US History · Week 20 · The Great Depression and World War II
Dust Bowl Migrants Come to California
Students study Dorothea Lange's photographs of Dust Bowl families arriving in California and consider how communities can welcome people in crisis.
- Students will
- Students use Dorothea Lange's photographs and maps to describe the Dust Bowl and the impact of its refugees on California, and consider how communities can welcome people in crisis.
- SEL skill
- Describe a newcomer's and a resident's perspective and suggest a way to help
- What it looks like
- Students practice empathy by considering the perspectives of newcomers and of established residents.
- Content focus
- Dust Bowl migrants come to California
- Format
- Partner exchange
Social awareness
Social awareness means understanding and caring about the feelings and perspectives of other people, including people whose lives are different from yours. More social awareness activities
What you get
A teacher guide with what to say, step by step, plus student pages and a supports page for students with diverse learning needs, including those with IEPs. Print or Project it, or assign it in Google Forms and Google Docs for Google Classroom. Your first 10 activities are free.
Standards
- 11.6.3: CA History Social Science Content Standard, Grade 11: United States History and Geography: Continuity and Change in the Twentieth Century (standard 11.6, item 3)
- CA HSS Analysis Skill: CST3 Use maps and documents to interpret human movement, settlement, frictions between groups, and the spread of ideas and goods. (Chronological and Spatial Thinking)
- C3 Framework (national): D2.Geo.12.9-12 Evaluate the consequences of human made and natural catastrophes on trade, politics, and migration.
- Literacy in history: RH.11-12.7 Integrate quantitative or technical analysis, such as charts and maps, with information in a text.
Fits these textbook chapters
- American History: Reconstruction to the Present, Module 9: The Great Depression
- History Alive! Pursuing American Ideals, Chapter 3: Setting the Geographic Stage
- History Alive! Pursuing American Ideals, Chapter 32: The Human Impact of the Great Depression
Textbook names are used only to help you find activities that fit what you teach. RoseThread Connect is not affiliated with these publishers.
More social awareness activities for US History
- Unalienable Rights, Unfinished Promises Social awarenessStudents read the Declaration of Independence alongside the experiences of enslaved people, women, and Native nations and consider how promises look different from different places.
- The Jungle and the Factory Floor Social awarenessStudents read excerpts from Upton Sinclair's The Jungle about working conditions and food safety and practice imagining daily life from a worker's point of view.
- Cities Built by Newcomers Social awarenessStudents map how immigrants and migrants built growing industrial cities divided by race, ethnicity, and class and practice noticing who might feel left out in a group.
- Braceros and the Valley Harvest Social awarenessStudents learn how the Bracero Program brought Mexican workers to California farms, including in the Coachella Valley, and express gratitude for the hands that feed the nation.
Previous: The Crash and the Human Toll · Next: New Deal Debates
RoseThread Connect activities are drafted with the help of AI and shaped by educators. Students never have to share anything personal. Our five SEL skills are informed by CASEL's SEL Framework; RoseThread Learning is not affiliated with or endorsed by CASEL.