While learning about the California migrant farm workers' fight for justice led by Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta, students learn to make connections and think about cause and effect.
In this unit students study the California migrant farm workers’ fight for justice. Lead by Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta, this time period is often referred to as the start of the Latino civil rights movement. Over the course of the unit students will explore what life was like for migrant farm workers in the 1960s and the barriers that prevented them from obtaining better wages and equitable working conditions. Students will then learn about how the farm workers were able to band together under the leadership of Larry Itliong, Cesar Chavez, and Dolores Huerta to launch a multi-year movement focused on using nonviolent tactics as a way of making meaningful, long-lasting change. In particular, students will analyze how different types of nonviolent protests (boycotts, pickets, marches, strikes, and fasting) helped educate the public and influence change. Understanding the history of migrant farm workers and their struggle for justice is important for helping students understand the world around them. It is important to note that this unit is based in history. Many of the ideas and concepts in this unit are connected to current events; however, the focus of the unit is on this period in history.
In reading, this unit helps students continue to build their informational reading skills. Over the course of the unit students will be pushed to think about the connection between two or more historical events and people. Unlike previous units, this unit contains a variety of primary sources and videos that require students to use different reading and speaking and listening strategies in order to synthesize and summarize key ideas.
Some of the links below are Amazon affiliate links. This means that if you click and make a purchase, we receive a small portion of the proceeds, which supports our non-profit mission.
Book: La Causa: The Migrant Farmworkers' Story by Dana Catharine de Ruiz and Richard Larios (STECK-VAUGHN, 1 edition, 1993)
Book: César Chávez: A Photographic Essay by Ilan Stavans (Cinco Puntos Press, 1 edition, 2010)
Article: “Farm Labor Organizing 1905-1967, A Brief History” by Linda Lewis Tooni (National Advisory Committee on Farm Labor, 1967)
Video: “The Farm Worker Movement” (Produced by WETA, Washington D.C., 2013)
Article: “A Union in the Community” by César Chávez (Distributed by the Arkansas Institute for Social Justice, Inc., 1969)
Article: “Boycott Instructions - Delano Grapes/Schenley Liquors 1966”
Video: “Delano Manongs” (PBS Online, 2014)
Article: “Bitter Harvest: LIFE with America's Migrant Workers, 1959” by Ben Cosgrove (Time, Inc., 2013)
Article: “National Farm Workers Association Rules for Pickets”
Photo: Early UFW Boycott Flyers
Article: “Declaration of Human Rights” by United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner, Adopted 1948
Assessment Text: “A Brief History of American Farm Labor” by Smithsonian Magazine, adapted by Newsela staff (Newsela)
Resource: Recommended Texts for Independent Reading (Grade 5 Unit 2)
See Text Selection Rationale
These assessments accompany this unit to help gauge student understanding of key unit content and skills. Additional progress monitoring suggestions are included throughout the unit.
?
?
activism agitator agony bargain boycott commitment committee crop dignity disband dispute dramatic dues dumbfounded equality exploitation grass-roots organization grievance growers grass-roots harvest hostile huelga injustice intimidation inventiveness inhumane labor unions latinx labor legitimize negotiate nonviolence nucleus opposition painstaking pesticides publicity relentless scuffle strike sympathetic tactic treasury treatment urge visibility vulnerable
-ism -ment -or -tion in- non-
?
?
César Chávez pp. 11 – 15
RI.5.3
Explain why the study of Cesar Chavez and the farm workers movement is important.
La Causa pp. 1 – 10
RI.5.3
Describe what life was like in Yuma and on the grape farm, particularly how the Chavez family was treated in each location.
La Causa pp. 11 – 18
RI.5.3
Defend if from a young age, Dolores was able to connect with farm workers.
Writing
La Causa
RI.5.3
W.5.2
W.5.2.a
W.5.2.b
W.5.2.c
W.5.9.b
L.5.1.a
Write a paragraph explaining why Dolores was able to connect with farm workers.
