The Grapes of Wrath
Pre-reading Investigation of Historical Elements
Katie Bruemmer
Heyworth Jr/Sr High School
Fall 2012
Lange, Dorthea. Home of a Dust Bowl Refugee
In California, Imperial County. 1937.
FSA/OWI Collection.
Students will investigate historical context to support the study of the novel, The Grapes
of Wrath. The students will be divided into groups and each group will conduct research
about a particular topic and then “teach” the rest of the class the information.
Overview/ Materials/Historical Background/LOC Resources/Standards/
Procedures/Evaluation/Rubric/Handouts/Extension
Overview
Objectives
Recommended time frame
Grade level
Curriculum fit
Materials
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Students will:
 investigate a topic related to the reading of The
Grapes of Wrath.
 write a summary of their findings and add a visual
for support.
 create a display to share with the class.
 “teach” their classmates the information they have
learned.
2-3 class periods
11-12
AP Literature and Composition
LA4
 Computer Lab or Lap Tops
 Poster Board, Markers, Colored Pencils
 Activity Handout
 Major Works Data Sheet to record information
learned from other groups
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Illinois State Learning Standards
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CCSS.ELA-Literacy.
Reading Informational Text
RI9-10.7 Integration of Knowledge and Ideas:
Analyze various accounts of a subject told in different
mediums (e.g., a person’s life story in both print and
multimedia), determining which details are emphasized
in each account.
RI9-10.9 Integration of Knowledge and Ideas:
Analyze seminal U.S. documents of historical and
literary significance (e.g., Washington’s Farewell
Address, the Gettysburg Address, Roosevelt’s Four
Freedoms speech, King’s “Letter From Birmingham
Jail”), including how they address related themes and
concepts.
Writing
W9-10.2 Text Types and Purposes: Write
informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey
complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and
accurately through the effective selection, organization,
and analysis of content.
 W9-10.2.b Text Types and Purposes: Develop
the topic with well-chosen, relevant, and
sufficient facts, extended definitions, concrete
details, quotations, or other information and
examples appropriate to the audience’s
knowledge of the topic.
 W9-10.2.d Text Types and Purposes: Use
precise language and domain-specific
vocabulary to manage the complexity of the
topic.
Speaking and Listening
SL9-10.1 Comprehension and Collaboration: Initiate
and participate effectively in a range of collaborative
discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led)
with diverse partners on grades 9–10 topics, texts, and
issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their
own clearly and persuasively.
SL9-10.2 Comprehension and Collaboration:
Integrate multiple sources of information presented
in diverse media or formats (e.g., visually,
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quantitatively, orally) evaluating the credibility and
accuracy of each source
SL9-10.4 Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas:
Present information, findings, and supporting
evidence clearly, concisely, and logically such that
listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the
organization, development, substance, and style are
appropriate to purpose, audience, and task.
SL9-10.5 Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas:
Make strategic use of digital media (e.g., textual,
graphical, audio, visual, and interactive elements) in
presentations to enhance understanding of findings,
reasoning, and evidence and to add interest.
Language
L9-10.2 Conventions of Standard English:
Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard
English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when
writing.
CCSS ELA Standards for Literacy in History/Social
Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects
Reading History
RH9-10.1 Key Ideas and Details: Cite specific textual
evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary
sources, attending to such features as the date and origin
of the information.
RH9-10.2 Key Ideas and Details: Determine the
central ideas or information of a primary or
secondary source; provide an accurate summary of
how key events or ideas develop over the course of the
text.
Writing History
WHST9-10.6 Production and Distribution of
Writing: Use technology, including the Internet, to
produce, publish, and update individual or shared
writing products, taking advantage of technology’s
capacity to link to other information and to display
information flexibly and dynamically
WHST9-10.7 Research to Build and Present
Knowledge: Conduct short as well as more sustained
research projects to answer a question (including a
self-generated question) or solve a problem; narrow or
broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize
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multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating
understanding of the subject under investigation.
Procedures
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Day One:
 Students will need to be grouped into 5 separate
groups, based on number of students present.
 All students will be given a pre-reading work handout.
 Each group will choose a different topic for
research.
 Students will follow directions on hand-out to
research topic, find a representative visual and create
a summary, and prepare for a presentation.
Day Two:
 Students will return to the same groups they
established on day one.
 Students will continue to research, summarize and
create.
 Teacher should “check-in” with each group to
promote timely completion, answer questions and
guide students to helpful and useful resources.
Day Three:
 Students will present creations and summaries to the
rest of the class.
 Students in the “audience” will record pertinent
information into the background information on the
Major Works Data Sheet hand-out.
Evaluation
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

Extension
Students will be assessed based on workload,
presentations, sources, mechanics, content, oral
presentation, attractiveness, and organization of
writing.
Students will be assessed with a rubric to evaluate
all these categories.
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
Given that this activity is a pre-reading activity, a
post-reading activity could also be used that
compares the knowledge gained here to the
characters of the novel.
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Historical Background
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This assignment is meant to establish historical background information for the students.
I am assuming that they have studied the Dust Bowl and Great Depression to some extent
in US History. Most of the students in this course were previously enrolled in AP
American US History, and should have at least basic knowledge of this time period. My
goal with this assignment is that students spend more time investigating the people,
causes and effects within this era, in the hopes that they can relate their findings to the
novel.
Therefore, this assignment does not have background information, but serves to build
background information.
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Primary Resources from the Library of Congress
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Students will not be directed to specific spots at the Library of Congress website. They
will investigate for themselves and find visuals/audio that would be interesting and
appropriate for their group. The chart below shows the Library of Congress spots used to
prepare for this lesson. Students may find other great resources.
Description/Topic for
Investigation
Route 66
URL/Collection Title

