Kindergarten: Learning and Working Now and Long Ago
Kindergarten students studying the life, work, and philosophy of César E.
Chávez will learn that being a good citizen involves acting in certain ways,
and that the personal qualities that Chávez possessed reflect good civic behavior.
They will also have the opportunity to learn about the work that people must do to
grow food, to harvest the crops, and to transport the food to locations for people
to buy. Kindergarten students will learn about César E. Chávez,
the man for which California named a holiday.
Kindergarten: History-Social Science Framework
Students in kindergarten begin their formal education by learning to understand the
character traits that are necessary for good civic behavior. They will listen to
stories of times past and about men and women who have made a difference. They will
learn how it might have been to live in other times and places and how their lives
would have been different. They will observe different ways people lived in earlier
days; for example, getting water from a well or growing their food. (Pp. 27-29)
Kindergarten: History-Social Science Standards
Standard K.1 Students understand that being a good citizen involves acting in
K.1.2 Learn examples of honesty, courage, determination, individual
responsibility, and patriotism in American and world history from stories and folklore.
Standard K.3 Students match simple descriptions of work that people do and the
names of related jobs at school, in the community, and from historical accounts.
Standard K.6 Students understand that history relates to events, people, and
places of other times.
K.6.1 Identify the purpose of, and the people and events honored in,
commemorative holidays, including the human struggles that were the basis for
the events (e.g., Thanksgiving, Independence Day, Washington’s and
Lincoln’s Birthdays, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day,
K.6.3 Understand how people lived in earlier times and how their lives
would be different today (e.g., water from a well, growing food, making clothing,
having fun, forming organizations, living by rules and laws).
César E. Chávez: An American Hero
- Students will be able to identify a photograph or
portrait of César E. Chávez
and orally state one reason why he is an American hero.
César E. Chávez and His Family
- Students will be able to state what César E. Chávez learned from his
mother, father and grandmother.
César E. Chávez and the Community
- Students will be able to describe and model good citizenship.
Students will be able to state why César E. Chávez was a good citizen.
César E. Chávez Making Change
- Students will be able to explain how César E. Chávez helped farm workers.
Students will be able to explain how the life of a farm worker changed
because of Chávez’s work.
Students will be able to show how nonviolent action can lead to a peaceful resolution.
The Memory of César E. Chávez
- Students will plan and complete a service learning project.
Grade One: A Child’s Place in Time and Space
Students studying the life, work, and philosophy of César E. Chávez in
grade one will learn how he worked to resolve problems peaceably. By examining the
life of Chávez, they will understand how his cultural experiences influenced
his politics, family life, education, philosophy, recreational activities, and his
Grade One: History-Social Science Framework (Revised 2000)
Students in grade one will learn more about the world they live in and their responsibility
to other people. They will be ready to develop a deeper understanding of cultural
diversity and to appreciate the many people from various backgrounds. They will gain
a beginning understanding of economics and how goods and services are exchanged for
money. They will be ready to examine their neighborhood's many geographic and economic
connections to the larger world. Students will hear stories to discover the many ways
in which people, families, and cultural groups are alike as well as those ways in which
they differ. (Pp. 32-34)
Grade One: History-Social Science Standards
Standard 1.2 Students compare and contrast the absolute and relative locations of
places and people, and describe the physical and/or human characteristics of places.
1.2.4 Describe how location, weather, and physical environment affect
the way people live, including the effects on their food, clothing, shelter,
transportation, and recreation.
Standard 1.4 Students compare and contrast everyday life in different times and
places around the world and recognize that some aspects of people, places, and
things change over time while others stay the same.
1.4.3 Recognize similarities and differences of earlier generations
in such areas as work (inside and outside the home), dress, manners, stories,
games, festivals, drawing from biographies, oral histories, and folklore.
Standard 1.5 Students describe the human characteristics of familiar places and
the varied backgrounds of American citizens and residents in those places.
1.5.2 Understand the ways in which Native Americans and immigrants
have helped define Californian and American culture.
Standard 1.6 Students understand basic economic concepts and the role of
individual choice in a free-market economy.
1.6.2 Identify the specialized work that people do to manufacture,
transport, and market goods and services, and the contributions of those who
work in the home.
- Lesson 1
- Students will be able to explain how a nonviolent action can cause change in the
cycle of a free-market economy. Students will be able to create imagery that conveys
a nonviolent message of change.
