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Children with César at La Paz
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César Chávez Day
7-9 Model Curriculum and Resources

César Chávez Day > Intro > Model Curriculum > 7 — 9 Curriculum
César Chávez Day

Grade Seven: World History and Geography: Medieval Society
Students studying the life, work, and philosophy of César E. Chávez in grade seven will continue to learn about the ideas and philosophies that have withstood the test of time and emerged in the work and actions of Chávez. Students will also learn about Chávez’s ancestral heritage to early civilizations of the Americas and how Chávez supported the Chicano movement and its leaders who took pride in their Indian heritage and culture.

Grade Seven: History-Social Science Framework
Students in grade seven will continue their study of World History and Geography focusing on the period A.D. 500-1789. They will study the rise of the Mayan, Incan, and Aztec civilizations and end with the age of enlightenment. Included in this time would be the study of the age of explorations and the Spanish conquest of Aztec, Incan, and other native civilizations. Students will also study the enlightenment and the ideas behind the natural rights of human beings and the principles embodied in the American Declaration of Independence. The students will see connections to modern times and how the enlightenment ideas continue to influence our nation and the world today (e.g., the effort to solve problems rationally in local, state, national, and international arenas; and the ideal of human rights, a vital issue today throughout the world). (Pp.84-91)

Grade Seven: History-Social Science Standards
Standard 7.7 Students compare and contrast the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the Meso American and Andean civilizations.
7.7.2 Study the roles of people in each society, including class structures, family life, warfare, religious beliefs and practices, and salary.
7.7.4 Describe the artistic and oral traditions and architecture in the three civilizations.
7.7.5 Describe the Meso American achievements in astronomy and mathematics, including the development of the calendar and the Meso American knowledge of seasonal changes to the civilizations’ agricultural systems.

Standard 7.9 Students analyze the historical developments of the reformation.
7.9.6 Understand the institution and impact of missionaries on Christianity and the diffusion of Christianity from Europe to other parts of the world in the medieval and early modern period; locate missions on a world map.

Lesson 1 La Virgen de Guadalupe and the UFW
Students will create a cause and effect pattern graphic organizer that will identify the role that religion plays as a unifying force among a group of people.
Lesson 2 Chávez, A Renaissance Man
"We seek our basic, God-given rights as human beings." - César E. Chávez
Students will understand the purpose of guilds and unions and why they have been important in world history. Students will be able to:
  1. Identify a guild and understand its purpose during the renaissance.
  2. List the factors that make a city a strong trading center.
  3. Compare the forces of cooperation and conflict among people that influence the division and control of the land.
  4. Understand the importance of ideas about people during this period.
Lesson 3 The Image of the Aztec Eagle
Students will create a flag portraying the architecture and cultural heritage of their home or adopted country.
Lesson 4 Magna Carta and La Causa
Students will understand key elements of a social contract and democratic rule by law.
Lesson 5 The Reformers: Martin Luther and César E. Chávez
Students will see the similarities in any movement of reformation that changes a society.
Lesson 6 Service for Citizenship
Having practiced citizenship skills, students will see the value of service to their community.

Grade Eight: United States History and Geography: A More Perfect Union
Students studying the life, work, and philosophy of César E. Chávez in grade eight will learn about the historical events and developments in the United States that Chávez would eventually encounter. Students will also learn how Chávez worked to bring the promises expressed in many of our nation’s writings, such as the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights, to all people. Additionally, students will be able to trace the history of the Chávez’s ancestors as they settled in the United States from Mexico and the traditions, language, and culture Chávez inherited and maintained throughout his life.

