1. This story is perfect as a springboard for individual and group research on the Depression era. Addressing selected topics such as the stock market crash of 1929, unemployment, soup kitchens, hobo jungles, the dust bowl, or President Roosevelt's many government projects, students may make use of the library, newspaper reports, films, and photo documentaries to compile their reports.

2. Have students interview older family members and friends for their memories of the Great Depression. Interviews could become an oral history collection and bound into book form.

3. Research the music of the Depression. Guiding questions: How did jazz originate? What distinguished jazz from other forms of music? Who were some of the outstanding jazz musicians of the day? What relationship does jazz have to today's music? What other forms of music were popular in the thirties?

4. Choose one of the minor characters to...