The
Dust Bowl was an ecological and human disaster that took place in the
southwestern Great Plains region of the United States in the 1930's.
It was caused by the misuse of the land and years of sustained drought.
Millions of hectares of farmland became useless and hundreds of thousands
of people were forced to leave their homes. As the land dried up, great clouds
of dust and sand were carried by the wind covering everything and creating the
term "Dust Bowl."
You will select a journal entry from Out
of the Dust and use it to create a newspaper for the date given in the
selected journal.
The Process
Use the journal entry in the novel as one of your stories. Use web
sites and books to learn about the "Dust Bowl" and The Great
Depression as well as insights you gather from reading Out Of The Dust to
write your articles. Use photos
from the web sites to illustrate your newspaper stories
Include:
1.
A story of an important event that occurred at this time-
Choose one local, one national and one international event.
2.
A human interest
story about the problems of the people who lived during the Great Depression in
the Dust Bowl
3.
A report on the U.S. president during this time
4.
Advertisements that could
have appeared
in a 1934 or 1935 newspaper
3. An article about entertainment of the times
4. Show examples of fashions of the time
5. Include a weather report
6. An informational article about help from the U.S. government
to Oklahoma to help farmers cope with their losses
7. An editorial stating your opinions on what could be done to
solve the problems of the farmers during this era
Resources
-
Photos
of Dust Bowl:
http://rs6.loc.gov/ammem/fsowhome.html
-
Timeline
of the Great Depression:
http://www.hyperhistory.com/online_n2/connections_n2/great_depression.html
Evaluation
You
will be evaluated on your newspaper by a rubric.
The following criteria will be used:
1.
The writing of the articles focus on the task and communicate to a fifth
grade audience.
2.
The articles use ample, vivid details and explain the topic thoroughly.
3.
The articles are written with a clear beginning, middle, and ending and
answer the questions who, where, when, what, why, and how.
4.
The sentences are varied in length and structure.
5.
The articles are written with proper grammar, capitalization,
punctuation, and spelling
6.
The facts in the articles are accurate.
7.
When editorials are used, the arguments are supported by reasons.
After
completing your 1934 or 1935 newspaper you and your classmates will have an
understanding of the life and times of the people who lived during the Great
Depression in the Dust Bowl of America.
