Out of the Dust- Karen Hesse

Hesse, Karen(Author). Out of the Dust   [OUT OF THE DUST] [Paperback]. New York: Scholastic, 1999. Print

Summary

Out of the Dust is the story of a young girl and her family living in Oklahoma during the Dust Bowl in 1934. Billie Jo tells her story in free verse about the tragedy and triumph her family overcomes, all the while trying to achieve her own goal of becoming a musician.

Key Words and Phrases:

• The Dust Bowl
• Drought
• Poverty
• Grief
• Determination and perserverence

Electronic Resources:

• The Dust Bowl
• This website contains facts and information on the Dust Bowl and explains the impact of it. It includes facts about droughts and has crossword puzzles, word searches, etc...to support student knowledge of the Dust Bowl.
• Scholastic
• Students and teachers alike can use the Scholastic Book Website to find several activities to build upon reading Out of the Dust. For example: students can use sample writing prompts, vocabulary builder, discussion questions, and author information.

Teaching Suggestions:

• Key vocabulary that should be taught prior to reading:
•  Historical background on the Dust Bowl and droughts
• Free verse poetic structure
• Poverty
• Before reading:
• The teacher can use modeling to briefly describe the book and along with students can preview the text for content and structure. A KWL chart can be used to analyze the Dust Bowl.
• During reading:
• Students can continue their KWL chart as they learn about the Dust Bowl. They can use explicit examples from the book to describe traits and characteristics of the Dust Bowl.
• Writing Response (after reading)
• Students can write their own free verse poem in the same structure that Billie Jo used in the novel. They could also write a journal entry as if they were living in the Dust Bowl using what they have learned about it from reading. They could even use free verse to write this entry.