Lesson Title:  
César E. Chávez:  Education Of The Heart

Grade Level: 
Grade Six Lesson 1

History-Social Science Standard: 
6.4.8   Students describe the enduring contributions of important Greek figures in the arts, and sciences (e.g., Hypanthia, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Euclid, Thucydides).

Correlation to K-8 California Adopted Textbooks: 
Harcourt Brace: Ancient Civilizations.  Unit 4: Early Civilizations in Europe.  Chapter 7: Ancient Greece.  Lesson 4: The Golden Age of Athens.

McGraw-Hill: Ancient World.  Unit 5: Canaan and Greece.  Chapter 13: A Greek Empire.
Houghton Mifflin.  A Message of Ancient Days, pp. 362-364

Setting the Context:  
Pericles was an important Athenian leader who was most influential in a 20-year period from 460 to 429 B.C.  Pericles led Athens through an age so glorious that it became known as the Golden Age of Athens.  Pericles was a persuasive speaker.  He wanted to make Athenian democracy stronger by spreading power more evenly between rich and poor.  Like Pericles, César E. Chávez wanted the farm workers to be treated with respect and dignity.  César E. Chávez, like Pericles, was a persuasive speaker who championed the rights of farm workers from 1962, when he started the National Farm Worker Association, until his untimely death in 1993.

Focus Question:  
Why are Pericles and César E. Chávez considered model citizens?

Pericles said: “… As for poverty, no one need be ashamed to admit it: the real shame is in not taking practical measures to escape from it. …”  Here each individual is interested not only in his own affairs but in the affairs of the state as well.

César E. Chávez said, “We cannot seek achievement for ourselves and forget about progress and prosperity for our community. … Our ambitions must be broad enough to include the aspirations and needs of others, for their sakes and for our own.”

Both Pericles and César E. Chávez are advocating the importance of the individual and the larger community/state as well; one cannot be achieved at the expense of the other.  Why is this so important?

Expected Learning Outcomes:
Students will read and discuss the many Education of the Heart quotes of César E. Chávez and realize that the quotes may apply to the student’s life currently, as the quotes applied to César E. Chávez and his generation.

Assessment:
Students will explain the relevance of the many quotes of César E. Chávez by applying the specific quote to experiences in their lives.  The experiences will be detailed in essays, similar to the following student samples.  

Student samples follow:
								Student Sample #1
								April 2001

"We need to help students and parents cherish and preserve the ethnic and cultural diversity that nourishes and strengthens this community and this nation."
      César E. Chávez

To me this means a lot because my grandfather was a field worker.  He stopped picking before César E. Chávez started his movement.  So my grandfather had no bathrooms, no running water, little pay, and a dirt floor to sleep on.  He had to work very hard and long days.

The quote also affects me because I'm Irish and without the Irish the Trans-Continental Railroad would not have been finished in time.

To me it’s very important to remember where you came from and to want to know more about your roots.  You shouldn't go too far, as to make your culture higher than others.  Just as Abraham Lincoln once said, "All men are created equal."  

								Student Sample #2
								April 2001

"A word as to the education of the heart.  We don't believe that this can be imparted through books, it can only be imparted through the loving touch of the teacher."
       César E. Chávez

Mrs. Smith was my second grade teacher.  I wasn't doing well in school.  I was going through counseling for A.D.D.  When the class size had to get smaller, I was moved to Miss Jones' class.  She was a first year teacher who, I felt, liked being around kids.  She was caring, very nice, and enthusiastic about teaching.  She helped me with my medicine for my ADD and taught me to study and focus.  My uncles, Dave and Eddie, volunteered in my classroom.  Miss Jones gave support while Uncle Eddie was sick.  She came to the celebration of his life we had after his death to support me.  She was a great teacher in my life.  Miss Jones left a long-lasting impression on my parents, my uncles, and me.  She helped me a lot that year.

Key Concepts: 
Continued struggles of the farm workers today compared to their early times.

Essential Vocabulary: 
environment
pesticides
Athenians
Pericles
democracy
National Farm Worker Association
United Farm Workers
model citizen
poverty
aspirations
generation
César E. Chávez

Primary Sources: 
Internet: CDE Web site, César E. Chávez Education of the Heart Quotes, Kaye, Cathryn Berger The Service Learning Book Shelf

Visuals:
Internet:  Environmental Defense Web site – look for “Farm Pollution.”  
	  Your Planet Earth Web site

Procedure

Motivation: 
Student sample:  Teacher will discuss some of the quotes of César E. Chávez, then students will share some of their ideas about the quotes.  This can be done on a Tea Party Format:

Teacher reads several of the quotes of Chávez, and then distributes selected quotes to the students (typed quotes pasted on a 3x5-inch card recommended).  Students read their quotes silently, then share their quote with as many students as possible, by walking around the room and reading their quote face to face with a fellow student (Recommend a 15-minute time limit).  

Making Connections: 
Quotes about affairs of state by Pericles and progress and prosperity for community by César Chávez may still apply to situations today.  Hold a class discussion of the shared quotes; emphasize how the quotes apply to present-day problems or situations.  Ask students to tape their 3x5-inch card quotes on the board, so students can read in order to make their selection.

Then assign students their writing assignment:  Select a César E. Chávez quote and apply the quote to your personal situations.  Again, share the previous student sample.

Vocabulary Activities:  
Students will keep a vocabulary journal to define the words from class discussion and Internet research.

Integrating Language:  
Students will share their written assignments in small groups, and then volunteer to share their written assignments with the entire class.

Enrichment:  
Students will make posters about their written assignment and display the posters and written assignments in the classroom or school library.  They may also share written assignments and posters with primary students.