Staging the Compelling Question: The Farm Worker Movement

About this Lesson

Students engage in a Four Corners discussion to reflect on what drives social change, and they are then introduced to the inquiry’s compelling question: What can the history of the Delano grape strike and boycott teach us about what it takes to build solidarity in a movement for change?

Compelling Question

What can the history of the Delano grape strike and boycott teach us about what it takes to build solidarity in a movement for change?

Lesson Plan

Activity 1: Explore the Power to Create Social Change

Begin the inquiry by engaging students in a Four Corners activity that encourages them to reflect on what drives social change. See Teaching Note 1: Prepare for Four Corners Activity in Advance for additional guidance. 

First, distribute the handout Making Social Change Anticipation Guide and go over the definition of “social change” provided there, as well as the instructions for completing the guide. Then ask students to expand on their response to the final statement (“I have the power to make a change in my school or community”) by following the directions at the bottom of the anticipation guide. 

Next, prepare your students for a Four Corners activity. Explain that you will read aloud the statements in the anticipation guide. For each statement, students will need to move to the area of the classroom that signifies whether they strongly agree, agree, disagree, or strongly disagree. Once they’ve identified their feelings about the statement, they should share their opinions with one or two people standing near them. Then engage the class in a whole-group discussion by asking students from each corner to share their answers.

Activity 2: Introduce the Compelling Question

Explain to students that they will begin an inquiry to explore how California farm workers, a group of people who had little economic and political power, built a successful movement to change their working and living conditions in the 1960s. Share that the goal of the inquiry is for students to explore how groups of people can join together to create meaningful change, and to consider the opportunities and challenges that might arise when taking this kind of collective action. You can also share that students will be investigating examples of contemporary social movements in order to explore the strategies of groups and organizations that are working toward civic change today. 

Pass out the handout Dissecting the Compelling Question: Sowing Change Inquiry. Read the compelling question aloud, and then tell students that this question will guide the inquiry. Also explain that by the end of the inquiry, they will respond to this question in a summative assessment. Ask students to reread and annotate the compelling question with a partner. They should do the following: 

• Circle words they do not know or understand in the context of the prompt. 
• Star words that seem to be the central ideas of the prompt. 
• Jot down any questions they have or anything else that they need to find out about in order to be able to answer the prompt at the end of the inquiry.

Ask students to share aloud their annotations, and provide clarity as needed.