Strand

History, Social Studies

Objectives

Students will learn about the migrant worker experience and the grape boycott. Students will explore the issues of civil rights for all workers. The students will create a poster of protest that supports the migrant workers’ plight.

Historical Perspective

In the early 1960s, harsh working conditions and inadequate housing led migrant workers to organize strikes and boycotts and to speak up for their rights. Boycotts are often employed as way to communicate one’s dissatisfaction with a custom, policy, or law. One of the most well known American boycotts was the Great Grape Boycott, which took place in California during the 1960s. The strike was led by labor organizer César Chávez of the United Farm Workers. Workers boycotted markets, picketed grape growers, and marched in public campaigns with the hope that they would convince consumers not to purchase grapes produced by workers who were not part of the United Farm Workers Association. The struggle for migrant worker civil rights continues today.

Pacing

Two class periods

Materials

• Poster Board
• Multi-Media Performance Rubric

Expository Writing

tudents have the opportunity to write an Analytical Essay (see Extension below).

Key Questions

• What is a migrant worker?
• Where do they live and how do the make a living?
• What are their working conditions?
• What was the Great Grape Boycott? What did it seek to change and why?

Point of View

Students will make a poster from the point of view of migrant workers. Students will research the work, conditions, and demands of these workers. Students may use the photograph below as an example for the assignment. The poster should be creative and legible, and should reflect the difficulties that the migrant workers encounter and seek to change.

Document-based Questions

To begin thinking about the assignment, have students look at the photograph and answer the questions below.

Picketers promoting the boycott of agricultural products on behalf of the United Farm Workers./Archives of Labor and Urban Affairs, Wayne State University.

• Who do you see in this photo? What are they doing?
• What do the placards they are carrying say?
• Where have you seen other demonstration like this? Why were the people you saw protesting?

Directions

Distribute the Student Activity sheet or have students refer to it online. Have students research the migrant workers’ situation and the grape boycott by using the provided links listed below. Remind them that they are creating a visual document similar to the one seen above. The poster should use words and images to convey specific facts they learned in their research. Encourage them to use their creativity and originality in this project. The following topics will help students focus while doing their research:

• César Chávez
• Reies López Tijerinas
• National Farm Workers Association
• United Farm Workers
• Grape Boycotts

Remind students that they will present their poster/placard to the class. Encourage students to be prepared to answer questions about their poster from the class.

Assessment

Use the Multimedia Performance Rubric

Extension

Have students use The Latino American Experience tto research and write a persuasive essay on the Great Grape Boycott from the point of view of one of the migrant workers.

(May be copied for classroom use.)