a newspaper in education curriculum guide teacher guide children who built america: child labor...

A NEWSPAPER IN EDUCATION CURRICULUM GUIDE

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Children Who Built America: Child Labor Issues in American History and Today’s NewspaperTEACHER GUIDE

Table of Contents

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PAGEINTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................................................................................3

HOW TO USE THIS PROGRAM ...................................................................................................................................................................4-5

CORRELATION TO NATIONAL STANDARDS...................................................................................................................................................6-7

Activity Worksheets (reproducible):ACTIVITY 1: Clipping Project and Persuasive Essay Assignment ................................................................................................8

ACTIVITY 2: Historical Overview and Vocabulary..........................................................................................................................9

ACTIVITY 3: Comparing Experiences Using a Venn Diagram .....................................................................................................10Use with pages 2-3 of the student supplement.Historical analysis skills: Comparing and contrasting

ACTIVITY 4: Analyzing Primary Source Documents ....................................................................................................................11 Use with pages 4-5 of the student supplement.Historical analysis skills: Getting facts from primary source documents and summarizing

ACTIVITY 5: Identifying Points of View .........................................................................................................................................12Use with pages 4-5 of the student supplement.Historical analysis skills: Understanding history from different points of view

ACTIVITY 6: Changing Roles in a Changing Economy..................................................................................................................13Use with pages 6-7 of the student supplement.Historical analysis skills: Organizing data in charts

ACTIVITY 7: Dramatizing a Child in History and a Child in the News Today ...........................................................................14 Use with pages 8-9 of the student supplement.Historical analysis skills: Identifying points of view

ACTIVITY 8: What Obituaries Tell...................................................................................................................................................15Use with pages 8-9 of the student supplement.Historical analysis skills: Distinguishing fact and opinion

ACTIVITY 9: Tracking Changes in Children’s Roles Over Time..............................................................................................16-17Use with pages 10-11 of the student supplement.Historical analysis skills: Sequencing events on a timeline

ACTIVITY 10: Media Ignites Reform..................................................................................................................................................18Use with pages 12-13 of student supplement.Historical analysis skills: Analyzing primary source documents and images

ACTIVITY 11: “Mother Jones”............................................................................................................................................................19Use with pages 12-13 of the student supplement.Historical analysis skills: Summarizing

ACTIVITY 12: The Child Labor Debate .........................................................................................................................................20-21Use with pages 14-15 of the student supplement.Historical analysis skills: Understanding different points of view

APPENDIX A: Analyzing a newspaper Op-Ed Column ....................................................................................................................22

APPENDIX B: Newspaper Film Review: “Stolen Childhoods”: ......................................................................................................23Children Trapped in Labor, With Few Reasons for Hope

Written by Vicki Whiting, editor of Kid Scoop.Additional introductory material by Ellen Doukoullos.The guide is a resource from The New York Times Knowledge Network. It did not involve the reporting or editing staff ofThe New York Times.

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Introduction

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These lessons using the newspaper in the classroom are designed to tiehistory and economics curriculums to current events and the lives ofyoung people today — and engage students in the study of a topic requiredin many states.

History and economics lessons become more meaningful when presentedin the context of the real-world, hot-topic issue of child labor. Anunderstanding of U.S. history and economics is incomplete withoutstudying the participation of children in the labor force: Children havealways played an important role in the American economy.

Today, however, social studies teachers have a greater challenge beyondteaching core social-studies content: They are also expected to teachreading and writing skills. This Children Who Built America supplementprovides teachers with lessons that promote reading comprehension,critical thinking and writing. Each lesson has a writing component, andthe culminating project for the unit is a persuasive essay.

Recent research from the University of Minnesota (published by theNewspaper Association of America Foundation as “Measuring Success:The Positive Impact of Newspaper In Education Programs on StudentAchievement”) reports that, on average, students who use a newspaper inschool scored 10% better on standardized reading tests than students whodid not.*

As the United States shifted from an agrarian-based economy to anindustrialized economy, the role of children changed dramatically. Asunderdeveloped nations around the world make the same shift today, theimpact on children in those countries today corresponds to the impactsuch change had on American children in years past.

