse the views expressed in these documents, but recognizes the value such materials provide for historical inquiry. For guidance on introducing controversial historical materials into the classroom, we suggest reviewing this document from The Library of Congress.

Materials Needed:

• An internet accessible device for each student

Entry Ticket Activity:

1. Distribute Handout – The Dust Bowl KWL Chart (Teacher’s Guide). Instruct students to complete the first two columns (Know, Want to Know) of the three column chart on the KWL handout and explain to them that they will complete the third column (Learned) as they proceed through the lesson.

Motivational Activity:

Lange, Dorothea, photographer. Along the highway near Bakersfield, California. Dust bowl refugees. United States Kern County California Bakersfield, 1935. Nov. Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2017759225/.

1. Display Image 1, Dust Bowl Refugees. Then, focusing on questions from the Library of Congress – Teacher’s Guide: Analyzing Photographs and Prints sheet, ask students:
   • What do you notice first? 
   • What’s happening in the image?
   • What else do you wonder about this image?
2. Explain to students that the image is of people who are considered “refugees.” Display Image 2, Definition of “Refugee”. Request student volunteers to read the text aloud. Then, ask students:
   • Having read the definition, how would you define a refugee in your own words? 
   • Having read the definition and considering the reasons why people become refugees, how would you define “natural disaster” in your own words? 
   • What might be the differences between a “natural disaster” reason and a “climate change” reason for why people must leave their home area and become refugees? 
3. Explain to students that a climate change reason involves human activity that has affected the natural environment in an often adverse way, and can result in an environmental disaster event. Inform students that they are going to identify the differences between a natural disaster and an environmental disaster by analyzing definitions. Then, they will create their own definition of environmental disaster and document it on the KWL handout.
4. Display Image 3, Definitions of “Disaster”, “Environmental”, and “Natural.” Ask students:
   • Using the three definitions above, how would you define the term “Environmental Disaster?”
5. Ask students to write down their definition of “Environmental Disaster” in the “Learned” column of Handout – The Dust Bowl KWL Chart.
6. Once all students have completed the activity, ask students:
   • What’s the difference between a natural disaster and an environmental disaster? (A natural disaster is not caused by human activity whereas an environmental disaster is caused by human activity.)
   • What might be an example of an environmental disaster in U.S. history? (The Dust Bowl disaster of the 1930s.)
7. Inform students that they are going to examine a U.S. environmental disaster called the Dust Bowl. Distribute Handout – The Dust Bowl Vocabulary, and explain to students that the handout provides definitions that may be helpful as the lesson progresses.

Procedure:

1. Direct students to gather in pairs. Explain to students that they are going to listen to a song about the Dust Bowl and analyze the lyrics to the song. Distribute Handout – “Talking Dust Bowl Blues” Lyric Analysis to every student and review the handout directions. Then, play the sample audio clip of the Smithsonian Folkways recording of “Talking Dust Bowl [Blues]” by Woody Guthrie for students to hear the sound and style of the song. Once students have completed the handout, ask students: 
   • How might you describe the Dust Bowl in your own words after analyzing the lyrics to “Talking Dust Bowl Blues”?
   • Having listened to the song and analyzed the lyrics, what else do you want to know about the Dust Bowl? (Instruct students to document a response in the Want to Know column for The Dust Bowl on the KWL handout.)
   • Having listened to the song and analyzed the lyrics, what else do you want to know about Woody Guthrie? (Instruct students to document a response in the Want to Know column for Woody Guthrie on the KWL handout.)
     

     Evening Star. (Washington, DC), Apr. 15 1935. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn83045462/1935-04-15/ed-1/.

2. Display Image 4, “Oklahoma Battles Another Severe Dust Storm” and instruct students to analyze the photographs and text in the image. Then, focusing on the following questions from the Library of Congress – Teacher’s Guide: Analyzing Newspapers sheet as a guide, ask students:
   • What do you notice first?
   • What people and objects are shown?
   • Who do you think was the audience for this publication?
   • What can you tell about what was important at the time and place of publication?
   • Having analyzed the newspaper, what else do you want to know about the Dust Bowl? (Instruct students to document a response in the Want to Know column for The Dust Bowl on the KWL handout.)
3. With students still in pairs, distribute Handout – The Dust Bowl Newspaper Article and Timeline Activity to every student and review the handout directions. Once students have completed the handout, ask students:
   • Considering all the sources you have analyzed and the questions you have answered, how might you describe what the Dust Bowl was in your own words? (Instruct students to document a response in the Learned column for The Dust Bowl on the KWL handout.)
     

