Curriculum on the Contributions of César Chávez in Elementary
Schools
in the San Bernardino City Unified School District
César Chávez has been acknowledged as a man with a passion for justice and a
commitment to nonviolence. He serves as a model for all and is worthy of study by
students in all of our schools. This has been recognized by the Legislature of the
State of California and they have established the observance of César Chávez 's
birthday every year on March 31. Included in the enabling legislation is the urging
to include exercises and lessons commemorating and directing attention to the
history of the farm labor movement in the United States and the role that César
Chávez played.
A committee of district teachers met during the fall of 2002, and surveyed existing
resources and determined that the lessons in the Model Curriculum on the Life and
Work of César Chávez that has been developed through the California Department
of Education would be appropriate for use in the elementary schools in the San
Bernardino City Unified School District. There are four to seven lesson plans for
each grade with articulated directions and highlighted links at
http://chavez.cde.ca.gov/ModelCurriculum/Intro.aspx. There is a link to this website
on our district website, http://www.sbcusd.k12.ca.us/, in the History/Social Science
section.
Within the César Chávez website, there are other resources that include
photographs, documents, timelines, biographies and additional websites. Much
could be printed or edited for a power point presentation. Each of the lessons is
correlated with the History-Social Science Content Standards. In addition, the
committee determined that the lessons would make more meaning to students by
tying them to the existing Houghton Mifflin Reading curriculum. Most of the lessons
could be taught individually as an extension of the reading lessons because of
theme connections or could be taught sequentially. Included below is a correlation
table for the lessons with the Houghton Mifflin themes.
Suggested Integration Points with Houghton Mifflin Reading
Kindergarten
Model Curriculum Lessons
Possible HM Integration Points
Lesson 1 César E. Chávez: An American Hero
Theme 8 "Down on the Farm"
Lesson 2 César E. Chávez and His Family
Theme 3 "We're a Family"
Lesson 3 César E. Chávez and the Community
Lesson 4 César E. Chávez: Marching for
Change
Lesson 5 The Memory of César E. Chávez
First Grade
Model Curriculum Lessons Possible
HM Integration Points
Lesson 1 Boycott Posters
Lesson 2 Chávez Time Line
Theme 2 "To Be a Kid"
Lesson 3 De Colores
Theme 3 "Seasons"
Lesson 4 Farm Worker Inspired Poetry
Lesson 5 Similarities and Differences
Theme 9 "When I Am Old With
You"
Lesson 6 Violence versus Nonviolence
Theme 7 "That Toad Is Mine"
Second Grade
Model Curriculum Lessons
Possible HM Integration Points
Lesson 1 The Food We Eat
Theme 1 "Dragon Gets By"
Lesson 2 Farm Labor
Theme 2 "Henry & Mudge and the
Starry Night"
Lesson 3 Pesticides
Theme 4 "From Caterpillar to
Butterfly"
Lesson 4 The Importance of Farm Owners and
Farm Workers
Theme 3 "Ant"
Third Grade
Model Curriculum Lessons
Possible HM Integration Points
Lesson 1 We Depend on the Land: Agriculture
in California
Theme 2 "Celebrating Traditions"
or Theme 5 "Voyagers"
Lesson 2 César E. Chávez: An American Hero
Theme 3 "Incredible Stories"
Lesson 3 Understanding a Democratic Society
Theme 1 "Off to Adventure"
Lesson 4 César E. Chávez: An Instrument of
Change in a Democracy
Theme 6 "Smart Solutions"
Lesson 5 Agriculture and the Economy
Theme 4 "Animal Habitats"
Fourth Grade
Model Curriculum Lessons
Possible HM Integration Points
Lesson 1 How the Great Depression Affected
California and César E. Chávez
Theme 1 "Grandfather's Journey"
Lesson 2 Immigration: When Did Your Family
Arrive?