- Lesson 2
Chávez Time Line
- Students will be able to put a time line in order. They will identify factors
of change and similarities and differences between the life of Chávez.
Students will be able to understand how Chávez changed the world he lived in.
- Lesson 3
- Students will be able to see how a cultural song can invoke visions and emotions.
Students will be able to identify reasons that Chávez would play this song at meetings.
- Lesson 4
Farm Worker Inspired Poetry
- Students will be able to recognize the role farm workers play in the marketing of goods.
Students will be able to use words to invoke the feelings of this individual group of people.
- Lesson 5
Similarities and Differences
- Students will be able to identify the similarities and differences in the life of Chávez.
Students and teacher pick out similarities and differences to create a list.
- Lesson 6
Violence Versus Nonviolence
- Students will see how violence does not reach a given goal and how nonviolence
and unity does. Students are able to explain why to choose nonviolence over violence.
Grade Two: People Who Make a Difference
Students studying César E. Chávez will learn about his role in
improving the lives of farm workers. They will learn about Chávez as a
family man, as a husband, as a father and grandfather. They will learn about
the role that religion played in Chávez’s life. They will learn
about his role as an organizer, a labor leader, and as an environmentalist.
Most importantly, they will learn about him as a civil rights leader and as
an advocate for social justice and nonviolence.
Grade Two: History-Social Science Framework
Students in grade two will learn about people who made a difference in the past.
They will learn about those who supply the goods and services that are necessary
for daily life. Their studies will emphasize those who supply food: people who
grow and harvest food, vegetable farms, fruit orchards, and the processors and
distributors who move food from farm to market. Students will also learn to
use maps that extend to regions beyond their neighborhood to the farmlands and
to the places where people work to produce their food. They will also learn to
explore geographic questions such as: How does climate affect the crops that a
farmer can grow? Why are some areas more fertile than others are? Why is water
such an important resource for farmers?
They will also understand and appreciate the many ways that parents, grandparents,
and ancestors have made a difference. This will help them develop a beginning
sense of history. Teachers will ask students: Where did the family come from?
What was it like to live there? Who was in the family then? Do photos or
letters from that time still exist? Reading literature helps children acquire
deeper insights into the cultures from which families came; the stories, games,
and festivals parents or grandparents might have enjoyed as children; the work
that children as well as their families were expected to perform; their religious
practices; and the dress, manners, and morals expected of family members at that time.
Comparisons will be drawn with children’s lives today to discover how many of these
family traditions, practices, and values have carried forward to the present and
what kinds of changes have occurred.
They will also learn about those extraordinary men and women who have made a
difference in our national life and in the larger world community. Children
will meet those men and women whose contributions can be appreciated by seven-year-olds
and whose achievements have directly or indirectly touched their lives or the
lives of others. They will learn about leaders from all walks of life who have
helped to solve community problems, worked for better schools, or improved
living conditions and the lifelong opportunities for workers, families, women,
and children. They will learn about those who have been honored locally for
the special courage, responsibility, and concern they have displayed in
contributing to the safety, welfare, and happiness of others. (Pp. 38-41)
Grade Two History-Social Science Standards
Standard 2.2 Students demonstrate map skills by describing the absolute and
relative locations of people, places, and environments.
2.2.4 Compare and contrast basic land use in urban, suburban, and
rural environments in California.
Standard 2.4 Students understand basic economic concepts and their individual
roles in the economy and demonstrate basic economic reasoning skills.
2.4.1 Describe food production and consumption long ago and today,
including the roles of farmers, processors, distributors, weather, and land
and water resources.
2.4.3 Understand how limits on resources affect production and
consumption (what to produce and what to consume).
Standard 2.5 Students understand the importance of individual action and
character and explain how heroes from long ago and the recent past have made
a difference in others' lives (e.g., from biographies of Abraham Lincoln,
Louis Pasteur, Sitting Bull, George Washington Carver, Marie Curie, Albert Einstein,
Golda Meir, Jackie Robinson, Sally Ride).
The Food We Eat
- Students will be able to name the major crops grown in California’s
Students will list where the products of the central valley are exported.
Students will trace one of California’s major crops from the farm
- Students will be able to state why farm workers are an
important part of the farm economy.
