Grade Level: 5th grade

Materials Needed:

· 5 maps of the United States
· 5 atlases
· paper
· pencils
· crayons, markers, and colored pencils
· highlighters
 
 Objectives:
 
· 6.1 - Analyze the movement of people, goods, and ideas within and among the countries of the United States, Canada, and Latin America and between the Western Hemisphere and other places.
 
· 6.2- Compare ways in which people, goods, and ideas moved in the past in the United States, Canada, and Latin America with their movement today.
 
 
· 11.1  - Identify and describe changes which have occurred in ways of living in the United States, Canada, and Latin America.
 
· 11.3 Evaluate the effects of change on the lives of the people of the United States, Canada, and Latin America.
 
 Student’s Prior Knowledge: This lesson would be part of a series of lessons on the Great Depression.  Prior to this lesson, students will have already learned a great deal about the Great Depression including how life was like for people during this era. The students will have read the book The Dust Bowl   written by David Booth.  Students will have already had a discussion about the ideas presented in the book, including the Dust Bowl. Students will have learned where the dust bowl occurred, the main causes of it,  and the effects it had on people.
  Also the day before this lesson, student’s will have gone to the library and researched the Oklahoma Migration, also labeled the Okie Migration.  Students’ jobs will have been to research, where people migrated from to where they ended up. Students will also research what the conditions were like while migrating (students could also be given the websites listed below for information). Students should also bring any other resources they have found about the Okie migration.
 
 Focus and Review: For review, students will get into groups of four or five people. Each group will be given a map of the United States.  The group must then find the locations where the Dust Bowl occurred in the 1930s.  Then the group will write the locations onto a piece of paper, and also illustrate the locations.  Students will also review the conditions of the Dust Bowl and why they would want to leave these conditions.  Also, show students a clip from the movie “The Grapes of Wrath”.  Students will do a KWL about the clips I show from this movie. Students will fill out what they know about the Dust Bowl and what they want to know before they watch the clips from the movie. Then after the movie students will fill out what they learned about these clips.
 
Guided Practice:
· Students will stay in their groups, and get out their research from the previous day (see student’s prior knowledge).  Students will also have on their desks the maps of the United States and an atlas.
· Next they will plot a route from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma to Bakersfield, California.  Students will highlight the route on their maps.  Explain this is a route that many people during the Dust Bowl might have taken to escape the horrible conditions that plagued the people during the Dust Bowl.  Tell children this is the route you would take today to get to Bakersfield from Oklahoma, and it would be similar to the route they would have taken in 1930.
· Groups will then plan an itinerary or a traveler’s guidebook for their trip. Students will base their itinerary as if they were people in the 1930’s taking this trip. Students will need to make a list of supplies that they will need on their journey, such as food, transportation, clothing, etc.  Students will also plan how long the journey would have taken in the 1930s.  Students will also list were they will be at a certain time of the day. For example, October 15, 1935  2:00 p.m. - Albuquerque, New Mexico.  Students would also list certain activities they would engage in during this migration, such as cooking food on a campfire, sleeping on the ground or in the car, etc.  Students can also add any other things in their guidebook they think is relevant to the trip.

 Independent Practice: Individually students would make up a creative
 fiction story told from a narrative viewpoint, about what life might be like while migrating to California.
 
 Summarize: Some questions I will ask during the:
 
 Focus and Review:
· Why do you think the Dust Bowl was located in that region?
· What were the main causes of the Dust Bowl?
· What were conditions like during the Dust Bowl?
· Would you want to leave? Why?
· What type of place would you want to migrate to? Why?
 
 Guided Practice:
· Why do you think people traveled this particular route? Why didn’t they go a different way?
· Would it be easier to travel this route in the year 2000 or in the year 1935? Why?
· Why would you need to bring supplies on the trip?
· What were conditions like while traveling?
· What do you think the economic situation was during this time? Why?
· Why did you choose the supplies that you did?

Assessment: Students will answer a quick question on a piece of paper. The question will be-What caused people to migrate from Oklahoma to California?

Web sites for students and teachers to use:

Surviving the Dust Bowl: This web site has a great deal of information about the dust bowl including a timeline and a video. (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/dustbowl/dustbowl)

American Cultural History 1930-1939 :  This web site gives a lot of information about the 1930s. It includes information about education, music, and art in the 1930s.  There are also many links and references to other information about this era. (http://www.nhmccd.edu/contracts/lrc/kc/decade30.html)

Route 66: Cruising the American Dream:  This web site is a series of pictures and facts about the migration to California from Oklahoma. (http://www.cis.yale.edu/amstud/r66/ok1.html)