I found a video on Discovery Education, that you can access HERE that follows the story of two families during the 1930s. One from Oklahoma, and one from Arkansas.
After learning about the decisions of thousands of farmers to pack up their belongings and move West, we had a class simulation of the same.
These were the guidelines of the activity:
Our farm in Oklahoma is covered in dust. We are losing the farm to foreclosure because we are unable to make a profit off the land. We are losing everything.
As a family,(yes, we are a large family… but family nonetheless!) we are heading west in search of a new life, new jobs, new opportunities.
WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO TAKE??
You have the clothes on your back, and we are heading out of town in the morning. Take only what you can carry.Then we had to do some imagining :) They had to pretend the conditions from the 1930's still applied to our simulation, but they could bring the items they actually own today in 2013.
On a small slip of paper, write down four essentials you CAN NOT live without.
I read the lists out at the end to see what things we were bringing with us. This is always entertaining to see who prepares for the journey with hygiene essentials like a toothbrush and deodorant (we are always thankful for the ones who remember those items). There are those who cant live without their phones, but some unlucky few who forget to pack their charger. I had several today bring guitars so we could sing campfire songs along the way :)
This was a fun way to end the discussion today! I hope they were able to in some small way understand the sacrifice of leaving many things behind to start anew.
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