Riding the Rails – The Great Depression

Riding the Rails – The Great Depression Setting, Paradox, Dream Gallery Walk

Bell Work • Hand in your writing to argue paragraph. • Create a KWL sheet on your own paper!

Videos to Prepare Context • Depression Info • FDR Recovery • Riding the Rails PBS

Notes for Gallery walk • View each image. • Share key features. • Ask one question. • Make observations and write down what is shared about the 1930’s. • Choose one word to associate with each image. The word must be different for each image.

Before reading: In the space to the left of each statement, place a check mark (√) if you agree or think the statement is true. • ___1. Believing that an unhappy situation is only temporary makes it more bearable. • ___2. Feeling responsible for someone can be a burden. • ___3. Men will not allow their friends to become burdens. • ___4. Women need friends more than men do. • ___5. It is more acceptable for women to love their female friends than it is for men to love their male friends. • ___6. Of the many feelings that hurt – grief, anger, resentment, jealousy, loneliness – loneliness hurts the most. • ___7. If a person has a dream to cling to, s/he can survive against the odds. • ___8. Society cannot defeat us; a flaw within our own personality can. • ___9. Dreaming is for dreamers, and dreamers go nowhere. Be real. • ___10. There are times when euthanasia (mercy killing) can be justified. Explain Why… • Pick any statement that you checked above and explain WHY you support that idea, belief or statement. Your explanation should be 3 to 5 sentences.

Time Period: 1929-1941 Library of Congress Themes: the Great Depression, the New Deal, railroads, economics, homelessness At the height of the Great Depression, more than a quarter million teenagers were living on the road in America, many criss-crossing the country by illegally hopping freight trains. This film tells the story of ten of these teenage hobos; from the reasons they left home to what they experienced, all within the context of depression-era America.

Before Watching • What do students know about homelessness today? What are some of the reasons for homelessness? Why do you think people were homeless in the 1930s? Would teenagers have different reasons for being homeless than adults, both in the past and today? • What do students think of when they hear the word "hobo"? How do they define hobo? Are there still hobos today?

After Watching • Write down: • 10 quotations to support your future writing about the documentary. • 5 interesting facts • 2 dates and their details • 1 narrative or story shared – include the speakers name

Example Notes from Film • Quotes: • Clarence Lee, “My dad told me to ‘go fend for myself, I cannot afford you anymore.’” • “You are going to get their and try to better yourself.” • “You are young and foolish and you don’t say you made mistakes. You made your bed now you gotta stay in it.” • “Scrabble ass poor.” • “Young people had no support what so ever.” • “Somebody out there needs us, to hell they did.” • “Relied on the charity of farmers.” • “We would fantasize what we would do with a dollar. I said I’d eat half a dozen burgers.” • “The women in the towns wanted nothing to do with us.” • “The jungle was just a place in the woods to stay until you could get your next train ride.”

Examples from the film • 5 facts: • 5 minutes or less for a quick crew change was all travelers had to get on a train. • If caught riding the rails you would go straight to a corrupted jail. • Some road the rails to make money. Some road the rails for the adventure. • Authorities were treating kids worse than bum adults so that they would go home. • Local police would deny medical help. • 2 dates: • 1932 – public outrage over freight riding • 1934 – the jungles offered shelter, but could be dangerous • 1 Narrative: • Jim Mitchell, the depression was the “first time I ever saw my dad cry.” He had lost his job and pride. He could not support his family.

After Watching • Read the poem, “To a Mouse.” • The title of the novel came from this poem. Why do you think that is? Use support from the poem and analyze the meaning of the poem. • Find an article associated with novel (Of Mice and Men). • Review slides 23 and 24 as an example of your presentation. • Review slide 25 for tips on what to do during your presentations next week. • Following, write a writing to inform paragraph on the 1930s.

