Review of the Week of October 14-18, 2013

We are progressing very slowly through the text. The students are finding the reading challenging. They are learning to compare the novel to our present historical time. We have begun viewing the "Dust Bowl" documentary by Ken Burns. The students seemed to benefit from the primary source material offered by the dvd. I will continue to use this documentary as a way to enrich the reading and the class discussions. I like the fact that there are so many personal interviews and clips from home movies. The people in the documentary are real and their experience are palpable. I have also used the movie to enrich the reading of the book. Personally, this is more difficult as the movie leaves out material I want the students to learn. It seems that a daily review of the previous chapters has been a help to the students. Personally, I think the struggle that the students are in to read a classic and understand an experience different from their daily lives is worth the effort. Hoping everyone has a good weekend.