MUS 405 Lesson Plan Format Template

Name:
Grade:
Subject:

Amanda Rogowski
Fifth Grade
L.A/Writing: The Dust Bowl

Objective format: Students will be able to (insert action verb) (activity directly linked
to the standard)
Content Standard:
3. Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and
appreciate texts.
12. Students use written language to accomplish their own purposes.
Content Objective: Students will be able to analyze a variety of texts in order to
create their own song/poem or set of journal entries about the Dust Bowl.
Music Standard:
6. Listening to, analyzing, and describing music.
9. Understand music in relation to history and culture.
Music Objective: Students will be able to identify the style of music and the
instrument used, and analyze what the lyrics mean, after listening to the song "Dust
Bowl Blues."

Materials for Instruction: (links, books, supplies, handouts, etc.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQYKJaWuj0Y Dust Bowl Blues by Woody
Guthrie
The Great American Dust Bowl book by Don Brown
Below are the websites that I found the newspaper articles and journal entries
onFor this lesson, I would have many copies of each article or journal that
the students could take back to their seats to read.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/generalarticle/dustbowl-black-sunday/
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3401804814.html
Word doc with journal entries
These are some examples of journal entries that the students can write.
https://www.smore.com/9wz2q-the-hardest-years-of-the-dust-bowl
These are some examples of poems/songs that the students can write.
http://www.poetrysoup.com/poems/dust_bowl
A PowerPoint with pictures from the dust bowl.
2 rubrics, 1 checklist, 1 handout
Rationale for Instruction:
Why is it important that students learn this lesson? What will they gain from
this content?
This analysis of the Dust Bowl is important for students. This is an important
event in American History that impacted the area that we live in as well as
thousands of peoples lives. It is important to know the history of where we live
and why/how we do things now the way that we do. It will also allow students

to have a better understanding of the struggles people faced to survive

everyday life. The students will also learn a song that links to the Dust Bowl
and develop analytical and writing skills along the way.

How will the inclusion of music enhance the overall lesson and the other
subject matter?
By including music into the lesson, it enables students to utilize techniques to
interpret and analyze a variety of information. Throughout the lesson, the
students will get a sense of a common theme/tone that the Dust Bowl brought
forth. Dust Bowl Blues gives the students a more realistic view of how
people felt during that time. Listening to the song can help bring out and
make it easier to determine the tone of that event.

Teaching Process: (Introductory Activity, Body of Lesson, Closing Activity)

Introductory Activity: (Engage students, use questions) (Activity to
introduce concepts)

Read some of The Great American Dust Bowl to the class.

Discuss: What do you know about the Dust Bowl? When did this event occur in
history? Where did this event occur?

Body of Lesson: (Use multiple teaching strategies, multiple assessment

activities/opportunities, engaged and active learning)
Day 1:
1. Play the song Dust Bowl Blues. The students can work on the handout by
themselves during the song. If they dont get it all done during the song, I will
give them some time afterwards to talk with their elbow partner to complete
the handout. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQYKJaWuj0Y
2. After completing the handout, I will show the students many examples of
poems/songs/journal entries. I will also have copies of them that they can take
back to their desks as a reference. (Above)
3. The students will then decided which project they want do.
Day 2:
1. The students will start analyzing the examples I gave them. They may also do
some more research if needed to. This could be for whatever they need such
as more background on what the Dust Bowl was exactly or just more
examples of the type of project they chose.
2. The students will start to brainstorm ideas on what they want their
song/poem/journal entries to revolve around. They will begin jotting down
their ideas and putting them in order.
3. Once they have their ideas in order, they will create a rough draft.
Day 3:
1. I will split the class up into groups based on which project they chose to do.
Once they are in their groups, they will get into pairs, or if an odd number
groups of three. In these groups, they will edit each others project and give
feedback. They will also be using the rubrics for their specific project to help
give feedback and make sure their partner is on the right track.

2. After the students finish editing their partners project, they will return to their
desks to fix the mistakes and to continue building on and making their project
as best as it can be.
Day 4:
1. I will give them time to practice presenting and sharing. They will each find a
spot in the room or in the hallway to practice to themselves before sharing
with the class.
Closing Activity: (Bring it all together: Why did we do this lesson? What
was learned? Where is this going? What connections can be made?)

Students will share their song/poem or their series of journal entries with the
class. After they share their project, they will evaluate themselves with the
rubric and then turn that and their project in. I will not be grading them on
how they rated themselves, but just to see how they felt about their overall
project. I will then assess their project and give them feedback.
Moving forward, students can:
Examine the other states that the Dust Bowl affected. They can compare
those struggles with the struggles people in Kansas had.
Explore other songs about the Dust Bowl and analyze those songs.
Expand their song/poem or add more journal entries to the series they already
have.
Assessments: (How are you assessing? What are you assessing? What are
your goals for assessing? What were students gaining from assessment?)

Did each student answer the requirements that went along with listening to
the song?
Did each student create journal entry series, a song, or a poem that contained
their interpretation/their analysis of the song and journal entries that reflected
on the Dust Bowl?
For the L.A/Writing aspect of the lesson, I am assessing their understanding
with a rubric. This part of the lesson will be graded. I will have a rubric for the
journal entries that show the specific criterion that I am expecting them to
have in their project. I will also have a separate rubric for those who chose to
write a song or poem that has the specific criterion that I am expecting them
to have in their project. (Below)
For the Music aspect of the lesson, I am assessing their understanding with a
checklist. This part of the lesson will not be graded, but for me to make sure
they are working/paying attention and understanding the topic. I will have
three different things that I will be assessing on for the checklist. (Below)
The main goal for this lesson is for the students to learn about how the Dust
Bowl affected peoples lives during and after the event. I want them to get a
sense of how the Dust Bowl made them feel and the struggles they faced. I
want them to realize that the Dust Bowl occurred in the same area/same state
that they live in. With these projects, I want to see what they took away from
the lesson and to see if they could put themselves in someones shoes back
then.

Name: _____________________________

Dust Bowl Blues Analysis

1.

What style of music do you think Dust Bowl Blues is?

2.

________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________
What instruments did you hear in the song?

3.

________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________
Complete the Lyric Analysis.
Lyrics from the song

I just blowed in, and I got them dust bowl blues,

I just blowed in, and I got them dust bowl blues,
I just blowed in, and I'll blow back out again.
I guess you've heard about ev'ry kind of blues,
I guess you've heard about ev'ry kind of blues,
But when the dust gets high, you can't even see
the sky.
I've seen the dust so black that I couldn't see a
thing,
I've seen the dust so black that I couldn't see a
thing,
And the wind so cold, boy, it nearly cut your
water off.
I seen the wind so high that it blowed my fences
down,
I've seen the wind so high that it blowed my
fences down,
Buried my tractor six feet underground.
Well, it turned my farm into a pile of sand,
Yes, it turned my farm into a pile of sand,
I had to hit that road with a bottle in my hand.
I spent ten years down in that old dust bowl,
I spent ten years down in that old dust bowl,
When you get that dust pneumony, boy, it's time
to go.
I had a gal, and she was young and sweet,
I had a gal, and she was young and sweet,
But a dust storm buried her sixteen hundred
feet.
She was a good gal, long, tall and stout,
Yes, she was a good gal, long, tall and stout,

Your analysis of the words/

How did it make you feel (tone)

I had to get a steam shovel just to dig my darlin'

out.
These dusty blues are the dustiest ones I know,
These dusty blues are the dustiest ones I know,
Buried head over heels in the black old dust,
I had to pack up and go.
An' I just blowed in, an' I'll soon blow out again.