Lesson Title: 
César E. Chávez and the Community

Grade Level:
Kindergarten, Lesson 3

Unit of Study:
Working Together:  Exploring, Creating, and Communicating

History-Social Science Standard:
K.1   Students understand that being a good citizen involves acting in certain ways.

K.1.2   Learn examples of honesty, courage, determination, individual responsibility, and patriotism in American and world history from stories and folklore.

K.3   Students match simple descriptions of work that people do and the names of related jobs at the school, in the community and from historical accounts.

K.6   Students understand that history relates to events, people, and places of other times

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).

Correlation to K-8 California Adopted Textbooks:
Harcourt Brace My World and Me.  Unit 1: I Know Who I Am. Lesson 1,5, 6.  Unit 3: I Know Who Takes Care of Me.  Unit 4: I Know Where I Am. Lesson 2.  Unit 5: I Know About Changes.  Lesson 5.  Unit 6: I Know About People Far Away.  Lesson 1.

McGraw-Hill: Here I Am. Unit 1: Starting School.  Unit 2: Meeting Families.  Unit 4: Let’s Explore. 

Materials
Children’s literature books previously read in class.
Yarn or string
Chart paper and markers
Drawing paper and crayons

Setting the Context: 
César E. Chávez devoted his life to helping others.  He was the epitome of a good citizen.  As children learn what it means to be a good citizen, it is important to look at individuals such as César E. Chávez, his work, and his actions in the community.  As a community leader, he formed an organization of farm workers.  He devoted his life to improving conditions of farm workers, the poor, and the disenfranchised.

Focus Questions:
What is a good citizen?
What made César E. Chávez a good citizen?

Expected Learning Outcomes:
Students will be able to describe and model good citizenship.
Students will be able to state why César E. Chávez was a good citizen.

Assessment:
Students will draw a picture depicting good citizenship and orally describe what the picture shows.
Students will be able to state why César E. Chávez was a good citizen.

Key Concepts: 
interdependence
cooperation/working together
nonviolence

Essential Vocabulary: 
citizen
Depression
union
nonviolence
boycott
strike

Visuals: 
Photographs, charts, graphic organizers

Procedure

Motivation:
Introduce the term “citizen.”  Tell students that they are all citizens of the classroom.  Good citizens of the classroom work hard, show respect to others, participate in class, follow the rules, and help others.  This is a good time to review classroom rules and discuss why they exist.

Making Connections:
Collect books that have already been read to students that pertain to citizenship, sharing, kindness, etc.  The Rainbow Fish books by Marcus Pfister (North-South Books, New York) are examples of books that work well with this topic.  Hold up each book and quickly review the story.  Have students decide whether the character(s) was/were good citizens.  Use two large circles of yarn to make a Venn diagram on the floor.  Label one side “Good Citizens” and the other side “Not so good Citizens.”  The overlapping portion could be for books that show both characteristics or for books in which the characters change.

Vocabulary Activities:
Write the words “Good Citizen” in the center of a large chart paper.  Make a concept web by asking the students to say what they think of when they hear those words.  Record thoughts and draw sketches for each idea.  Add to the web throughout the lesson.  

Pre-teach the vocabulary terms:  citizen, depression, union, nonviolence, boycott, and strike.  Create a word wall chart (a word wall chart is another name for a list of vocabulary words that teachers and students can reference during the course of a lesson or during the week).  Read the K-2 Biography (click for biography) with students.  Stop at each point where a newly taught vocabulary word appears and have students point and say the word.  Remind students what the vocabulary word means after they point to and say the word.  Continue reading the biography, but spend more time when you reach the term “union.”  Discuss that a union is a group of workers who join together to seek better pay and better treatment.  Discuss other unions that exist in the local area.

Guided Instruction:
Using the word web created earlier and the examples of good citizenship discussed from previously read literature, engage students in a discussion about what it means to be a good citizen in the community/neighborhood.  Invite students to role-play what they might do in the following scenarios:

1)	Your friend falls down on the sidewalk and has a scrape.
2)	Your sister is late for school and needs help getting ready.
3)	You are at the park with your friend and you notice trash all over the ground.
4)	A new girl moved in next door and she has no friends with whom to play.
5)	Your dog is whining because he’s sad and lonely.

Reinforce the concepts of good citizenship.  Add ideas to the concept web.

Model a drawing of what a good citizen does and record your idea below your picture.  Then ask students to draw a picture of an example of good citizenship.  Take a dictation or have students write what their picture shows.  You may want to give the sentence frame, “A good citizen _________”.  Display pictures around the room to remind students to be good citizens.

Ask students to think about César E. Chávez.  How was he a good citizen?  Re-read the K-2 Biography (click for biography).  Discuss that César was a caring community member.  At an early age, he learned the importance of helping people from his mother.  As a teenager, he joined the United States Navy to serve and protect United States.  He saw that farm workers had problems and he decided to help solve the problems.  He became a union leader.  He started a group that would work to protect and help farm workers.  He formed this organization by talking to people first in houses and then later at big meetings.  He knew that when people work together, they help make working conditions better.

Print a picture of César (young César, older César) and post it on a large chart next to the concept web created earlier.  Ask students to think of all the ways César E. Chávez was a good citizen.  Record the students’ ideas around the picture.

Integrating Language:
Listening
Role-play
Shared reading
Guided writing 

Enrichment:
Discuss what students could do in school to show they are good citizens. 

Ask students to identify or name people in their community who they think are good citizens.

Invite a guest speaker such as community worker, a fireman, a policeman or woman, a crossing guard, a Red Cross volunteer, or someone who provide service to the community.