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United We Stand
Teacher's Guide
Procedure
Day One: Primary Sources
- Introduce students to the differences between primary and secondary sources by reading and discussing
What Are Primary Sources? from
The Historian's Sources lesson.
Day Two: Working Conditions
Preparation:
Print out primary sources from the Resource
Gallery. Post the items around the classroom. Remember to print out all pages
of the sheet music. For additional printing tips, see How
to Print and Save in the Getting Started section of the Learning Page.
Procedure:
- Allow students to peruse the primary sources for 5-10 minutes.
- Explain the source of the primary sources and recall their significance from the previous lesson.
- Ask students to share their observations, answering the question, "What did you see?"
- Use
Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co. factory no. 12, Clarksburg, West Virginia. Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co. factory interior VII to demonstrate analysis of primary sources to
the students.
- Point out what one can actually observe in the image by posing such questions as:
- Is safety equipment visible?
- Is the worker working in isolation or not?
- Is there protective equipment around the machinery?
- Is the worker old or young?
- Discuss what can be inferred from the image. For example, does it appear that:
- the laborer may not be safe because of isolation?
- the materials the laborer is handling look sharp; are gloves visible?
- Hand out the Looking at Primary Source Documents worksheet for students to complete. Allow approximately 20-30 minutes.
- Using the Worksheet Answer Key, discuss the significant themes found in the pictures. Ask students to
share their conclusions from their worksheet.
Note: This lesson can also be completed online if students have Internet access.
Day Three: Rise of Labor Unions
- In small groups, students create a poster that portrays a specific issue of turn-of-the-century working conditions. The poster should create awareness of the issue and should invoke an emotional response from the viewer.
- Student groups create a newspaper editorial on the same topic as the poster.
- The editorial must refer to at least three specific images introduced on Day Two.
- The images can be used as if they are "eyewitness" shots or "sightings".
- The editorial concludes with an analysis of what changes should be made in working conditions and how those
changes are to be made.
- The editorial may be a written, oral, or video presentation.
Evaluation
- The Looking at Primary Source Documents worksheet
is evaluated using the Worksheet Answer Key.
- The poster is evaluated using the Scoring Guide
for Poster.
- The newspaper editorial is evaluated using the Scoring Guide for Editorial.
Extension
Create a mock trial based on the Pullman Strike, Haymarket Riot, or another notable labor incident.
Working in small groups, students participate in a mock trial to identify who is to blame
for a labor riot that has occurred.
Procedure
- Recruit the principal or another social studies teacher to serve as the trial judge.
- Divide the students into groups of six. Assign the following roles to the six students in each group:
- attorney against labor unions
- witness against labor unions
- factory owner
- attorney for labor unions
- witness for labor unions
- factory worker
- Working within their groups, each student prepares a written argument supporting his or
her role. Students may discuss supporting issues with their peers.
For example, students taking roles against the labor unions may discuss issues with partner
students taking roles for the labor unions.
- Students search American Memory for primary sources to defend their arguments.
- Student groups stage and videotape their mock trials.
Suggested Resources for Extension Lesson
Pullman Strike Web Links
- Pullman Strike, Ohio State University
- CPL Chicago 1894: Pullman Strike, Chicago Public Library
Haymarket Riot Web Link
Seattle General Strike Web Link
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