According to Hugh D. Hindeman, Ph.D. Professor, Appalachian StateUniversity, and author of “Child Labor, An American History”: “If childlabor is viewed as predictable during certain stages of economicdevelopment, then the economic history of advanced nations may serve asa guide to its eradication in the developing nations of today andtomorrow.”

*“Measuring Success: The Positive Impact of Newspaper in EducationPrograms on Student Achievement,” Newspaper Association of AmericaFoundation, 2003.

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There are three elements to this program:The newspaper, a personal copy each day forevery studentPrimary-source documents published in theChildren Who Built America student supplement The Children Who Built America teacher’s guide,with reproducible activity worksheets.

CCooppiieess ooff tthhee nneewwssppaappeerrThe newspaper is a primary source document withdocumentation of news and events that affectchildren both in the United States and around theworld. Provide each student with a daily copy ofthe newspaper. Students should read thenewspaper each day, and clip articles relating tochildren throughout the time period devoted to thisproject. Have students save all materials in aNewspaper Clipping Project folder: Students willuse materials that they have clipped fromnewspaper to complete activities in the Children Who Built America supplement and in theTeacher’s Guides.

Student Guide -- Children Who Built America:Child Labor Issues in American History andToday’s Newspaper

The student guide, Children Who BuiltAmerica, is organized into seven two-pagesections. Each section contains primary sourcehistorical documents as well as expositorytext.

News Watch: Each two-page section featuresNews Watch activities that promote criticalreading and writing skills using both thesupplement and the newspaper. The teacher’sguide provides reproducible activity sheetsthat accompany most of the News Watchactivities.

Teacher’s Guide -- Children Who BuiltAmerica: Child Labor Issues in AmericanHistory and Today’s Newspaper

There is at least one Activity Worksheet foreach two-page section in the student

supplement. Before assigning students to readeach section, distribute copies of the ActivityWorksheets, one per student. Review thedirections with your students. The directionsinclude instructions on when to read thecorresponding pages of the studentsupplement.

Each Activity Worksheet engages students inhistorical analysis. The activities requirestudents to use critical thinking skills (such asexamining points of view, comparing andcontrasting, sequencing, and analyzing causesand effects) and to marshal solid evidence insupport of their opinions, go beyond the factspresented in their textbooks, and examine thehistorical record for themselves.

Note: Activity Worksheets are reproduciblefor your classroom when used with thenewspaper.

The Newspaper Clipping Project andPersuasive Essay Writing AssignmentHave your students read the newspaper on a dailybasis and find and clip all content — news articles,editorials, letters to the editor, Op-Ed essays andcolumns, and advertisements — that relate tochildren. Provide each student with a folder to savethese clippings, in addition to completed ActivitySheets.

When your students have finished reading thestudent supplement and finished all of theeducational activities that correspond to eachsection of the supplement, they will have gainedthe knowledge and analytic skills to make theirown informed judgements about the child laborissues today.

As a final project for this unit of study, havestudents write a persuasive essay to support theirposition on a specific issue related to child labor.Your students should use the editorials and Op-Edpage columns and essays of the newspaper asmodels for their essays. Appendix A is a Worksheetthat provides guided practice for analyzing an Op-Ed column or essay.


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Complete directions for this project are on thefirst handout of this guide, “Activity 1: ClippingProject.” Review the directions for the ClippingProject and Persuasive Essay and have studentsstaple them to the Clipping Folder.

Time Frame For the UnitsThe lessons in this guide provide learningactivities for a semester. Allow time each day foryour students to go through the newspaper tohelp them develop the habit of daily newspaperreading, and to give them time to scan forarticles to clip that relate to the child-laborcurriculum. At the same time, your studentswill discover articles on other topics that theywant to read.