To A Mouse by Robert Burns • 1. Read the poem To A Mouse by Robert Burns Poem Audio • 2. What is this poem is about? (Please ask if you need help deciphering this poem) • 3. To the best of your ability, write a new translation of the 7th stanza. It does not have to rhyme, but put it in your own words- in language that you are familiar with. • 7th Stanza: Your Translation: But Mouse, you are not alone, In proving foresight may be vain: The best laid schemes of mice and menGo often askew, And leaves us nothing but grief and pain, For promised joy! • 4. This poem was written in 1785, about 150 years before Of Mice and Men was written. According to Wikipedia, as the legend goes, Burns wrote the poem after, as the poem suggests, turning up the winter nest of a mouse on his farm. John Steinbeck took the title of his book from the 7th stanza of this poem. Why, do you think, did he choose these words for his title?

To A Mouse by Robert Burns That small bit heap of leaves and stubble,Has cost you many a weary nibble!Now you are turned out, for all your trouble,Without house or holding,To endure the winter's sleety dribble,And hoar-frost cold.But Mouse, you are not alone,In proving foresight may be vain:The best laid schemes of mice and menGo often askew,And leaves us nothing but grief and pain,For promised joy!Still you are blest, compared with me!The present only touches you:But oh! I backward cast my eye,On prospects dreary!And forward, though I cannot see,I guess and I fear Small, sleek, cowering, timorous beast,O, what a panic is in your breast!You need not start away so hastyWith hurrying scamper!I would be loath to run and chase you,With murdering plough-staff.I'm truly sorry man's dominionHas broken Nature's social union,And justifies that ill opinionWhich makes thee startleAt me, thy poor, earth born companionAnd fellow mortal! I doubt not, sometimes, but you may steal;What then? Poor beast, you must live!An odd ear in twenty-four sheavesIs a small request;I will get a blessing with what is left,And never miss it.Your small house, too, in ruin!It's feeble walls the winds are scattering!And nothing now, to build a new one,Of coarse grass green!And bleak December's winds coming,Both bitter and keen!You saw the fields laid bare and wasted,And weary winter coming fast,And cozy here, beneath the blast,You thought to dwell,Till crash! the cruel plough pastOut through your cell.

Human Paragraph • Get in to a group of 5 or 6. • Write a writing to inform paragraph on what is known about living, working, or just surviving in the 1930s. Use your cards! • Topic Sentence • Explanation • Example • Elaboration • Elaboration • Red Bow Conclusion

Homework • Come to class on Tuesday with an article, book, text, picture, song, or other article and explain how this relates to the 1930’s or supports the setting of the 1930’s in America. • The information you have will be presented to the class. You will not be allowed to simply stare and read from your information. It needs to be formatted ahead of time for quick readability.

Teacher Example Presentation Notes • I chose to investigate grocery prices for the depression era. I chose this because I am the provider for my household and often investigate what things cost and look to save money. I found that for the previous list of money it was only $2.34 cents. I decided to use a recipe that was common during the Depression to see what that shopping list would cover in preparation of the recipe. I also assumed I would need large amounts to feed the family. I took information from sources that shared that the average wages for a production worker in the 1930’s was about 16.83 as that was more than a teacher in the 1930s. At a six-day work week, I only made $2.40 per day to support a family (assuming no taxes and/or deductions existed). For myself to make the following meal it was determined that it would be roughly 43 cents. This is approximately 18% of my daily wages would be spent on feeding my family one meal. This leaves little room for other expenses and truly helped me to see the problems of the great depression and its impacts on families. The modern day equivalent of 18% of my daily income on food would be nearly $20 per poor man’s meal. I know I will definitely consider this information before my next experience of going out to eat, will you? Poor Man's Casserole (4 servings)1 small head of cabbage • 2 large potatoes • 1 large onion, diced • 1 1/2 pounds of hamburger • 1 teaspoon cumin • 1/2 stick butter or margarine • 1/2 teaspoon salt, more or less. depending on taste • pepper to taste • dash of paprika

Presentations • Do not read off your article or source! • Be prepared! • Speak loudly and clearly! • Make eye contact. • Stand up straight, stop wiggling! • Be confident! Fake it until you make it. • Have a visual aid/use the hovercam.

Riding the Rails – The Great Depression