Songs for the People

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LESSON 19 TEACHER’S GUIDE Songs for the People by Darleen Ramos Fountas-Pinnell Level P Biography Selection Summary Woody Guthrie was a folk singer and award-winning writer of over 1,000 songs, including “This Land Is Your Land.” Listeners related to his songs of Depression-era America, songs that told of the beauty of America and of the spirit and struggle of working Americans. Number of Words: 871

Characteristics of the Text Genre • Biography Text Structure • Third-person narrative • Brief introduction, followed by nine sections detailing Guthrie’s life and musical career • Final section discussing Guthrie’s living legacy and summarizing important events in his life Content • Woody Guthrie’s life and music • The Great Depression and the Dust Bowl Themes and Ideas • People are moved by songs that relate to their lives. • Music that moves people’s hearts is timeless. • Music and poetry can uplift people’s lives in difﬁ cult times. Language and • Clear, straightforward presentation Literary Features • Informal language; some contractions • Rich in facts and details Sentence Complexity • Long, complex sentences, often followed by short declarative sentences • Introductory phrases; embedded clauses, subordinate clauses Vocabulary • Words and phrases associated with the Depression: Dust Bowl, drought, camps Words • Few multisyllable words: songwriters, Depression, Oklahoma, California • Adverbs: Thankfully, unfortunately, truly • Place names: Pampa, Texas; Queens, New York Illustrations • Historic photographs with captions Book and Print Features • Thirteen pages of text, most with photographs • Timeline chart © 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H.

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4_305325_BL_LRTG_L19_SongsForPeople.indd 1 11/4/09 11:36:00 PM Songs for the People by Darleen Ramos Build Background Help students use their knowledge of music to visualize the story. Build interest by asking questions such as the following: Do you know the song “This Land Is Your Land”? What is it about? Tell students that they are going to read about the songwriter who wrote it, a famous folk singer who wrote over 1,000 songs. Read the title and author, and talk about the cover photograph. Tell students that this is a biography of the songwriter Woody Guthrie. It is about his life and work and the world he lived in.

Introduce the Text Guide students through the text, noting important ideas and helping with unfamiliar language and vocabulary so they can read the text successfully. Here are some suggestions: Page 2: The text says Woody Guthrie was one of the most brilliant songwriters and storytellers of our time. Ask: What is another word that means brilliant? Page 5: Explain that Woody grew up during the Depression–a difﬁ cult time for farmers and others. Ask them what they notice about the land in the photograph. Page 7: During the Depression, the soil turned to dust in large areas of Texas and Oklahoma called the Dust Bowl. Ask: What effect do you think the drought had on the people who lived in the region? Page 9: After Woody moved to California, he liked to dedicate his songs to the people he had met in his travels. Ask: What does it mean to dedicate a song to someone? Now go back to the beginning and read to ﬁ nd out what happened to Woody Guthrie and how he became a successful musician.

Target Vocabulary

association – a group of people confl icts – problems or horizon – the place at which the offi cially organized for a certain disagreements between earth and sky meet purpose people, p. 3 overcome – to solve or conquer a brilliant – very bright, p. 2 dedicate – to devote to a special diffi culty capitol – a building in which a purpose, p. 9 publicity – information given out government meets to create drought – a time when there is to get the public’s attention law, p. 14 little or no rain, p. 7 violence – the use of physical force to cause harm

Grade 4 2 Lesson 19: Songs for the People © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

44_305325_BL_LRTG_L19_SongsForPeople.indd_305325_BL_LRTG_L19_SongsForPeople.indd 2 77/28/09/28/09 44:49:42:49:42 PPMM Read Have students read silently while you listen to individual students read aloud. Support their understanding of the text as needed.

Remind students to use the Infer/Predict Strategy and to think about what the text suggests, or hints at, and make predictions about what will happen.

Discuss and Revisit the Text Personal Response Invite students to share their personal responses to the biography. Suggested language: What songs do you know that tell stories? How did Woody’s music tell the stories of working Americans?

Ways of Thinking As you discuss the text, help students understand these points: Thinking Within the Text Thinking Beyond the Text Thinking About the Text • Woody grew up in the • Woody used his talent to help • Historic photographs help Depression and ﬂ ed the Dust others face tough times. readers understand the tragedies Bowl. of the Great Depression and • Talent, combined with hard work Dust Bowl. • Woody wrote songs about and a desire to help others, wins America and the spirit and out against hard times. • Headings help readers organize struggles of working Americans. information about Guthrie’s life. • Music that touches people’s • Woody was an award-winning hearts and lives is timeless. • A timeline chart summarizes songwriter, whose most famous important events in Woody’s life song was “This Land Is Your and their chronology. Land.”

Choices for Further Support • Fluency Invite students to choose a passage from the text for a readers’ theater in which they demonstrate phrased ﬂ uent reading. Remind them to read with expression as they address the sequence of problems and solutions presented by the narrative. • Comprehension Based on your observations of the students’ reading and discussion, revisit parts of the text to clarify or extend comprehension. Remind students to go back to the text to support their ideas. • Phonics/Word Work Call attention to the term capitol in the ﬁ rst sentence on page 14. Point out that it is followed by building. Explain that a capital city or capital letter is spelled with an “a.” A capitol building is spelled with an “o.” One way to remember this is to picture the dome of the capitol building in Washington, D.C. It is shaped like an “o.”

Grade 4 3 Lesson 19: Songs for the People © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

4_305325_BL_LRTG_L19_SongsForPeople.indd 3 11/4/09 11:36:05 PM Writing about Reading

Critical Thinking Have students complete the Critical Thinking questions on BLM 19.7.