     Aumuller, Al, photographer. Woody Guthrie, half-length portrait, facing slightly left, holding guitar / World Telegram photo by Al Aumuller. , 1943. Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/95503348/

4. Inform student pairs that they are going to examine American singer-songwriter Woody Guthrie to further identify how Guthrie’s songs describe the experience of the Dust Bowl. Display Image 5, Woody Guthrie and instruct students to analyze the displayed image. Then, using the Library of Congress – Teacher’s Guide: Analyzing Photographs and Prints sheet as a guide, ask students:
   • What do you notice first?
   • What people and objects are shown?
   • What’s happening in the image?
   • What else do you want to know about Woody Guthrie from examining this image? (Instruct students to document a response in the Want to Know column for Woody Guthrie on the KWL handout.)
5. With students still in pairs, distribute Handout – Woody Guthrie Biography Activity to every student and review the handout directions. Once students have completed the handout, ask students:
   • Considering all the sources you have analyzed and the questions you have answered, how might you describe who Woody Guthrie was in your own words? (Instruct students to document a response in the Learned column for Woody Guthrie on the KWL handout.)
   • Considering all the sources you have analyzed and the questions you have answered, how might you describe Woody Guthrie’s Dust Bowl Ballads album in your own words? (Instruct students to document a response in the Learned column for Dust Bowl Ballads album on the KWL handout.) 
6. Organize students into groups of three for the Dust Bowl Letter activity. Distribute Handout – The Dust Bowl Letter Activity to every student and review the handout directions with student groups. (Each student in the student groups will need to choose a different song so that all three songs are covered by each group.)
7. Once student groups have completed the handout, ask for student volunteers to share their letters with the class until all three songs have been shared. (Consider having students turn in their completed letters.)

Summary Activity:

1. Bring students back together as a class for the Songwriter Activity. Inform students that they are going to view a video where the American singer-songwriter Billie Eilish explains her songwriting. Play the Grammy.com video, “Billie Eilish On The Inspiration Behind ‘All The Good Girls Go To Hell’ […]”. (Play the video from 0:00-0:50 and utilize Handout – Billie Eilish Interview Transcript if necessary.) Then, ask students:
   • Having heard Eilish describe the inspiration for her song, is she writing about circumstances related to natural disasters or environmental disasters? (Environmental disasters.) Explain the reason for your answer. (They are disasters connected to human activity that have adversely affected the natural environment.)
     

     Climate change effects and global warming problem causes outline collection. Labeled educational list with water level rising, increased drought, loss of species and starvation vector illustration.

2. Explain to students that they are now going to work independently in the role of a songwriter. Display Image 6 – Climate Change Effects, distribute Handout – Climate Change Songwriter Activity to every student, and review the handout directions with students. Once students have completed the handout, ask for student volunteers to share their song lyrics with the class. (Consider expanding the activity so that students also add a melody to their lyrics, and original music.) Then, ask students:
   • What climate change effect did you choose? Why did you choose that particular climate change effect?
   • How do your lyrics address the climate change effect you chose? Please provide examples of the particular words or phrases in your lyrics that address the climate change effect you chose. (Consider documenting student responses on the board.)
   • Considering all that you have investigated and discovered, how might you describe in your own words the unique way songs provide social commentary on environmental disasters? What might be some other topics that songs provide unique social commentary on?

Extension Activities:

1. Analyze and discuss additional primary sources about Dust Bowl Migration at the Library of Congress. 
2. Analyze and discuss additional primary sources about Woody Guthrie at the Library of Congress. 
3. Examine more Woody Guthrie song lyrics at the official Woody Guthrie website. 
4. Investigate current drought issues in the U.S. at the National Drought Mitigation Center. 
5. View the PBS NewsHour video about the current effects of climate change in the Great Plains region. 

