Standards Aligned Literature Grouping with Rationale Assignment

The Great Depression

Fiction Book 1 The Mighty Miss Malone by Christopher Paul Curtis


Curtis, Christopher Paul. The Mighty Miss Malone. Scholastic, 2014.

Lexile Level: 750L
Age/Grade Level: 6th grade
Summary:
As an African American growing up during the Great Depression, twelve year old Deza Malone and her family have had their share of misfortunes. Deza, her older brother Jimmie and their parents live in a rented apartment. Deza’s father can not find work and leaves the family to find a job. Without her father’s paycheck, the family is soon kicked out of their apartment so Deza’s mother decide they must go find her father. With no money, the Malones have to “ride the rails” and find themselves living in a “Hooverville” as they search for Deza’s father. Deza’s brother Jimmie is an amazing singer and leave his mother and sister to try and make it as a professional singer. Deza’s mother eventually lands a job and she and Deza are able to move into a shared apartment. Deza misses her brother and father and checks the post office every day hoping that one of them has written them a letter. As the weeks go by without a letter from her father or brother, Deza begins to fear that they will never see them again. Deza and her mother must find a way to navigate the world without them.

Fiction Book 2 Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse



Hesse, Karen. Out of the Dust. Scholastic Press, 1997.

Lexile Level: 1040L
Age/Grade Level: 6th grade

Summary
This book is written in verse. Billie Jo and her parents live on a farm during the dust bowl in Oklahoma. The entire town is struggling to survive in this harsh environment. Billie Jo wants to leave the town and the dust behind. When tragedy strikes her family, Billie Jo finds she can not leave the dust behind.

Standards

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.3
Describe how a particular story's or drama's plot unfolds in a series of episodes as well as how the characters respond or change as the plot moves toward a resolution.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.3
Analyze in detail how a key individual, event, or idea is introduced, illustrated, and elaborated in a text (e.g., through examples or anecdotes).

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.9
Compare and contrast texts in different forms or genres (e.g., stories and poems; historical novels and fantasy stories) in terms of their approaches to similar themes and topics.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.4
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.)

Goal:
Student will know what the great depression was and how it affected Americans, children in particular.

Objectives:
Students will understand the Great Depression and the ways life changed for American. (Cognitive)
Students will understand how the Great Depression affected children (Cognitive)
Students will be able to express the feelings a child may have during the Great Depression in a letter. (Affective)

Outcome:
Students will write a formal letter to Mrs. Roosevelt pretending to be either the main character from The Mighty Miss Malone or the main character from Out of the Dust.

Nonfiction Alignment 1

Dust to Eat: Drought and Depression in the 1930s by Michael L. Cooper


Cooper, Michael L. Dust to eat: drought and depression in the 1930s. Clarion Books, 2004.

Lexile Level: 1120L
This book gives a more personal account of what it was like to live in the dust bowl. The book combines factual information alongside personal narratives and pictures from this time period. Students will be able to understand what the Dust Bowl was and how it was related to The Great Depression.

Nonfiction Alignment 2 

An Album of the Great Depression by William Loren Katz



Katz, William Loren. An album of the great depression. Watts, 1979.

Lexile Level: 1120L
Students will understand what the Great Depression was. The book gives an in depth explanation on how the Great Depression affected Americans, not just children. Students will be able to have a better understanding of the issues facing Americans during this time period.

Nonfiction Alignment 3 

Children of the Great Depression by Russell Freedman


Freedman, Russell, Children of the Great Depression. Clarion Books, 2005

Lexile Level: 1170L
Students will be able to get a clearer picture of how the Great Depression affect children. The book combines factual information alongside personal narratives and pictures from this time period.The students can use the pictures in the book for the second activity.

Nonfiction Alignment 4

Dear Mrs. Roosevelt: Letters from Children of the Great Depression by Robert Cohen
Cohen, Robert, and Eleanor Roosevelt. Dear Mrs. Roosevelt: Letters from Children of the Great Depression. Univ. of North Carolina Press, 2005.
Students will be able to understand how the Great Depression affected children. After reading the letters to Mrs. Roosevelt, the students will have a better idea of what their letter to Mrs. Roosevelt should look like.

The following videos may also be used in conjunction with the nonfiction books.

History Brief: Daily Life in the 1930s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkAfjRolNCI&feature=youtu.be

An Overview of the Great Depression--A Child's Point of View
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNKa2qKOnAg

Children of the Great Depression
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QQhzWePqnw

Procedure
After reading the two books, The Mighty Miss Malone and Out of the Dust, students will begin to have an understanding of how the depression affected Americans, children in particular. Students will complete a character analysis for Deza Malone and Billie Jo.

Students will then read the first three nonfiction books. These books give a better idea of how the Great Depression affected Americans. As the students read each nonfiction book, they can begin to complete a graphic organizer as a way to record the important facts from each book. As they do this, the students should be starting to get the bigger picture about the Great Depression. The last book the students should read is Dear Mrs. Roosevelt: letters from children of the Great Depression. After reading this book, the students will be required to write their own letter to Mrs. Roosevelt. The students will pretend to be either Deza Malone or Billie Jo. They must write their letter to Mrs. Roosevelt explaining how the Great Depression has affected them. They must also think of one way their character’s life could have improved. In the letter, the students must include this information along with a request to Mrs. Roosevelt for help in making their life better.

An additional activity:

Student can choose one picture from either Dust to Eat: Drought and Depression in the 1930s by Michael L. Cooper or Children of the Great Depression by Russell Freedman. The students will analyze their chosen picture. They will then answer the following question:

What information does the picture tell us about the Great Depression?
What do you think the child’s life was like?

The students can then write a short essay explaining their thoughts.

Bibliography

andya405. YouTube, YouTube, 7 Dec. 2013, www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QQhzWePqnw.

Cohen, Robert, and Eleanor Roosevelt. Dear Mrs. Roosevelt: Letters from Children of the Great Depression. Univ. of North Carolina Press, 2005.

Cooper, Michael L. Dust to Eat: Drought and Depression in the 1930s. Clarion Books, 2004.

Curtis, Christopher Paul. The Mighty Miss Malone. Scholastic, 2014.

Freedman, Russell, Children of the Great Depression. Clarion Books, 2005

Hesse, Karen. Out of the Dust. Scholastic Press, 1997.

Katz, William Loren. An Album of the Great Depression. Watts, 1979.

“New Deal.” C3 Teachers, www.c3teachers.org/inquiries/new-deal/.

readingthroughhistory. “History Brief: Daily Life in the 1930s.” YouTube, YouTube, 25 Nov. 2015, www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkAfjRolNCI&feature=youtu.be.

“Teaching History.Org, home of the National History Education Clearinghouse.” Children's Letters to Mrs. Roosevelt | Teachinghistory.Org, teachinghistory.org/teaching-materials/lesson-plan-reviews/19089.

YouTube, YouTube, 26 Feb. 2013, www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNKa2qKOnAg.