RESOURCE COLLECTION: Teaching 'The Grapes of Wrath' With The New York Times

[Ryan Goble]

Another great resource collection from the New York Times Learning Network

August 19, 2010, 1:59 PM
Teaching ‘The Grapes of Wrath’ With The New York Times
By KATHERINE SCHULTEN


“The bank is something more than men, I tell you. It’s the monster. Men made it, but they can’t control it.”
–From “The Grapes of Wrath,” Chapter 5

Though “The Grapes of Wrath” has been a staple of the high school curriculum for years, the current “Great Recession” is making it more relevant than ever — for English and history classes.

Do you teach this novel? How do you approach it? Please share your ideas and experiences below.

Lesson Plans

Lessons About Drought, Disasters and the Dust Bowl:

• Dust in the Wind
  Investigating the causes and effects of droughts.
• Waste Not, Want Not
  Learning about droughts to prepare public information campaigns supporting water conservation.
• A Disaster in the Making
  Investigating the transformative effect of infamous U.S. natural disasters.

Lessons About the Recession and the Great Depression:

• An Arm and a Leg
  Considering the ways the recession is affecting the U.S. economy and families.
• The Shape of Things to Come?
  Conducting interviews to discover how historical, cultural and economic events shape generations.
• Tell Me Something Good
  Investigating what draws viewers to the movie theater in difficult economic times.
• A Tale of Two Leaders
  Comparing the economic challenges that faced the United States in 1933 to those the nation is facing today.

Lessons About Workers and Workers’ Rights:

• All Work and No Pay Makes Workers Angry
  Studying the rights of workers and employers to draft chapters of a book examining labor laws in the U.S.
• Unionized We Stand
  Researching the history, power and purpose of unions in the U.S.
• Let Freedom Ring
  A collaboration between LaGuardia Community College, the Wagner Archives and the New York Times, this curriculum is about how farm workers have struggled for economic freedom.

Other Related Lessons:

• A New New Deal?
  Exploring the history of the Works Progress Administration.
• All Across America
  Creating travel guides based that use both historical and current data.
• A New New Deal?
  Exploring the history of the Works Progress Administration.
• Do the Write Thing
  Preparing newspaper articles that honor classic authors.
• 10 Ways to Use The New York Times for Teaching Literature

Explore the entire resource collection (and a great video from A.O. Scott) here.