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Standards

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Knows how to view the past in terms of norms and values of the time.Understands that specific individuals, ideas, specific decisions andevents had an impact on history.Understands that the values individuals held had an impact on history.Analyzes the influences and effects that specific individuals, ideas,beliefs, specific decisions and events had on history.Knows different types of primary and secondary sources and themotives, interests and bias expressed in them (e.g., eyewitness accounts,letters, diaries, artifacts, photos, newspaper accounts).Analyzes the values held by specific people who influenced history andthe role their values played in influencing history.Analyzes the influences specific ideas, specific decisions and beliefs hadon a period of history and specifies how events might have beendifferent in the absence of those ideas, decisions and beliefs.Understands how the past affects our lives and society in general.Knows how to perceive past events with historical empathy.Knows how to evaluate the credibility and authenticity ofhistorical sources.

Uses reading skills and strategies to understand a variety ofinformational texts.Uses text organizers (e.g., headings, graphic features, topic sentences)to determine the main ideas and to locate information in a text.Summarizes and paraphrases information in texts.Uses prior knowledge to understand and respond to new information.Understands the author’s viewpoint in informational texts.Understands structural patterns or organization in informationaltexts (e.g., chronological, logical or sequential order; compare-and-contrast; cause-and-effect).Knows the defining characteristics of a variety of informational texts(e.g., letters, diaries, primary source historical documents, newsstories).Draws conclusions and makes inferences based on explicit andimplicit information in texts.Differentiates between fact and opinion in informational texts.Summarizes and paraphrases complex, implicit hierarchic structuresin informational texts, including the relationships among theconcepts and details.Uses discussions with peers as a way of understanding information.Uses text features and elements to support inferences andgeneralizations about information (e.g., vocabulary, structure,evidence, expository structure, structure, format, use of language).

5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12GRADE

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The lessons in this curriculum guide are correlated with relevant national standards from Mid-Contintent Research forEductional and Learning (McREL). These standards represent a compendium derived from most state standards.

Each McREL standard has subcategories, or benchmarks, for different levels of instruction. For details seewww.mcrel.org/standards.

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5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12GRADE

LANGUAGE ARTS/READING

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In addition to the standards charted above, Children Who Built America provides historicalinformation on the following eras of United States History, as defined by the McREL United StatesHistory Standards.

EErraa 22:: Colonization and Settlement (1585-1763)Understands how political and social institutions emerged in the English colonies.

EErraa 33:: Revolution and the New Nation (1754-1820’s)Understands the impact of the American Revolution on politics, economics and society.

EErraa 44:: Expansion and Reform (1801-1861)Understands how the Industrial Revolution, increasing immigration and the westwardmovement changed American lives.Understands the sources and character of cultural and social reform movements in theantebellum period.

EErraa 55:: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)Understands the effects of the Civil War on the American people.

EErraa 66:: The Development of the Industrial United States (1870-1900)Understands how the rise of corporations, heavy industry and mechanized farmingtransformed American society.Understands the rise of the American labor movement and how political issues reflectedsocial and economic changes.


Standards

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ACTIVITY 1

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NNAAMMEE ______________________________________

NNOOTTEE:: TThhiiss aaccttiivviittyy ccoonnttiinnuueess tthhrroouugghhoouutt tthhiiss uunniitt ooff ssttuuddyy.. TThheessee ddiirreeccttiioonnss aarree ffoorr tthheewwoorrkk rreeqquuiirreedd ttoo ccoommpplleettee tthhee ccuullmmiinnaattiinngg eessssaayy.. SSttaappllee tthheessee iinnssttrruuccttiioonnss ttoo tthhee iinnssiiddee ooffyyoouurr cclliippppiinngg ffoollddeerr..

To complete the Children Who Built America unit of study, you will write an essay in the style of anewspaper Op-Ed piece about child labor. In order to gain the background information and analysistools to write an informed and persuasive essay, this unit of study will guide you through four steps:

1) In addition to reading historicaldocuments in Children Who BuiltAmerica, read the newspaper every day.Look for and read all coverage thatrelates to children:

••News articles, from all sections ofthe newspaper

••Editorials and Letters to the Editor,on the editorial page

••Columns and opinion essays, on theOp-Ed page

••Advertisements, in all sections ofthe newspaper

2) Clip and save all relevant newspaperarticles and completed assignmentsthroughout this unit of study in yourNewspaper Clipping Project folder. Labeleach article that you clip from thenewspaper with the day, month and yearit was published, and in which sectionand on what page you found it.