“Farm Labor Organizing” pp. 8 – 10
RI.5.6
Explain the impact the National Labor Relations Act had on farm workers and if it was positive or negative.
“Chicano” — 00:00 - 5:56
“Bitter Harvest”
RI.5.6
SL.5.1
SL.5.2
Describe the conditions for farm workers in California by paraphrasing and summarizing details from print and digital sources.
Writing
“Declaration of Human Rights” pp. 23 – 25
RI.5.3
W.5.2
W.5.2.a
W.5.2.b
W.5.2.c
W.5.9.b
SL.5.1
L.5.1.a
Defend if farm workers’ human rights are being protected.
La Causa pp. 19 – 28
“Farm Worker Movement” — 0:00-6:10
RI.5.2
RI.5.3
Determine the main idea of the chapter “Viva La Causa”.
2 days
“A Union...” — Chapters 1 and 2
RI.5.2
W.5.8
SL.5.1
SL.5.2
SL.5.4
SL.5.5
SL.5.6
Describe three or four of the strategies that Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta used in order to organize a strong movement and union.
La Causa pp. 29 – 36
RI.5.2
RI.5.3
Explain why Cesar was hesitant to join the Filipinos and how the final decision was made to join their strike.
“Delano Manongs” — 00:00 - 19:00
RI.5.2
W.5.8
SL.5.2
Explain what role Filipino-Americans and Larry Itliong played in the farm worker labor movement.
2 days
Writing
All unit texts
RI.5.3
W.5.2.a
W.5.2.b
W.5.2.c
W.5.9.b
L.5.1.a
L.5.1.d
L.5.2.a
L.5.3.a
Describe the characteristics of an influential leader.
La Causa pp. 37 – 47
“Rules for Pickets”
RI.5.3
Analyze the impact Cesar Chavez’s push for nonviolence had on Dolores and what might have been different if Dolores had used violence.
La Causa pp. 48 – 58
RI.5.2
RI.5.3
SL.5.1
Defend if the strike was successful or not.
“Boycott Instructions”
“Chicano” — 6:15 - 22:33
SL.5.2
SL.5.4
Describe the values that were at the heart of the farm workers movement and how those values influenced their actions.
Boycott Flyers — Flyers 01-10
RI.5.3
Explain how Cesar Chavez used flyers to help educate the public to participate in the boycott.
2 days
Discussion & Writing
All unit texts
RI.5.3
W.5.2.a
W.5.2.b
W.5.2.c
W.5.9.b
SL.5.1
SL.5.6
L.5.1.a
Analyze the pros and cons of using strikes and boycotts as forms of nonviolent protest.
La Causa pp. 59 – 70
RI.5.2
RI.5.3
Defend if the farm workers’ actions are finally moving things in the right direction.
La Causa pp. 71 – 81
RI.5.2
RI.5.3
Summarize what happened on the march to Sacramento and if it was effective.
“Farm Worker Movement” — 9:10 - 16:20
“Chicano” — 22:00 - 31:15
SL.5.2
SL.5.4
Describe times when courage, unity, and hope were shown by the farm workers.
“Chicano” — 31:20 - end
W.5.8
W.5.9.b
SL.5.2
SL.5.4
Describe how the farm workers movement left a lasting legacy of change.
2 days
Discussion & Writing
All unit texts
RI.5.3
W.5.2.a
W.5.2.b
W.5.2.c
SL.5.1
L.5.1.a
Analyze how the core values of courage, unity, and hope fueled the farm workers movement and justify which value was the most important by stating a claim and drawing on information from multiple print and digital sources to examine a topic.
Assessment
“A Brief History...” — 930L
5 days
Informative Writing
W.5.2
W.5.2.a
W.5.2.b
W.5.2.c
W.5.7
W.5.8
L.5.1.b
L.5.1.d
Conduct a short research project that uses several sources to build knowledge of different aspects of a topic.
?