Lesson Plan: Advocating for Worker Rights

Subjects:

World or U.S. History, Civics/Government

• World or US History: This lesson works well as the conclusion to a unit on the Industrial Revolution.
• Civics/Government: This lesson can be used as part of a unit on the legislative process and how individuals and collective action can shape government policy.

Lesson Duration:

2 days

• Possible timeline
  • Day 1: Steps 1 – 2
  • Day 2: Steps 3-4

Essential Questions:

• How have governments and organizations attempted to improve working conditions?
• Why was there a rise in union membership in the U.S. during the 1930s? How is that similar to or different from a rise in union action today?

Lesson Objectives:

Students will:

• Analyze primary and secondary sources to learn about the Factory Acts, the National Labor Relations Act and United Nations resolutions on workers’ rights and trade unions.
• Read/listen to workers discuss union membership.
• Compare and contrast the rise of union membership in the 1930s with the union movement of the early 2020s.

Materials:

• Retro Report film “Labor Union Activism Is on the Rise, Recalling the Great Depression” (Transcript)
• Lewis Hine Image  | Library of Congress
• Student Activity handout
• 8 pieces of chart paper and two copies of the document Information for Chalk Talk Posters (Readings/Primary source documents for the Chalk Talk Question Wall). You will be creating two identical sets of Chalk Talk Questions charts. If you have a class of 16 students or fewer, you’ll only need to make one set. This activity can also be done on a Google Jamboard or other web-based tool like Padlet.
  • On two charts, write “Factory Acts” at the top and supply students with Sources 1 and 2 (Factory Act) of the Readings/Primary Source documents.
  • On the chart paper, under the documents, write: “Give an example of an ‘offense’ committed by a factory.”
  • Be sure there is plenty of room on the poster for students to write under the question.
  • On the next two charts, write “N.L.R.A.” and supply students with Sources 3 and 4.
  • On the chart paper, under the document, write: “The tremendous gains labor unions experienced in the 1930s resulted in part from the pro-union stance of the _______________ administration.”
  • On the next two charts, write “International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: United Nations” and supply students with Source 5.
  • On the chart paper, under the document, write: “Trade Unions have a right to strike: True or False”
• A marker for each student

Procedure:

1. Warm-Up: Project the Lewis Hine image of unsafe working conditions. Have students record their observations. Ask students to share what they notice. Based on their noticings, ask students what they can infer about factories and working conditions in the early 1900s. Direct students to record class inferences.
   1. Google Document version of the image here.
2. Give each student a marker, divide the class into eight small groups, and send each group to a Chalk Talk Questions poster (have four posters on one side of the room and the identical posters on the other side so student teams don’t visit the same poster twice). When all teams are ready, each team moves to the next poster, where they will read new information, complete the newly written question and write another for the next group to answer. Rotate until student teams have visited all four posters and completed all four questions.
   1. More about this Graffiti Board strategy, sometimes called a Graffiti Wall, can be found at Facing History & Ourselves.
3. Using the information on the posters, students complete the graphic organizer.
4. Students will view the Retro Report video and answer the accompanying questions. Follow with small group discussions and then a whole-class discussion about the video questions.

Extension Activities:

• Picture Book Search: Individuals Who Have Stood Up for Workers’ Rights
• This activity asks high school students to analyze picture books. Picture book biographies offer an accessible way to quickly learn information about individuals who stood up for workers’ rights throughout history. These titles can be found at most public libraries. See if your public library will let you check out two copies of each book so you’ll have enough books for students to analyze in small groups. Give a book to each student group and have each student complete the picture book analysis chart.
• Book List:
  • “Thanks to Frances Perkins: Fights for Workers’ Rights,” by Deborah Hopkinson, illustrated By Kristy Caldwell
  • “Side by Side: The Story Of Dolores Huerta and César Chavez,” by Monica Brown, illustrated By Joe Cepeda
  • “Memphis, Martin and the Mountaintop: The Sanitation Strike of 1968,” by Alice Faye Duncan, illustrated By R. Gregory Christie
  • “Brave Girl,” by Michelle Markey, illustrated by Melissa Sweet
  • “The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire and the Fight for Workers’ Rights,” by Julie Gilbert, illustrated By János Orban
• Interview a Worker
• Students can make a connection between school and home by interviewing a friend or family member who had a job while in high school. The interviewee does not have to be a union member to answer the questions. High school teachers can model this by interviewing a working student in front of the class. Middle school teachers may want to bring in a guest speaker to model the interview.

About the Author:

Jenna Vandenberg-Pontius (www.jennavandenberg.com) teaches World History and Civics at a public high school north of Seattle, and has taught social studies in Las Vegas, Denver, and Trondheim, Norway. She recently served on the N.C.S.S. Trade Book Selection Committee, and often writes about books and education for magazines.

Standards

Common Core Standards:

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.11-12.7: Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in different media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively) as well as in words in order to address a question or solve a problem.
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.11-12.1: Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.2: Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary that makes clear the relationships among the key details and ideas.

C-3 Framework Standards for Social Studies:

• D2.Civ.2.9-12. Analyze the role of citizens in the U.S. political system, with attention to various theories of democracy, changes in Americans’ participation over time, and alternative models from other countries, past and present.
• D2.Civ.5.9-12. Evaluate citizens’ and institutions’ effectiveness in addressing social and political problems at the local, state, tribal, national, and/or international level.
• D2.Civ.6.9-12. Critique relationships among governments, civil societies, and economic markets.
• D2.Civ.8.9-12.E valuate social and political systems in different contexts, times, and places, that promote civic virtues and enact democratic principles.
• D2.Civ.12.9-12. Analyze how people use and challenge local, state, national, and international laws to address a variety of public issues.
• D2.Civ.14.9-12. Analyze historical, contemporary, and emerging means of changing societies, promoting the common good, and protecting rights.
• D2.Eco.9.6-8. Describe the roles of institutions such as corporations, non-profits, and labor unions in a market economy.
• D2.His.1.9-12. Evaluate how historical events and developments were shaped by unique circumstances of time and place as well as broader historical contexts.
• D4.7.9-12. Assess options for individual and collective action to address local, regional, and global problems by engaging in self-reflection, strategy identification, and complex causal reasoning.