Handout – “Talking Dust Bowl Blues” Lyric Analysis Handout – Billie Eilish Interview Transcript Handout – Climate Change Songwriter Activity Handout – The Dust Bowl KWL Chart Handout – The Dust Bowl KWL Chart (Teacher’s Guide) Handout – The Dust Bowl Letter Activity Handout – The Dust Bowl Newspaper Article and Timeline Activity Handout – The Dust Bowl Vocabulary Handout – Woody Guthrie Biography Activity

College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Social Studies Standards

History

• D2.His.1.9-12. Evaluate how historical events and developments were shaped by unique circumstances of time and place as well as broader historical contexts.
• D2.His.3.9-12. Use questions generated about individuals and groups to assess how the significance of their actions changes over time and is shaped by the historical context.
• D2.His.5.9-12. Analyze how historical contexts shaped and continue to shape people’s perspectives.
• D2.His.11.9-12. Critique the usefulness of historical sources for a specific historical inquiry based on their maker, date, place of origin, intended audience, and purpose.
• D2.His.14.9-12. Analyze multiple and complex causes and effects of events in the past.
• D2.His.16.9-12. Integrate evidence from multiple relevant historical sources and interpretations into a reasoned argument about the past.

California History–Social Science Content Standards

11.6 Students analyze the different explanations for the Great Depression and how the New Deal fundamentally changed the role of the federal government.

• 3. Discuss the human toll of the Depression, natural disasters, and unwise agricultural practices and their effects on the depopulation of rural regions and on political movements of the left and right, with particular attention to the Dust Bowl refugees and their social and economic impacts in California.

District of Columbia Social Studies Standards

Driving Concept 4: “Prosperity and Progress” to Depression

• US2.40 Analyze the causes and consequences of the Dust Bowl, comparing it to other natural disasters and its impact on Americans across race, ethnicity, gender and class groups.

Massachusetts History and Social Science Framework Standards

Topic 2. Modernity in the United States: ideologies and economies [USII.T2]

• 3. Gather, evaluate, and analyze primary sources (e.g., economic data, articles, diaries, photographs, audio and video recordings, songs, movies, and literary works) to create an oral, media, or written report on how Americans responded to the Great Depression.

Connecticut Elementary and Secondary Social Studies Standards

US-4. The 1920s, Great Depression, and New Deal

• US.His.6.a. Analyze how authors, artists, and musicians documented perspectives and experiences of individuals and groups throughout the interwar period (e.g., Jacob Lawrence, Dorthea Lange, Langston Hughes, Billie Holiday, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón).
• US.His.12.b. Develop questions to investigate the causes and effects of the Great Depression using multiple historical sources.

New Jersey Student Learning Standards – Social Studies

Era 9. The Great Depression and World War II: The Great Depression (1929–1945)

• 6.1.12.GeoHE.9.a: Determine how agricultural practices, overproduction, and the Dust Bowl intensified the worsening economic situation during the Great Depression.

Social Studies – National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS)

• Theme 1: Culture
• Theme 2: Time, Continuity, and Change
• Theme 3: People, Place, and Environments
• Theme 4: Individual Development and Identity
• Theme 5: Individuals, Groups, and Institutions
• Theme 6: Power, Authority and Governance
• Theme 7: Production, Distribution, and Consumption
• Theme 8: Science, Technology, and Society
• Theme 10: Civic Ideals and Practices

Common Core State Standards

College and Career Readiness Reading Information Text Standards for Grades 9-12

• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.1 Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language of a court opinion differs from that of a newspaper).
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.6 Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text and analyze how an author uses rhetoric to advance that point of view or purpose.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.7 Analyze various accounts of a subject told in different mediums (e.g., a person’s life story in both print and multimedia), determining which details are emphasized in each account.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.1 Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.5 Analyze and evaluate the effectiveness of the structure an author uses in his or her exposition or argument, including whether the structure makes points clear, convincing, and engaging.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.7 Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in different media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively) as well as in words in order to address a question or solve a problem.

College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Writing for Grades 9-12

• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.1 Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1-3 above.)
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.7 Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.9 Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.1 Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1-3 above.)
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.7 Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.8 Gather relevant information from multiple authoritative print and digital sources, using advanced searches effectively; assess the strengths and limitations of each source in terms of the task, purpose, and audience.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.9 Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Speaking and Listening for Grades 9-12

• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.1 Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 9-10 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.2 Integrate multiple sources of information presented in diverse media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) evaluating the credibility and accuracy of each source.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.4 Present information, findings, and supporting evidence clearly, concisely, and logically such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the organization, development, substance, and style are appropriate to purpose, audience, and task.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.1 Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 11-12 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.2 Integrate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) in order to make informed decisions and solve problems, evaluating the credibility and accuracy of each source and noting any discrepancies among the data.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.4 Present information, findings, and supporting evidence, conveying a clear and distinct perspective, such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning, alternative or opposing perspectives are addressed, and the organization, development, substance, and style are appropriate to purpose, audience, and a range of formal and informal tasks.