3) Complete activity pages and NNeewwssWWaattcchh assignments to develop analyticskills for critical examination of allpertinent documents. Keep all completedprojects in your clipping folder.

4) Develop a position on the issue of childlabor and write an essay in the style of anewspaper Op-Ed piece. Support yourposition with concrete facts from bothhistorical and current newspaper

documents. Study Op-Ed pieces in thenewspaper as models for your writing.Your Op-Ed piece should address thefollowing questions:

a. What changes in the economicrole of children have occurredsince colonial times?

b. How did they occur?c. What were the main issues of

concern regarding child labor indifferent time periods?

d. Have the issues surrounding childlabor changed over time?

e. How does understanding thehistory of child labor in theUnited States help to develop abetter understanding of childlabor throughout the world today?

Support Your Position With DocumentsA persuasive essay tells readers where youobtained the information used in your essay tosupport your point of view. The correct way todocument these resources in your essay (that is,to cite your source) is:Source: Last Name, First Name. “Headline.”NEWSPAPER, DAY MONTH YEAR:Page number.

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HISTORICAL OVERVIEW AND VOCABULARY

NNAAMMEE _________________________________________

The Story of Child LaborChildren have always played an important role in the American economy. Incolonial times, they were an integral part of America’s family-basedagricultural and handicraft economy. In the Industrial Age, children provided asignificant part of the inexpensive work force on which the nation’s factoriesrelied. As America evolved from a rural, agrarian society to an industrializednation, child labor went from being a non-issue to a highly controversial andmuch-debated concern.

There were no mass-produced goods in the agrarian economy of pre-industrialAmerica. Colonial farm families produced nearly everything they needed, andthe contributions of children were essential to every family’s survival. In theSouth, slave children contributed to the economy by picking cotton andworking in plantation homes. With the advent of the Industrial Age, textilemills provided new employment opportunities for children, but under vastlydifferent working conditions. Though the official figures likely understate thereality, they indicate that in 1900 at least 18% of America’s children wereemployed. In southern cotton mills, 25% of the employees were under the ageof 15, and half of these children were younger than 12. [1900 U.S. Census]

Within the context of a largely self-sufficient agricultural economy, child laborwas the norm and universally accepted. Within the context of Industrial Agefactory employment, attitudes toward child labor began to change. Those whoadvocated for child labor argued that it had value for both the economy and forthe children themselves. Those who were against it deplored the oftenhorrendous working conditions children were subjected to and the loss of achildhood education. These debates raged until the passage of the Fair LaborStandards Act of 1938.

Today, children contribute to the economy primarily as consumers. Those whodo work are restricted to part-time employment, contingent on continuing inschool. Most people take it for granted that kids need time to be kids andcomplete their education before taking on full-time jobs. In truth, these valueshave been in place for only a few generations, and the battle to pass laws toenforce them was long and bitter. Nor has the battle been entirely won. Despiteexisting laws, some children continue to labor in excess of the hours allowed orhold prohibited jobs. And while American children are, by and large, nowprotected from exploitive employment, child labor has become a prominentissue in many countries around the world.

The minimal role of child labor in the United States today stems directly from the remarkable changes in social and economic development as America developed from an agrarian to an industrial society over the last twocenturies. The study of child labor throughout American history raisesimportant questions. Studying these questions provides insight into the optionsand opportunities available to children in the United States and around theworld today.

VOCABULARY EXERCISE

Underline each of thefollowing words in theessay at right, “TheStory of Child Labor.”Based on the context inwhich the word wasused and what you find in a dictionary,write a definition foreach word below.

economy

agrarian

industrial

advocated

deplored

consumers

exploitive

Create a crosswordpuzzle using thesewords and others from the essay at right.Divide into teams andrace to find these wordsin today’s newspaper.


