-Unit 1: What are Working Conditions, and How Do They Affect Workers? -Unit 2: Case Study- How Working Conditions Change: Chavez and the UFW -Unit 3: Culminating Project- Researching Working Conditions in the Modern Garment Industry
Students explore the issue of working conditions, historical and modern-day. They analyze how people, settings, and events interact in literary and informational texts. Students first focus on Lyddie (about a girl who works in the Lowell mills); they write an argument essay about Lyddie's choices around joining a protest over working conditions. Then they read a speech by Cesar Chavez (tracing how the sections of the text combine to build central claims) as they consider the role that workers, government, and consumers play in improving working conditions. Finally, a short research project explores how businesses can affect working conditions. As a final performance task, students create a guide to working conditions in the garment industry.