To conclude their study of Out of the Dust, the 1998 Newbery Medal winning verse novel, individuals craft a narrative essay based on one of the themes in Karen Hesse's novel.

"You're bound to get idears if you go thinkin' about stuff." Readers are asked to think about what they see as the important turning points in The Grapes of Wrath. Groups are then asked to think about what scenes could be eliminated if...

A perfect companion for anyone reading The Grapes of Wrath, this 20-page packet instructs and directs readers' attention to all the key elements in John Steinbeck's Pulitzer Prize winning novel. The questions for Chapter one direct...

Here’s a must-have resource for anyone using The Grapes of Wrath. Everything from guiding questions to background information, from photographs to documentary films, from activities to assessments is included in a richly detailed packet...

From the stock market crash of 1929 to the New Deal and FDR, this presentation covers it all. Examine the causes, effects, politics, and culture of the Great Depression. Images, block text, and embedded hyperlinks make this a great...

New ReviewFrom desolate images of the Dust Bowl to the text of FDR's Fireside Chats, scholars consider the effects of the environmental disaster during the darkest days of the Great Depression. Further activities, such as jigsaw discussions, allow...

A picture often has hidden stories to tell. Looking at the iconic Migrant Mother photography by Dorothy Lange, individuals examine the human toll of the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression at large. Other documents, including a statement...

Challenge readers of John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath to create a museum exhibit that uses artifacts to focus on one issue raised by the award winning story of the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl, and the Joads.

Open-ended questions that cause readers to think critically and deeply about a text are hard to craft. Never fear! A collection of great discussion questions for John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, Of Mice and Men, or The Pearl is...

The Grapes of Wrath may be the most famous novel set during the Dust Bowl, but what other stories cover the same time? The unit focuses on the Karen Hesse novel Out of the Dust. Learners keep a timeline of the Dust Bowl, maintain a...

Keeping readers on track with John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath can present a challenge. A teacher's guide is packed with worksheets designed for each chapter of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, ideal for assessing comprehension as...

Encourage good reading habits with an activity that asks class members to examine the title and cover of Out of the Dust, and then make predictions about the setting of and events in the tale.  

As part of their study of Out of the Dust, readers create a biopoem for one of the characters in Karen Hesse's 1998 Newbery Medal winning verse novel.

Elementary pupils are introduced to the Great Depression as a critical period of hardship in United States history. They engage in collaborative assignments researching the Dust Bowl, the New Deal, US presidents, and presidential libraries.

Learn about the Dust Bowl through primary source analysis and related activities. Class members first read the provided historical background and then pretend they are leaders of the Last Man's Club in order to come up with at least four...

"And this you can know—fear the time when Manself will not suffer and die for a concept, for this one quality is man, distinctive in the universe." What is The Grapes of Wrath all about? Class members are asked to identify what they...

What's with that turtle anyway? In session six of a ten-part unit study of The Grapes of Wrath, class members examine three major symbols that appear in the novel: Route 66, the American West, and the Biblical allusions in the title of...

If your class needs a look at the causes of the Dust Bowl, you've found it. All the reasons the Dust Bowl occurred are provided: poor farming techniques, bad economics, and drought conditions. The eventual effects those had on the people...

Knowing about history is one thing, learning form it is another. Rather than just discuss the causes and effects of the Dust Bowl, this presentation discusses what we learned from the Dust Bowl. Presented are the types of agricultural...

Discuss life in the 1930s in relation to the Dust Bowl and Great Depression, then do a cross-media analysis. Here you'll find background information on film maker John Ford, writer John Steinbeck, and 1930s America. You can compare the...

Use this presentation to discuss the causes and effects of The Dust Bowl, or to establish a historical context for the book, The Grapes of Wrath. Found here are images, eye-witness quotes, and some ideas as to the causes and effects of...

If your class is reading the historical fiction novel, Out of the Dust, then you are in luck. Here are a few slides that will help you provide historical context for the book, as well as define main characters, setting, symbolism, and...

Play a Woodie Guthrie song while showing the class an image-filled presentation on the Dust Bowl. Intended for learners in the 4th or 5th grade, slides contain primary source photographs along with descriptions that contain highlighted...

Does The Grapes of Wrath hold as much relevance today as it did in the 1930s? Use this presentation to introduce John Steinbeck and one of his greatest novels. The author of this presentation encourages a connection between the Dust Bowl...