Responding Have students complete the activities at the back of the book, using their Reader’s Notebook. Use the instruction below as needed to reinforce or extend understanding of the comprehension skill.

Target Comprehension Skill Persuasion Remind students that one purpose for writing is to persuade. The author of Woody Guthrie’s biography seeks to persuade readers that his songs and stories inspired people during the Depression. Model how to add details to the Graphic Organizer, using a “Think Aloud” like the one below:

Think Aloud The author’s goal is to persuade the reader to believe that Woody Guthrie’s songs inspired many people. She notes that Woody wrote about the spirit of America’s working people. That’s a reason she uses to persuade.

Practice the Skill Encourage students to share a biography they have read about another important person and tell what they think the author was trying to persuade them to think about that person.

Writing Prompt: Thinking Beyond the Text Have students write a response to the prompt on page 6. Remind them that when they think beyond the text, they use their personal knowledge to reach new understandings.

Assessment Prompts • Which words on page 7 help the reader understand what Dust Bowl means? • In the third sentence on page 9, what does the word dedicate mean? • Where was Woody Guthrie living when he recorded his ﬁ rst album?

Grade 4 4 Lesson 19: Songs for the People © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

4_305325_BL_LRTG_L19_SongsForPeople.indd 4 11/4/09 11:36:11 PM English Language Development Reading Support Pair advanced and intermediate readers to read the selection softly, or have students listen to the audio or online recordings. Remind them that Woody grew up in the Depression and ﬂ ed the Dust Bowl.

Vocabulary The text includes some idioms that might be unfamiliar. Explain the difference between the literal and idiomatic meanings of the expressions make money (page 4), good old days (page 8), and run down (page 10).

Oral Language Development Check student comprehension, using a dialogue that best matches your students’ English profi ciency level. Speaker 1 is the teacher, Speaker 2 is the student. Beginning/Early Intermediate Intermediate Early Advanced/ Advanced Speaker 1: How did Woody travel? Speaker 1: What did Woody do when he Speaker 1: Why did Woody write traveled around California? songs about people he met who Speaker 2: on freight trains had fl ed the Dust Bowl? Speaker 2: He met other people who had Speaker 1: What instrument did he fl ed the Dust Bowl and wrote songs to Speaker 2: Woody wrote songs play? tell their stories. about people who fl ed the Speaker 2: a guitar Dust Bowl because he wanted Speaker 1: Why did Woody become so everyone to know how much Speaker 1: What is his most famous famous as a folk-song writer? their fellow Americans were song? Speaker 2: He was a poet of the people, suffering. Speaker 2: “This Land Is Your Land” whose timeless songs tell of the spirit of working Americans.

Lesson 19 BLACKLINE MASTER 19.7 Name Date

Songs for the People Critical Thinking Critical Thinking

Read and answer the questions. Possible responses shown.

1. Think within the text How did Mrs. Guthrie’s love of music affect her son Woody? Woody Guthrie’s mother sang songs about con ict and hard times, subjects Woody sang about, too. 2. Think within the text What was life like in the camps for the homeless during the Dust Bowl days? The people in the camps suffered greatly. They had no running water and lived in tents and shacks of cardboard or newspaper. 3. Think beyond the text How do you think you and your family would have reacted to the effects of the Great Depression if you had been farmers? I think my family would have had to move west and leave our home. I might not have been able to go to school anymore because I would have had to help my parents earn money. 4. Think about the text What reason does the author use to persuade the reader that Woody Guthrie’s music helped others? Woody learned the stories of people he met who had ed the Dust Bowl and told their stories in his songs. People who heard the songs could relate to the music and felt they were not alone. Making Connections Woody Guthrie wrote over one-thousand songs about the struggles of working people. Choose a song you know that helps cheer you up when you feel bad. Why does the song make you feel better?

Write your answer in your Reader’s Notebook.

09_4_246246RTXEAN_L19_FR.indd 9 11/25/09 7:47:50 AM Grade 4 5 Lesson 19: Songs for the People © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

First Pass 4_305325_BL_LRTG_L19_SongsForPeople.indd 5 1/5/10 7:26:27 PM Name Date Songs for the People

Thinking Beyond the Text Think about the questions below. Then write your answer in one or two paragraphs.

Remember that when you think beyond the text, you use your personal knowledge to reach new understandings.

Woody Guthrie achieved fame and success when America was going through tough times. Why do you think people liked Woody Guthrie’s music? Why was he able to succeed in spite of hard times?

Grade 4 6 Lesson 19: Songs for the People © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

44_305325_BL_LRTG_L19_SongsForPeople.indd_305325_BL_LRTG_L19_SongsForPeople.indd 6 77/28/09/28/09 44:49:45:49:45 PPMM Lesson 19 BLACKLINE MASTER 19.7 Name Date

Songs for the People Critical Thinking Critical Thinking

Read and answer the questions.

1. Think within the text How did Mrs. Guthrie’s love of music affect her son Woody?

2. Think within the text What was life like in the camps for the homeless during the Dust Bowl days?

3. Think beyond the text How do you think you and your family would have reacted to the effects of the Great Depression if you had been farmers?

4. Think about the text What reason does the author use to persuade the reader that Woody Guthrie’s music helped others?

Making Connections Woody Guthrie wrote over one-thousand songs about the struggles of working people. Choose a song you know that helps cheer you up when you feel bad. Why does the song make you feel better?

Write your answer in your Reader’s Notebook.

Grade 4 7 Lesson 19: Songs for the People

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