ACTIVITY 2

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NNAAMMEE _______________________________________________________________________

SStteepp 11.. Read the newspaper every day for one week. Clip all articles relating to the lives ofchildren in the United States and abroad, and save them in your clipping folder.

SStteepp 22.. At the end of the week, create a Venn diagram to compare the lives of two children inyour collection of articles.

SStteepp 33.. Complete the Venn diagram below to compare the lives of children on colonial farmswith the lives of children in America today:

a) In the left-hand part of the first circle, write things that are true of children oncolonial farms but are not true of children today.

b) In the right-hand part of the second circle, write things that are true ofchildren today but were not true of children who lived on colonial farms.

c) In the section of the circles that overlap, write things that are true of bothgroups of children.


ACTIVITY 3

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NNAAMMEE _______________________________________________________________________

SStteepp 11Read the excerpt from Horace Greeley’s autobiography, “Recollections of a Busy Life,” on page 4of Children Who Built America, and underline and label the clues that reveal the following:

a) Whom is the story about?b) What event does the excerpt from this historical document describe?

(If there is more than one event, list them in order.)c) When did this event happen?d) Where did this event happen?e) Why did this event happen?f) How did this event happen?

SStteepp 22Select a newspaper article about children and answer the questions in Step 1 for the article.

SStteepp 33Write an editorial in response to the news article you have selected, using facts from both thehistorical document about Horace Greeley and the article itself. Study editorials in thenewspaper as models for your writing.


ACTIVITY 4

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IDENTIFYING POINTS OF VIEW

NNAAMMEE _______________________________________________________________________

In a way, history’s stories are similar to the story of a group of blind people, each of whom toucheda different part of an elephant, then described what he or she thought an elephant looked like. Eachended up describing a different animal, depending on the part he or she had touched.

In other words, history’s stories assume different points of view — and to gain a more completeunderstanding of history, it must be studied from different points of view.

SStteepp 11A. Select one of the memoirs on pages 4-5 of Children Who Built America.

B. Write a few sentences expressing the viewpoint of each of the people mentioned in the memoir.

1) Viewpoint #1:

2) Viewpoint #2:

3) Viewpoint #3:

4) Viewpoint #4:

SStteepp 22A. Find and read an article about children in the newspaper.

B. List the different people mentioned in the article.

SStteepp 33Write a few sentences expressing the points of view of each of the people you identified in thenewspaper article in Part B of Step 2 . Use direct quotes from the article when possible.


ACTIVITY 5

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NNAAMMEE _______________________________________________________________________

SStteepp 11Read page 6 of Children Who Built America. Create a chart that compares the life of a girlworking in a textile mill with that of a girl working on a farm. Use the chart below as a modelfor your chart.

Farm Girl Mill Girl

SStteepp 22Search the newspaper for stories that feature women. List the names of the women and whythey are in the news.

Create a chart that compares women’s roles today with women’s roles in the early years of theIndustrial Revolution.

Women’s Roles at the Start Women’s Roles Todayof the Industrial Revolution

SStteepp 33:: PPuutt IItt AAllll TTooggeetthheerr!!Choose one of the following activities to explain how young women’s social and economic roleshave changed — and how they have stayed the same — from pre-industrial times to the present.

A. Write an essay in the style of the Op-Ed page of the newspaper. Study Op-Ed columns andessays as models for your writing. (For practice in analyzing Op-Ed columns and essays,complete the Appendix A Worksheet, Analyzing a newspaper Op-Ed Column)

B. Write and present a short film script or play on the subject.C. Write and perform a song or a poem.D. Create a comic book on the subject.E. Create a painting or a collage using relevant images and text.


ACTIVITY 6

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DRAMATIZING A CHILD IN HISTORY AND A CHILD IN THE NEWS TODAY

NNAAMMEE _______________________________________________________________________

RRoollee--ppllaayy:: aa cchhiilldd ffrroomm tthhee ppaasstt..

