Unit Plan

UNIT TITLE: Mother Jones

NAME(S): Hope, Cole, Stacey, Christina

TIME FRAME: 4 days

Grade Level: 7th Grade

Summary of the chapter in Takaki,summary of the unit (what will happen

during the unit), and Rationale (why is this unit/topic important?):
Summary: Students will learn about the work of Mother Jones in the fight for the rights of
child laborers and mine workers in the late 1800s. They will look at the conditions the
workers faced in the factories and mines as well as how Mother Jones protested their
treatment. Students will make connections between the workers rights movements of this
time period and current events.
Rationale: This topic is important to teach students because it gives them a historical
example of advocating for the rights of others, even when it seems no one else will. It is
important to show our students to recognize injustice in the world and that they have the
ability to make a change.

Unit standards: List the standards to be addressed within the unit.

Each lesson needs to

include 1-2 Arizona social studies standards, 1-2 Common Core ELA/SS standards, 1 English
Language Proficiency Standard. Copy and paste most relevant. Be specific, not just number
identifiers.
Grade 7 Strand 1 PO4. Discuss the relationship between immigration and
industrialization.

Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, using search terms
effectively; assess the credibility and accuracy of each source; and quote or
paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and following
a standard format for citation. (7.W.8)

Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style
are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Gradespecific expectations for
writing types are defined in standards 13 above. (7.W.4)

Which social justice element does your unit encompass (Picower, 2012)
Human and worker rights

Essential Questions: Essential

questions center around major issues,
problems, concerns, interests, or themes
relevant to the classroom. Essential
questions should lead students to discover
the big ideas. They need to begin to the
how and why.
How did Mother Jones impact the
treatment of child laborers and mine

Big Ideas:

These are what students will

discover as a result of instruction and learning
activities. They are the main ideas of the
learning,
the
conclusions,
or
the
generalizations. Big Ideas should be openended and may apply to more than one area
of study.
Workers have the right to be treated
fairly and compensated for the work

workers?
Why would she stand up for them?
Why didnt other people?
Why do conditions differ so much for
children in the 1870s vs. present
day?

Picture/chapter book
Chapter Book:
Mother Jones and the March of the Mill
Children
By Penny Colman

Key Terms / Vocabulary:

A Different Mirror for Young People: A

History of Multicultural America by Robert
Takaki

Technology
What technology will students use? Websites?
Digital activities?
Classroom laptops
Videos on YouTube
SmartBoard projector

they do.
When you believe that the treatment of
a person or group of people is unfair,
there are things you can do to advocate
for their rights.
Childrens rights need to be especially
protected as they are vulnerable and
deserve the right to have a childhood
(not working) and a full time education

Child laborer: a worker under the age of

14 employed for a business (usually a
factory) making minimal amounts of
money, doing dangerous work
Assembly line: a method of building an
item in which a series of machines or
people progressively build parts of the
item
Petition: a formal request or appeal
Protest: a statement or action that
shows disapproval of something
Advocate: a person who stands up for
the rights of another
Human rights: the rights that concern
treatment and freedoms of people that
we receive simply by being human

Primary sources and historical thinking learning activities:

How will students

interact with your journey box (narrative, 9 primary sources, and DBQ)?
In day 3 of the lesson, students will complete a jigsaw activity using the online journey box.

Assessments: List types of assessments that will be used throughout the course of the unit.
Include both formative and summative assessments. Summative assessment will be your
journey box educational activity/performance task.
Day 1: Students will each write a two person poem from the perspective of the Irish
Immigrants vs. the people already living in America at the time.
Day 2: Students will use knowledge from the lesson to create Picket Poems from the
perspective of child laborers protesting.
Day 3: Students will complete a jigsaw activity with the Mother Jones DBQs.
Day 4: Students will assume the position of Mother Jones and write letters, poems, songs,
posters, etc. of petition to the owners of the present day sweatshops or the government of the
nation.
We are teaching education candidates at Arizona State University completing this Unit Plan assignment in
order to meet course requirements for Elementary Social Studies. Using select chapters from A different
mirror for young people: A history of multicultural America by Ronald Takaki, we designed a unit that
integrates social studies and English Language Arts content and skills by designing lessons where
elementary students engage in critical historical reasoning activities.
Created by Christina Hyde, Hope Garland, Stacey Orlando, & Cole Hoffman
Spring 2016