The Library of Congress

Visions In the Dust: A Child's Perspective of the Dust Bowl Jan King and Rena Nisbet

Much of history is interpreted from an adult point of view. This unit helps students gain an understanding of Dust Bowl history through the eyes of a child. Using Karen Hesse’s Newbery Award-winning Out of the Dust as an introduction to this aspect of the Great Depression, students have the opportunity to identify with the personal experiences of youth in the 1930s. In addition, students examine primary source materials of the period to correlate the fictional text with actual visual, auditory, and manuscript accounts as found in the American Memory collections.

Step One: Accessing Prior Knowledge, Initial Reaction (1 class period)

1. As an introductory activity, use Images of the Great Depression and present students with these three images from America from the Great Depression to World War II: Black-and-White Photographs from the FSA and OWI, ca. 1935-1945:
   • Farm house: Dust piled up around farmhouse. Oklahoma.
   • Farmer's Son: Dust is too much for this farmer's son in Cimarron County, Oklahoma.
   • Topsoil: Stock watering hole almost completely covered by shifting topsoil. Cimarron County, Oklahoma.

2. Using Images of the Great Depression, ask students for:
   • their personal reactions to photographs;
   • knowledge gained from viewing photographs; and
   • questions to be answered during this unit.

Step Two: History Through Fiction (2-3 class periods)

1. Students read Out of the Dust, noting Billy Jo's experiences in the Dust Bowl.

2. Using the Guided Reading Journal, students keep a guided journal noting specific passages relating to:
   • school life
   • community life
   • family life
   • government assistance
   • agriculture

3. After reading the novel, as a group examine the cover of Out of the Dust, noting the photograph of Lucille Burroughs. She was used to visually depict Hesse's character, Billy Jo. Using the same photoanalysis technique in Step One, discuss with students the possible origins of the photograph. Why was this photograph used? After a brainstorming session, students can review the original image of Lucille Burroughs with its bibliographic record found in America from the Great Depression to World War II: Black-and-White Photographs from the FSA and OWI, ca. 1935-1945.

Step Three: Depicting the Text (3-4 class periods)

1. Using their Guided Reading Journal, students generate keywords and concepts for searching America from the Great Depression to World War II: Photographs from the FSA and OWI, ca. 1935-1945 collection for images that portray sections of free verse found in Hesse's Out of the Dust. Students locate photographs that represent meaningful passages from the novel.

2. After image selection, students compile a presentation (poster, collage, scrapbook, multimedia presentation, etc.) to be shared with others. The presentation should include the picture with the accompanying passage from the text.

Evaluation & Extension

• Students use Voices from the Dust Bowl: the Charles L. Todd and Robert Sonkin Migrant Worker Collection, 1940-1941 to look for songs that Billy Jo may have played on her piano or that Mad Dog Craddock and the Black Mesa Boys may have sung. (2-3 days)

• Students use American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers Project, 1936-1940 to compare the experiences of Billy Jo and her family to those in other parts of the nation during the Great Depression. (2-3 days)

• This lesson lends itself for use with other works of historical fiction teamed with other collections within American Memory.

• Classes could also read Christopher Paul Curtis’ Bud, Not Buddy to learn a Michigan child’s perspective of the Great Depression and compare it to Out of the Dust.