Home / LARC Release New Curriculum Unit on Migrant Farm Worker Strikes and Movements
The Latin American Resource Center is proud to announce the release of a new curriculum entitled, ¡Huelga! A Social Studies Unit on the Farm Worker Movement. The unit is centered on history and civics themes relevant to migrant farm labor movements. Students are encouraged to explore the history of the farm worker movement led by Larry Itliong, Cesar Chavez, and Dolores Huerta, and issues surrounding migrant workers today. In this unit, students apply civics concepts to explain the role of labor unions and evaluate the reliability of sources and evidence when conducting research. The curriculum also encourages sustained civic engagement through the organization of authentic community projects. This unit was developed by Erin Lierl, who currently teaches part-time in a New Orleans charter high school while pursuing her M.A. at Tulane University's Stone Center for Latin American Studies.
This curricular unit contains six 75-minute lessons in Social Studies for grades 6-8. The unit is organized into four dimensions encourage students to apply civics concepts to examine migrant worker movements and strikes in the United States in the past and present within a social studies framework. The dimensions also highlight methods for conducting interdisciplinary research that evaluates the relevance and reliability of evidence, and how to design community organizations and action plans intended to address issues they have discovered through research.
Explore the relevant films and books available for check-out through the Latin American Resource Center Lending Library that explore historic and current labor organizations and worker movements in Latin America and the United States. The resources may be viewed on the Lending Library Guide: Labor Organizers and Worker Movements.