1. Select a child featured on pages 8-9 of Children Who Built America.

2. Complete the following to compile a list of details about that person’s life, based on theinformation provided in the documents.

Who:_______________________________________________________________________________

What: _____________________________________________________________________________

When: _____________________________________________________________________________

Where: ____________________________________________________________________________

Why:_______________________________________________________________________________

How:_______________________________________________________________________________

3. Write a speech that might be given by the child you selected. Be sure to write in the first-person format. Present your speech to the class. Staying in the role of the child you selected,answer questions from the class. (Other students should write about the presentation anddiscussion in the form of a news article and submit it to the student newspaper.)

RRoollee--ppllaayy aa cchhiilldd iinn ttooddaayy’’ss nneewwss..1. Find an article in the newspaper that reports on an event affecting the lives of children.

List the children affected and identify their points of view.

Using the facts in the article, write a speech from the point of view of a child who is affected bythe news event in the article. Present your speech to the class. Staying in the role of the childyou selected, answer questions from the class. (Other students should write up the presentationand discussion in the form of a news article and submit it to the student newspaper.)


ACTIVITY 7

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WHAT OBITUARIES TELL

NNAAMMEE _______________________________________________________________________

The obituaries and memoirs on pages 8-9 of Children Who Built America provide facts andopinions about the experiences of children who lived in the past.

A. Identify the facts and opinions in the obituaries and memoirs on pages 8-9 of ChildrenWho Built America. Answer the following questions:

1. What does each fact contribute to the understanding of the time period in which these people lived?

2. What do the opinions tell us about the time period?

3. Would an all-opinion obituary be as interesting or informative? How about an all-facts obituary?

B. Find reviews in the arts/entertainment section of the newspaper that feature youngactors in a movie, show or TV program. Select a review and, from that review, select oneperformer. Identify and list the facts and opinions in the review about that performer.

Headline of Review: __________________________________________________________________

Movie/Play/TV Show Being Reviewed: ________________________________________________

Date of review: _______________________________________________________________________

Page number:_________________________________________________________________________

Name of performer: __________________________________________________________________

Facts: ________________________________________________________________________________

Opinions: ____________________________________________________________________________

C. Using these facts and opinions, write an obituary for the performer you selected. Studythe obituaries in the newspaper as models for the obituary you write. What would theobituary you wrote tell people in the future about life in present-day America?

JJOOUURRNNAALLIISSMM NNOOTTEENewspaper obituaries for famous people are written and continually updated while they are stillalive. This makes it easier for newspapers to have a comprehensive obituary on hand when anotable person dies.


ACTIVITY 8

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NNAAMMEE _______________________________________________________________________

A. Create a timeline to put in historic sequence the events covered on pages 2-11 of Children WhoBuilt America. Incorporate events described in the passage below:

CChhiillddrreenn aanndd tthhee IInndduussttrriiaall RReevvoolluuttiioonnIn the second half of the 19th century, child labor was on the increase and getting outof control. In large cities, poor children only six or seven years old were sent out byparents to earn their keep and contribute to the household economy. The youngestworked as scavengers, gathering trash they could sell to junk dealers or peddle toneighbors — items like cinders, rope and metal bottles. Older kids worked as street-peddlers or huckstering. Certain low-paying jobs were reserved for children: street-sweeping for girls, and boot blacking and newspaper hawking for boys. Children whoworked in the streets and without adult supervision often fell into illegal activities, likegambling, prostitution or theft. Other children worked in glass factories in front offiery furnaces, in dark textile mills and in coal mines, hauling coal on their backs andbreathing coal dust for 10 hours at a time.

In 1870, when the U.S. Census counted child laborers for the first time, it reported750,000 workers age 15 and under — a number that did not include children working onfamily farms and in family businesses. Throughout the rest of the 19th century andinto the 20th, advancing industrialization increased these numbers. Finally, in theearly 1900’s, through the efforts of social reformers and child-labor organizations, theplight of America’s working children became a subject of increasing concern.Opponents of child labor focused attention on the crowded and unsanitary factoryconditions that led to disease, the rigorous jobs that resulted in injury or even death,and the fact that child laborers generally received little or no education.