Students will be able to explain the crop cycle in California
and why farm workers are migrant workers.
Students will state that César E. Chávez was an important
migrant farm worker.
- Students will explain the reasons that farmers need to use pesticides.
Students will list the dangers of using pesticides.
Students will understand that limits on resources affect production and consumption.
Students will understand that the general public does not
want to eat products that are harmful.
The Importance of Farm Owners and Farm Workers
- Students will be able to state why farm owners are an important part of the farm economy.
Students will be able to state why farm workers are an
important part of the farm economy. Students will state why César E.
Chávez became interested in improving the lives of farm workers.
Grade Three: Continuity and Change
Students in grade three studying César E. Chávez will learn about his
relationship with immigrants. Students will learn about Chávez’s
work with Fred Ross, as well as his work in his own local community. They will
learn about Chávez’s work as a civil rights leader and the
connection between his ideas and his actions and behavior. Students will learn
how César E. Chávez was taught to organize people to solve their
problems and to fight for justice.
Grade Three: History-Social Science Framework
Students in grade three will continue their study of community by examining continuity
and change. They will differentiate between major landforms and landscapes.
They will consider the impact of new groups of people on those that came before.
They will use historical photographs to observe the changes in the ways families
lived and worked. They will have opportunities to role-play being an immigrant
today and long ago; discover how newcomers, including children have earned their
living, now and long ago; and analyze why such occupations have changed over time.
They will compare the past to changes underway today. (How do people today earn a
living? How are people working to protect their region’s natural resources?
How do people in this community work to influence public policy and participate
in resolving local issues that are important to children and their families?)
Children will listen to biographies of the nation’s heroes and of those who
took the risk of new and controversial ideas and opened new opportunities for many.
These stories will help children to understand today’s great movement of immigrants
into California as part of the continuing history of their nation. (Pp. 44-47)
Grade Three: History-Social Science Standards
Standard 3.1 Students describe the physical and human geography and use maps,
tables, graphs, photographs, and charts to organize information about people,
places, and environments in a spatial context.
3.1.1 Identify geographical features in their local region (e.g.,
deserts, mountains, valleys, hills, coastal areas, oceans, lakes).
3.1.2 Trace the ways in which people have used the resources of the
local region and modified the physical environment (e.g., a dam constructed
upstream changed a river or coastline).
Standard 3.4 Students understand the role of rules and laws in our daily lives
and the basic structure of the U.S. Government.
3.4.2 Discuss the importance of public virtue and the role of citizens,
including how to participate in a classroom, in the community, and in civic life.
3.4.6 Describe the lives of American heroes who took risks to secure our
freedoms (e.g., Anne Hutchinson, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln,
Frederick Douglas, Harriet Tubman, Martin Luther King, Jr.).
Standard 3.5 Students demonstrate basic economic reasoning skills and an
understanding of the economy of the local region.
3.5.1 Describe the ways in which local procedures have used and are
using natural resources, human resources, and capital resources to produce goods
and services in the past and the present.
- Lesson 1
We Depend on the Land: Agriculture in California
- Students will be able to color and label a map of California by geographic region.
Students will be able to identify the agricultural regions of California
and describe why they are conducive to farming.
Students will be able to graph data of California’s major crops
and write/say fact statements about the state's agriculture.
Students will write/say sentences comparing and contrasting agriculture
now and in California’s past.
- Lesson 2
César E. Chávez: An American Hero
- Students will be able to create and interpret a time line of César’s life.
Students will be able to state and analyze several causes and effects of
César’s actions to help migrant farm workers.
Students will be able to compare and contrast conditions of migrant workers now
and in the past.
- Lesson 3
Understanding a Democratic Society
- Students will be able to state examples of local laws and explain why they exist.
Students will be able to describe who makes the laws in a democratic society.
Students will be able to distinguish between the roles of local, state and federal government.
- Lesson 4
César E. Chávez: An Instrument of Change in a Democracy
- Students will be able to describe a day in the life of a migrant farm worker in the 1960s.
Students will be able to summarize why Chávez was an important person in American history.
Students will be able to state the nonviolent methods used by Chávez and explain their effects.
Students will be able to develop an action plan to solve a community problem.
- Lesson 5
Agriculture and the Economy
- The students will be able to demonstrate an understanding of the impact that
farm workers have on the economy of the state and the country.