Theme 2 "Tomas and the Library
Lady"
Lesson 3 César E. Chávez Used Nonviolence to
Educate the Public
Lesson 4 The Value of Education for California
and César E. Chávez
Lesson 5 César Chávez, Dr. Martin Luther King Theme 5 "Happy Birthday Dr.
Jr., and Civil Rights
King"
Lesson 6 César E. Chávez Celebrated Cultural
Diversity
Theme 4 "My Name is Maria
Isabel"
Fifth Grade
Model Curriculum Lessons
Possible HM Integration Points
Lesson 1 Independence: The Final Decision
Theme 3 "Voices of the Revolution"
Lesson 2 The Struggle for Freedom
Theme 2 "Give It All You've Got"
Lesson 3 The United States Grows Larger
Theme 5 "One Land, Many Trails"
Lesson 4 César E. Chávez Makes It to California Theme 4 "Person to Person"
Lesson 5 Exercising One's Rights as a Citizen
Theme 6 "Animals Encounters"
Sixth Grade
Model Curriculum Lessons
Possible HM Integration Points
Lesson 1 César E. Chávez: Education of the
Heart
Theme 5 "Doers and Dreamers"
Lesson 2 Farming as a Way of Life
Theme 4 "Discovering Ancient
Cultures"
Lesson 3 Migration
Theme 2 "What Really Happened"
Lesson 4 Impact of Pesticides/Herbicides on
Farm Workers
Theme 6 "New Frontiers: Oceans
and Space"
Lesson 5 Understanding Surplus
Lesson 6 César E. Chávez: Nonviolence
Lesson 7 Service for Citizenship
Theme 1 "Courage"
WEBSITES FOR César Chávez CURRICULUM AND INFORMATION
http://chavez.cde.ca.gov/ModelCurriculum/Intro.aspx - This is the Model Curriculum
website from the California Department of Education.
http://score.rims.k12.ca.us/ - Click on Resources and Lessons and type in "Cesar
Chavez" in the search field.
http://www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/chavez/ - This is the resource page for San Diego
County Schools.
http://www.csun.edu/~hcedu013/res.html#Latino - Cal State Northridge has
created this site with lots of links to other sites.
http://www.sfsu.edu/~cecipp/cesar_chavez/chavezhome.htm - This page created
by San Francisco State and many primary sources for review.
http://www.cesarechavezfoundation.org/ - This is the site for the César Chávez
Foundation and has information about the Day of Service Learning on César Chávez
's birthday, March 31, 2003.
http://history1900s.about.com/cs/chavezcesar/index.htm - From the The History
Net, this site is very user friendly for research.
http://www.incwell.com/Biographies/Chavez.html - This is another source for a
César Chávez biography.
http://www.ufw.org/cecstory.htm - This biography is on the United Farm Workers
website.
http://www.ufw.org/cecchron.htm - This is a timeline with much description on the
United Farm Workers website.
http://www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi/aa/chavez - This biography from
the Library of Congress might be used by students in grades 3 through 6 for their
own research.
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY OF CHILDREN'S LITERATURE
Altman, Linda Jacobs. Amelia's Road. Lee & Low Books, 1993.
Bunting, Eve. A Day's Work. Clarion Books, 1994.
Collins, David R. Farmworker's Friend: the Story of César Chávez . Carolrhoda
Books, Inc. 1996.
Davis, Lucile. César Chávez : a Photo-Illustrated Biography. Bridgestone Books,
1998.
Jimenez, Francisco. The Circuit. University of New Mexico Press, 1997.
Ryan, Pam Muñoz. Esperanza Rising. Scholastic Inc., 2000.
Strazzabosco, Jeanne M. Learning about Justice from the Life of César Chávez .
Rosen Publishing Group, 1996.
Schaefer, Lola M. César Chávez . Pebble Books, 1999.
Zannos, Susan. César Chávez -A Real-Life Biography. Mitchell Lane Publishers, Inc.,
1999.