Grade Eight: History-Social Science Framework
Students studying United States history and geography in grade eight will examine the ideas found in the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. Students will study life in the far west, the settlement of Spanish California by Americans, the idea of “manifest destiny,” and the admission of California as a state in 1850. Students study the northward movement of settlers from Mexico into the great southwest, with emphasis on the locations of Mexican settlements, their cultural traditions, their land grant system, and the economy established in these regions. Special attention is to be given to the Mexican American War, its territorial settlements, and its aftermath in the lives of the Mexican families who first lived in the region. Students will also learn about the prejudice displayed against black, Hispanics, Catholics, Jews, Asians, and other newcomers during the “Gilded Age”; and the violence associated with labor unrest. Students will follow the rise of the labor movement. Students will also learn that families from Mexico increasingly provided the labor force that developed in the southwest in the areas of farming and mining. Students will come to understand the social, economic, and political handicaps encountered by these immigrants. Yet, Mexican American communities survived and even thrived, strengthened by their rich cultural traditions and community life. Students will see connections to the modern era and see the role of the Constitution as a mechanism to guarantee the rights of individuals and to ban discrimination. Teachers will encourage the discussion of the citizen’s ethical obligation to oppose discrimination against individuals and groups, and the converse obligation to work toward a society in which all people enjoy equal rights and a good life. They will discuss how citizens in a democracy can influence events and, through participation, apply ethical standards to public life. (pp. 97-104)

Grade Eight: History-Social Science Standards
Standard 8.1 Students understand the major events preceding the founding of the nation and relate their significance to the development of American constitutional democracy.
8.1.2 Analyze the philosophy of government expressed in the Declaration of Independence, with an emphasis on government as a means of securing individual rights (e.g., key phrases such as “all men are created equal, they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights”).

Standard 8.8 Students analyze the divergent paths of the American people in the west from 1800 to the mid-1800s and the challenges they faced.
8.8.5 Discuss Mexican settlements and their locations, cultural traditions, attitudes toward slavery, land-grant system, and economies.
8.8.6 Describe the Texas War for Independence and the Mexican American War, including territorial settlements, the aftermath of the wars, and the effects the wars had on the lives of Americans, including Mexican Americans today.

Standard 8.12 Students analyze the transformation of the American economy and the changing social and political conditions in the United States in response to the Industrial Revolution.
8.12.6 Discuss child labor, working conditions, and laissez-faire policies toward big business and examine the labor movement, including its leaders (e.g., Samuel Gompers), its demand for collective bargaining, and its strikes and protests over labor conditions.
8.12.7 Identify the new sources of large-scale immigration and the contributions of immigrants to the building of cities and the economy; explain the ways in which new social and economical patterns encouraged assimilation of newcomers into the mainstream amidst growing cultural diversity; and discuss the new wave of nativism

Lesson 1 Documents of Natural Rights: The Declaration of Independence and The Plan of Delano
Students will compare the ideals of the Declaration of Independence with The Plan of Delano.
Lesson 2 La Causa as a Social Contract
Students will identify key elements of a social contract and exhibit them in their own example of democratic rule.
Lesson 3 The UFW vs. a Traditional Union
Students will compare unions in the 1800s to the UFW of the 1900s.
Lesson 4 Whose Rights Are They?
Students will read and explain why reformers like Chávez were students of history.
Lesson 5 Remember the Ladies– Abigail Adams and Dolores Huerta
Compare the active role that women were taking in both revolutionary movements. Students will also actively promote the role of women in wars/revolutions through proclamations similar to that proclaimed by the city of Berkeley.
Lesson 6 Domestic movements - Comparing Daniel Shays to César E. Chávez
Students will see the tensions that arise from a government willing to allow some domestic resistance.
Lesson 7 The Economy and Martin Luther King Jr. and César E. Chávez
Students will see the connections between Dr. King and César E. Chávez as change agents.
Lesson 8 The Need for Ecumenism– From the Great Awakening to Delano
The students will understand the importance of ecumenism in terms of providing strength to political movements like the American Revolutionary War and the migrant workers’ struggle for individual rights.
Lesson 9 Horace Mann and the Purpose of Public Education
Through the use of a JIGSAW reading activity, students will be able to analyze how some migrant worker families felt about the educational experiences their children were receiving.
Lesson 10 Our Common Ground
A sense of the historic role the Mexican American communities had on the southwestern United States through law, religion, and family values is still with us. We have inherited more than just language and Cinco de Mayo celebrations.
Lesson 11 Time Travel with César E. Chávez
The early labor organizations of the nineteenth century will be understood. The conflicts between the Agrarian Society and Industrialization will be examined.
Lesson 12 Service for Citizenship
Having practiced citizenship skills, students will see the value of service to their community.

Grade Nine
This is an elective year and one elective is contemporary California. Students in schools offering this course could study the role of Chávez in twentieth century California and his legacy.



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