Before reading the anchor novel Of Mice and Men in my
eighth grade classroom, I found it imperative to create an anticipatory set
which deeply explores the time period of the novel, which takes place in the
Great Depression era. To understand the plight of the characters, George and
Lennie, who are two migrant farmers forced to lead a transient life in order to
attempt to make a decent living. Without having an understanding of the
economic hardships which were caused by both the Great Depression as well as
the Dust Bowl, the novel loses its value as a critical social commentary.
To begin, I would want my students to access information
regarding both the Dust Bowl as well as the Great Depression so as to create a
backdrop for the novel. I would begin my lesson with a “flipped classroom” in
which students will be assigned to watch a segment from the PBS documentary Surviving the Dust Bowl as well as a
scene from the film adaptation of Steinbeck’s novel Grapes of Wrath. These videos would be assigned to be viewed at
home, while students will also create three thought provoking discussion
questions based on the two videos. The discussion questions will be shared with
me via Google Drive, while every student at my middle school has a functional
Google Account which they use for submitting work as well as collaboration,
ect.
I will project the discussion questions which the students
submit to me on the Smart Board, which will serve as the guiding topics of
discussion. The class will conduct a “four corners” activity in which each
corner of the room represents an opinion, either strongly agree, agree,
disagree or strongly disagree. I will then pose a discussion question using the
Smart Board, which students will respond to by physically standing in the
corner which represents their opinion in regards to the question. I will then
ask each corner why they chose the stance that they did, which will spur both discussion
as well as debate.
Next, the class will listen to a radio segment from NPR
called Is the American Dream Attainable?
Young People Struggle to Move up the Economic Ladder. I will also provide a
written copy of the segment so that students can follow along as they listen to
the broadcast- both auditory as well as visual learners will be able to engage
in the lesson by providing both the audio as well as the written version. The
purpose of the segment is to define what the “cost of living” means, as well as
to see how it is difficult for many to live comfortably when the cost of living
is high. By examining the cost of living during today’s economic downturn, I
hope students will be able to compare and contrast that of the struggles of
those who lived through the Great Depression.
In order to connect the past and now, I will have students
conduct a web-quest in which they will find the prices of the following items
today and during the Great Depression: a gallon of milk, a gallon of gas, a
loaf of bread, a new car, and the average cost of a four year college. I will
also have students research the average annual salary of a migrant farmer, a
public school teacher, as well as a doctor, both today and during the Great
Depression. Students will use laptop computers as well as the books which reside
in the classroom for the information needed to conduct the web-quest.
To put it all together, students will work in groups to
collaborate and create a holistic way to present their findings. Students can
use Power Point, Story Board, Prezi, or any other presentation format which
they will use to organize their information in a way which will be efficient
for presenting and essentially teaching the class. Their final project will be
displayed on the Smart Board, while student explain their findings to the
class. Following the presentations, a large class discussion will ensue which
aims to restate the meaning of “Cost of Living”, and how its fluctuation
greatly alters people’s ability to attain economical stability. Class
discussion will consider the cost of the researched commodities, as well as
compare the annual earnings of a farmer, teacher and doctor. Not only will
these comparisons serve as a basic mechanism to comprehending the disparity in
earnings, but also exemplify the high cost of necessary commodities which, in
turn creates a high “cost of living”.