Lesson Title: 
The Economy and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and César E. Chávez

Grade Level:
Grade Eight Lesson 7

Unit of Study:  
Launching the Ship of State

History-Social Science Standard: 
8.4.3   Analyze the rise of capitalism and the economic problems and conflicts that accompanied it (e.g., Jackson’ s opposition to the National Bank; early decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court that reinforced the sanctity of contracts and a capitalist economic system of law).

Correlation to K-8 California Adopted Textbooks:
Houghton Mifflin.  A More Perfect Union.  Why We Remember 

Setting the Context:
Many of the protest movements of Martin Luther King Jr. and César E. Chávez were a response to a capitalistic system that favored laissez-faire government.  Both men took to social action in order to foster change within capitalism.

Focus Question:   
What is lasses-faire?
How much should government be involved in the government?
Does capitalism benefit all within society?

Expected Learning Outcomes:
Students will see the connections between Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and César E. Chávez as change agents.

Assessment:
Students will make direct connections to the two leaders (movements) as they go through the readings.  This will create background information for discussion on the focus question.  The teacher should first assess the student self-stick notes (“yellow stickies”) to make sure they understand the three different types of connections to text that can be made.  During the discussion, the student usage of the word “capitalism” will help the teacher assess whether the students understand what the term means.  

Key Concepts:
justice 
power
capitalism

Essential Vocabulary:
activism
social change
radical methods
pesticides
Capitalism

Primary Sources:
Chavez, Cesar E., Speech by César E. Chávez January 12, 1990, “Lessons of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.”.

Visuals:
Photograph of César E. Chávez and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Dolores Huerta picture with T-shirt that says “Grapes Kill.”

Procedure

Motivation:
This lesson would fit well with any activities dealing with celebrations of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. or Human Rights Day.  (This lesson should be an extension of the original celebration so that the importance of the individual or event is not undermined by these extended activities).  

The students should then be asked to discuss to what the lesson or celebration they just completed might have to do with a bag of grapes (or other fruit).  What connections might there be?  Discussion should follow.  

Making Connections:
Students should have a solid understanding of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as an agent for social change that went beyond protesting for civil rights for African Americans.  He was someone that ultimately cared about all people, though his efforts could only be concentrated on a few groups at once.  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a strong supporter of César E. Chávez’s efforts.  César E. Chávez looked to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as an inspiration for what he was trying to accomplish.

Vocabulary Activities:
Students will do a brainstorming activity with the name or picture of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  The words activism, social change, and radical methods should be branching out from center.  Students should brainstorm and see if there are connections from their brainstorming to the key words.  

The word pesticides can be enforced by having a discussion that deals around the types of pesticides that are used.  It can also be compared to the word organic where discussion can surround the benefits and problems associated with fruit that is raised with pesticides and food that is raised organically.  

The term capitalism should be discussed prior to the classroom discussion on the focus question.  It should be brought up naturally within the classroom activities leading up to this lesson.   

Guided Instruction:
1)	After motivation and vocabulary activities, students should be explicitly taught that one of the best ways to improved reading comprehension is to make connections as they read, much like what they were doing during the brainstorming activity and the motivation activity.  

2)	The teacher should explicitly mention that good readers make connections as they read.  There are three kinds of connections that people make as they read.  Text to self; text to text; and text to world.  The teacher should explain what each of these means.  Students should then be given a few examples of connections out loud and asked what kind of connections they represent.  This is a way of informally assessing whether students understand the difference between the three kinds of connections.  

3)	A teacher-read-aloud should be modeled to help reinforce the connections that good readers make.  The teacher can take any expository reading material and begin reading out loud, stopping and thinking aloud of the kind of connections that the teacher is making in his or her head while they read.  

4)	Students should each be handed self-stick notes and told that they are to help them write down connections as they read.  Instead of doing it in their heads as the teacher did, they will be writing them down.  Students need to be informed that with time they will eventually stop using the self-stick notes as the teacher notices that they are automatically making connections in their heads.  

5)	The students should then individually read César E. Chávez’s speech on the “Lessons of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.”  Students should be encouraged to make connections as they read and to put the self-stick notes in the area where they made the connection and label them t/s, t/t, or t/w.  They also need to explicitly explain the connection they made.

6)	At the end of the lesson, the students should share their connections with other students.

7)	Now that students have some basic schema about the types of human rights that both Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and César E. Chávez wanted for society, the students can discuss the focus question.  The issue of capitalism and human rights is one that has been argued since the inception of a large-scale capitalistic system.   If the students answer in the affirmative to the focus question, a good follow up question might be: “If all benefit, then why did people like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and César E. Chávez continue to feel that some groups within the society were not benefiting; in fact, they were being exploited?” 

Integrating Language:
The explicit teaching of reading and the gradual release of responsibility to the students will greatly aid in reading comprehension.  The classroom dialogue surrounding the focus question will help students with speaking and listening skills.  

Enrichment:
1)	The César E. Chávez middle level biography will help students see the connection between Chávez and the larger civil rights movement in the United States.

2)	Any biography of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. will contain information about his care and compassion for all people and his prolific role as a change agent. 

Service Learning:
Students can be asked to promote César E. Chávez role as part of the larger civil rights movement to help people understand that César E. Chávez should be looked at as a human rights leader as well as a labor reformer.  The same can be done for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to extend his legacy beyond that of a civil rights reformer for African American civil rights.