The Migrant Experience
California  1930-1940

Content

This unit will focus on the migrant workers’ experiences in California during the 1930’s.    Students will explore pictures, first-hand accounts of daily life, sound files, and historical documents of The Library of Congress’s American Memory Collection.  As they learn about migrant workers through these primary sources they will better understand the economic and social impact of the Great Depression and the many challenges faced by migrant workers from Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Missouri.  The students will also consider immigrants in our community and begin to understand some of the present-day difficulties they face.

Goal/Theme for the Lesson

The hardships experienced by migrant workers in California in the 1930's are not unlike those experienced by immigrants today in our own community of Greenville, South Carolina.

Objectives

 1.       Students will compile a list of new vocabulary words about migrant workers from the picture/information book Migrant Worker: A Boy From the Rio Grande Valley.  They will group similar words together and label the groups.

 2.       Students will use various pre-reading strategies of the Scaffolding Reading Experience and the survey technique to read the article Photographer:  Dorothea Lange, Migrant Workers in the Imperial Valley, California, 1937, from the Library of Congress American Memory site.  They will conclude by writing a two-minute news report for the 6:30 evening news as if they were living during the 1930's, drawing attention to the injustices and hardships suffered by the people in Dorothea Lange's article.

3.       Students will complete a graphic organizer about the Arvin Migratory Labor Camp in the San Joaquin Valley in central California.  They will read a short description of the Arvin camp from the Library of Congress American Memory site to guide them in their research.

4.       Students will work in groups to complete a WebQuest, where they will examine a variety of pictures from the 1930's in California and the Midwest as if it were their own great-grandparents in the pictures.

Instructional Plan/Cycle 

The 8-day plan for the unit is outlined--click on the picture to see the full plan.  It includes:    PowerPoint presentation ppt,    PowerPoint presentation html,     Inspiration Map,     WebQuest

Assessment
1)  Students will take notes on the PowerPoint presentation, using the slide sheet/note sheet provided,  and circle the keywords, both from the slides and from their notes.  These sheets  will be turned in to the teacher to check for completion.
2)  A rubric will be used to assess the 2-minute speech for the evening news.
3)  A Hot Potatoes quiz will be given for students to self-assess their understanding of the migrant worker experience, before they begin the WebQuest.
4)  A rubric will be used to assess both group and independent writing done for the WebQuest.
5)  A guide sheet will be completed and turned in as a part of the WebQuest.
 

Materials Needed
Colored paper for vocabulary lists
PowerPoint slides printed out with note taking feature
Inspiration map printed out
Dorothea Lange article printed out in one column, one column for notes
Graphic organizer for Arvin Migratory Labor Camp article

Books:
Dorothea Lange (Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists series), by Mike Venezia,
    Children's Press, New York, 2000.
Migrant Worker: A Boy from the Rio Grande Valley, by Diane Hoyt-Goldsmith, Holiday
    House, New York, 1996.
 

Reflection on Teaching
This unit provides middle school students with a variety of learning experiences.  Among these are:

• an opportunity to utilize primary source documents from the American Memory Collection of the Library of Congress.  This is a rare experience for seventh and eighth graders and an excellent learning opportunity, as well as a very worthwhile preparation for future studies. 
• group activities where they can talk and work together.  This appeals to their love of social interaction.
• the use of pictures as a way to learn history.  Because they are concrete thinkers, this is a natural way for them to begin to understand a time period different than their own. 
• the use of scaffolding experiences--this allows all learners to be successful.
• varying forms of assessment--students proceed to the next activity when they are ready, and teachers have a variety of assessment data to provide feedback on learning.

League Academy

Greenville, SC  29609

Email Me!

Patty Bynum
Media Specialist
League Academy
Greenville, SC  29609
864-292-7695
pbynum@greenville.k12.sc.us