Grapes of Wrath WebQuest

The Grapes of Wrath WebQuest

Introduction:

After reading The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck you should have an understanding about the hardships that the Joad family faced as a result of the Dust Bowl in the 1930's. Now imagine that a severe drought hit the midwest today. In this webquest you will be exploring the possible impacts a natural disaster like the Dust Bowl would have on modern day America. How would this impact your way of life?

Task:

Students will work in groups of 2 to research, plan, hypothesize, write, and present what they think life would be like for them if the Dust Bowl were to happen today. Would your lifestyle be effected? What sort of hardships would people face in everyday life? How would the rest of the country react? Would there be masses of people migrating to a certain part of the country? Remember to base decisions on what you read in The Grapes of Wrath and the various sites that are linked to this page.

Top

Procedure:

Your group will have a variety of jobs to do that will lead up to the final assignment of presenting to the class what life would be like if the Dust Bowl happened today.

1. Brainstorm and make a list of the everyday hardships that the Joad family faced in The Grapes of Wrath.
2. Make a list of how people's daily tasks and chores changed during the Dust Bowl of the 1930's. Make this list based on information from the sites listed below:

Voices From the Dust Bowl website
The Migrant Experience website

The American Experience - Surviving the Dust Bowl website

3. Research the following sites on migration into the United States and hypothesize and write down how you think the government would react if the Dust Bowl happened today. This should be written in five paragraph essay form.

Farm Labor: Twenty-First Century Challenges website
Welfare Dustbowl website

Drought is Hell website

Subsidy Failure Challenges Traditional Notions of Farming website

4. Imagine you are living through a modern day Dust Bowl. Write in journal entry form the hardships you would face in one week. You should have seven journal entries, one for every day of the week. Each entry should be two to three paragraphs long. You should base this off of the research you did for the tasks listed above.

5. Listen to and analyze the lyrics to Bruce Springsteen's song "The Ghost of Tom Joad". Write the lyrics to a song (any melody you like) in which you tell about another character from the The Grapes of Wrath living in modern day America.

6. Your group will have a five to ten minute in class presentation on what life would be like for you and your family if there was a modern day Dust Bowl.

Top

Resources:

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

Welfare Dustbowl website

The American Experience - Surviving the Dust Bowl website

The Migrant Experience website

Farm Labor: Twenty-First Century Challenges website

Voices From the Dust Bowl website

Drought is Hell website

Subsidy Failure Challenges Traditional Notions of Farming website

Top

Conclusion:

After completing this webquest you should have a basic understanding of the Dust Bowl of the 1930's, and basis of John Steinbeck's novel The Grapes of Wrath. In addition, you have analyzed aspects of a classic piece of American literature and related it to your own society. Finally, you have practiced writing skills similar to those that Steinbeck used in his novel, and you have presented the information that you found and developed in a large groups setting.

Top

Evaluation:

Research Report: Grapes of Wrath

Teacher name: Kreft

Student's Names ___________________

CATEGORY

4

3

2

1

Organization

Information is very organized with well-constructed paragraphs and subheadings.

Information is organized with well-constructed paragraphs.

Information is organized, but paragraphs are not well-constructed.

The information appears to be disorganized.

Amount of Information

All topics are addressed and all questions answered with at least 2 sentences about each.

All topics are addressed and most questions answered with at least 2 sentences about each.

All topics are addressed, and most questions answered with 1 sentence about each.

One or more topics were not addressed.

Quality of Information

Information clearly relates to the main topic. It includes several supporting details and/or examples.

Information clearly relates to the main topic. It provides 1-2 supporting details and/or examples.

Information clearly relates to the main topic. No details and/or examples are given.

Information has little or nothing to do with the main topic.

Mechanics

No grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors.

Almost no grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors

A few grammatical spelling, or punctuation errors.

Many grammatical, spelling, or punctuation errors.

Notes

Notes are recorded and organized in an extremely neat and orderly fashion.

Notes are recorded legibly and are somewhat organized.

Notes are recorded.

Notes are recorded only with peer/teacher assistance and reminders.

TOP

If you have any comments or questions concerning this site contact webmaster

CATEGORY	4	3	2	1
Organization	Information is very organized with well-constructed paragraphs and subheadings.	Information is organized with well-constructed paragraphs.	Information is organized, but paragraphs are not well-constructed.	The information appears to be disorganized.
Amount of Information	All topics are addressed and all questions answered with at least 2 sentences about each.	All topics are addressed and most questions answered with at least 2 sentences about each.	All topics are addressed, and most questions answered with 1 sentence about each.	One or more topics were not addressed.
Quality of Information	Information clearly relates to the main topic. It includes several supporting details and/or examples.	Information clearly relates to the main topic. It provides 1-2 supporting details and/or examples.	Information clearly relates to the main topic. No details and/or examples are given.	Information has little or nothing to do with the main topic.
Mechanics	No grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors.	Almost no grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors	A few grammatical spelling, or punctuation errors.	Many grammatical, spelling, or punctuation errors.
Notes	Notes are recorded and organized in an extremely neat and orderly fashion.	Notes are recorded legibly and are somewhat organized.	Notes are recorded.	Notes are recorded only with peer/teacher assistance and reminders.