The Great Depression


Highsmith (Carol M.) Archive

 FSA/OWI collection
Goldstein Foundation Collection--Prints and
Drawings
By the People, For the People: Posters from
the WPA, 1936-1943

The Dust Bowl
Agriculture and Technology
Migrant Workers
FSA/OWI collection

F.A. Pazandak Collection
 FSA/OWI Collection
 Voices from the Dust Bowl: The Charles L.
Todd and Robert Sonkin Migrant Worker
Collection
 Farm Security Administration
 Woody Guthrie and the Archive of American
Folk Song: Correspondence, 1940-1950
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Rubric
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Pre-reading Activity for The Grapes of Wrath
Teacher Name: Katie Bruemmer
Student Name:
________________________________________
CATEGORY
Presentation
5-4
Well-rehearsed
with smooth
delivery that holds
audience
attention.
Sources
Source information
collected for all
graphics, facts and
quotes. All
documented in
desired format.
No misspellings or
grammatical
errors.
Mechanics
3
Rehearsed with
fairly smooth
delivery that holds
audience attention
most of the time.
2
Delivery not
smooth, but able
to maintain
interest of the
audience most of
the time.
Source information Source information
collected for all
collected for
graphics, facts and graphics, facts and
quotes. Most
quotes, but not
documented in
documented in
desired format.
desired format.
Three or fewer
Four misspellings
misspellings and/or and/or
mechanical errors. grammatical
errors.
1
Delivery not
smooth and
audience attention
often lost.
Very little or no
source information
was collected.
More than 4 errors
in spelling or
grammar.
Content
Covers topic indepth with details
and examples.
Subject knowledge
is excellent.
Includes essential
knowledge about
the topic. Subject
knowledge appears
to be good.
Includes essential
information about
the topic but there
are 1-2 factual
errors.
Content is minimal
OR there are
several factual
errors.
Oral Presentation
Interesting, wellrehearsed with
smooth delivery
that holds
audience
attention.
Relatively
interesting,
rehearsed with a
fairly smooth
delivery that
usually holds
audience
attention.
Delivery not
smooth, but able
to hold audience
attention most of
the time.
Delivery not
smooth and
audience attention
lost.
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Workload
The workload is
divided and shared
equally by all team
members.
Attractiveness
Makes excellent
use of font, color,
graphics, effects,
etc. to enhance the
presentation.
Organization of
writing
Content is well
organized using
headings or
bulleted lists to
group related
material.
The workload is
divided and shared
fairly by all team
members, though
workloads may
vary from person
to person.
Makes good use of
font, color,
graphics, effects,
etc. to enhance to
presentation.
Uses headings or
bulleted lists to
organize, but the
overall
organization of
topics appears
flawed.
The workload was
divided, but one
person in the
group is viewed as
not doing his/her
fair share of the
work.
Makes use of font,
color, graphics,
effects, etc. but
occasionally these
detract from the
presentation
content.
Content is logically
organized for the
most part.
The workload was
not divided OR
several people in
the group are
viewed as not
doing their fair
share of the work.
Use of font, color,
graphics, effects
etc. but these
often distract from
the presentaion
content.
There was no clear
or logical
organizational
structure, just lots
of facts.
Teaching with Primary Sources
Illinois State University
Handouts
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Pre-reading Activities
The Grapes of Wrath
Dig deeply for some information related to the group topic. Create a poster/video related
to the group topic and write at least 3 paragraphs. Be ready to present to the class. Use
the links below or other useful resources. Use appropriate citations on the summary and
with any images or audio/video recordings.
For visuals:
http://www.loc.gov/index.html
For written information and summaries:
http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/patc/grapesofwrath/
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/dustbowl/
http://www.route-66-memories.com/history-route-66.htm
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&oe=UTF8&msa=0&msid=10309128853184
9454697.00000110c8a5f698f5e8b
Activity #1 Route 66: The Mother Road
Research and report on the construction, link to the Dust Bowl, music inspired by and/or
interesting and random tidbits associated with the Mother Road. Look for images of the
road’s beginning and end points, the people who used it, the communities that sprang up
around it and other landmarks.
Activity #2 Great Depression
Research the causes and effects of the Great Depression. Who was affected? How?
When? Find real examples, etc. For the purpose of this novel, look specifically at the
effects of the Great Depression on rural areas and the south and southwest.
Activity #3 Dust Bowl
Research the causes and effects of the Dust Bowl. Who, what where, when, why???
Consider both short and long term effects on people and agriculture. Look at the real life
examples. You will find some powerful images.
Activity #4 Agricultural technology and the Labor Force
Consider the changes in the job market as industrialization made certain jobs obsolete.
Relate this to the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. What are the pros and cons of
machines doing the work that humans once did? Focus on the early to mid-1900s in the
United States.
Activity #5 The Life of Migrants
During this era in American History, many individuals were forced to leave their land
and move in search of work. This life was often difficult involving poverty, hunger, lack
of resources, etc. Your classmates will be focusing on the why of this situation. Your
group needs to focus on the who—who were these people, what type of communities did
they form, what type of work did they do, what was their everyday life like?
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AP English: Literature and Composition
Major Works Data Sheet
Name____________________________________________________
Title__________________________
Author_______________________
Date of Publication_____________
Genre________________________
Biographical Information about the author:
Historical information about the
period of publication:
Characteristics of the genre:
Plot Summary:
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Extension Activity
Names_______________________________________
To Completed AFTER reading the novel
Now that you have been informed about life in the Dust Bowl Era and you have
completed the novel, make some connections between history and literature.
Topic
Connection to pre-reading
information: briefly
summarize the information
Connection to the Novel-be
specific, give page #
Route 66
The Dust Bowl
Agriculture/Industry
The Great Depression
Migrant Workers
Teaching with Primary Sources
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