Class Date

Approx. Time
Goals

Standards

Anticipatory set

4th day of unit

60 minutes
Students will gain a foundational understanding of the Dust Bowl years in
America.
Students will build on prior knowledge of the Great Depression
Students will be ready to understand complex elements of Out of the Dust
Standard: 4. Research and Reasoning
1. Individual research projects begin with information obtained from a
variety of sources, and is organized, documented, and presented using
logical procedures.
a. Conduct short research projects to answer a question (including a
selfgenerated question), drawing on several sources and generating
additional related, focused questions that allow for multiple avenues of
exploration. (CCSS: W.8.7)
b. Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, using
search terms effectively; assess the credibility and accuracy of each source;
and quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while avoiding
plagiarism and following a standard format for citation. (CCSS: W.8.8)
Hand out KWL graphic organizers to each student. On the front board, write
the words Dust Bowl
Have a student volunteer explain what a KWL chart means. If a student
volunteer does not know what the K, W, or L stands for, tell them. Then
explain that the next two days they are going to be discussing the Dust
Bowl, because the narrative that they are reading in class is set during that
time.
Ask students to write everything that they know in the K chart of the
organizer. *Note to self: it is important to remind your students that this
information is new. It does not need to be totally correct. We are all learning
together. They can change this section as we move through the unit.
(4 minutes)
Pull up a KWL chart on the smartboard
Have students volunteer coming to the smart board to write what they wrote
in the K column.
(4 minutes)
Together, go over what is written in the K column. Offer praise, show
excitement about learning something new, and make general comments.
(1 minute)
Now, have a student volunteer remind the class that the W portion stands for
wonder or what I want to learn. Then give students time to write in their
graphic organizers. Asking for students that did not come to the board
earlier, have students come write what they wonder.

(4 minutes)
Now, explain to students that the activities that they will be completing
today and tomorrow will help add to the wonder and help add to the L
column.
(1 minute)
Teaching

At this time, hand out the rubric for oral presentation. Explain to students
that they will be conducting a research project for the remainder of this class
period and half of next period. Each student will be assigned to focus on
either the social, economical, environmental, political, or historical aspects
of the Dust Bowl and Great Depression. Explain that they will be compiling
their information together to form one master slide. Each slide must feature
all of the focused aspects. Information here does not need to be cited, unless
they got it from a source other than the website I will be giving them shortly.
At the second half of tomorrows period, each group will come up and give
an informal presentation of their slides to the class. These presentations need
to be from 3-4 minutes. Students will be docked for going under 3 minutes
or going over 5, so they should keep their information concise. It is also
important to keep slides short and easy to read.
at this point it is vital that you leave room for questions
Students may choose their own focus, but each cluster must have one
student focused to each one of the focus areas.
Explain to students that they need to delegate work in order to get this done.
No one person should be doing everything, and no one should be slacking
off.
(5 minutes)
At this point, students will be given the website: Website: Dust Bowl: An
Ecological Disaster During the Great
Depression http://history1900s.about.com/od/1930s/a/Dust-Bowl.htm
Students will be using the rest of the class period (minus closure) to work.
It is crucial that I remind students to talk to one another professionally.
It is crucial that I make myself available to answer questions, offer
suggestions, and make sure students are aware of the time

Closure

In the last 2 minutes of class, I will remind students that they need to keep
their KWL charts in a safe place, because we will be referencing them
throughout this unit. I will also tell my students that if they want to work on
this pre reading activity at home, they can HOWEVER, they will have half
of the class period tomorrow to work on it.

Materials

Smart board, graphic organizer provided, laptops, internet access, word (or
preferred note taking program), powerpoint (or equivalent),

Name:_________________________

Date:__________________

Class Period:____________________
Students please remember to keep this graphic organizer in a safe place. We will be
referencing it throughout this unit.