In addition, waves of immigrants, beginning with the Irish in 1840 and continuingafter 1880 with immigrants from southern and Eastern Europe, poured into Atlanticcoastal cities. Many of these immigrants came from rural backgrounds, and they hadmuch the same attitude toward child labor as Americans had in the previous century.This new pool of child workers was matched by a tremendous expansion of Americanindustry, causing a rise in the percentage of children 10 to 15 years of age who wereforced to work. At the end of the 19th century, at least 1.75 million worked,representing about 18% of children in that age group nationwide. Ultimately, womenand adult immigrants replaced these children in the textile industry, but child laborcontinued in other areas of business.


ACTIVITY 9

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B. The timeline you created based on information in pages 2-11 of Children Who Built America andthe passage above shows how the role of children has changed as the U.S. economy shifted from aprimarily agrarian base to a primarily industrial one. If you were to remove the dates from yourtimeline, you would be left with a sequence of events that occur as all economies change fromagrarian to industrial — a timeline of economic transition.

1. From your clipping-folder collection of newspaper materials on child labor today, selectarticles about child labor in one country.

2. Identify the economic roles children play in that country, and indicate where on yourtimeline of economic transition this country would fall.

C. Write a letter to the editor of the newspaper describing where along the economic-transitiontimeline the children in your selected country are at present. Explain what history tells us islikely to happen next.

What actions do you think people should or shouldn’t take? Take a position on the issue of childlabor and support that position in your letter. (Locate the e-mail address for sending Letters to theEditor on either the Editorials page, where letters are published, or in the Information and ServicesDirectory, which usually runs on the Weather page.)


ACTIVITY 9

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NNAAMMEE _______________________________________________________________________

A. Study the photographs by Jacob Riis on pages 12-13 of Children Who Built America.1. Make a list of all the details you see in the photos.2. Write a paragraph describing the people, settings, events and any artifacts that you see.

Think about what is happening beyond the edges of the photograph.

B. Today, as in the past, journalists continue to tell the stories of people who are powerless to speakor write for themselves.

1. Look through your newspaper clipping-project file and today’s newspaper forphotographs of children.

2. Use these photos to create a photo exhibition designed to educate people about theconditions faced by working children today.

3. Write captions and pull quotes for each image in your exhibition. Include additionaldetails that will help people understand what the photos are about. Study captions in the newspaper as models for your own writing.

Background InformationLLeewwiiss WW.. HHiinnee ((11887744--11994400)) Lewis W. Hine was another photographer who used his craft to inform people about theconditions of working children. Hine knew that a photograph could tell a powerful story. In 1908the National Child Labor Committee gave Hine the assignment to photograph child laboraround the nation. For the next several years, Hine traveled extensively, photographing childrenin mines, factories, canneries, textile mills, street trades and agriculture. His photographsshowed the public that child labor deprived children of good health, education and a chance fora good future — in short, it deprived them of their childhood. His work played an important rolein the fight for stricter child-labor laws.

To view a selection of Lewis W. Hine’s photographs, go to:http://www.boondocksnet.com/gallery/nclc/occupations.html


ACTIVITY 10

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““MMOOTTHHEERR JJOONNEESS””

NNAAMMEE _______________________________________________________________________

One of the most powerful voices for abolishing child labor was that of Mary Harris Jones, a 73-year-old woman known as “Mother Jones.” In 1903, Mother Jones led a “children’s crusade” tobring attention to the plight of young textile mill workers. To make her point, she and thechildren marched nearly 270 miles from a Pennsylvania mill town to President TheodoreRoosevelt’s home in Long Island, N.Y.

A. Read Mother Jones’s personal account of this historic march. As you read, underline and labelthe parts of her memoir that tell the Who, What, When, Where, Why and How of the march.

In the spring of 1903 I went to Kensington, Pa., where 75,000 textile workers were on strike. Ofthis number at least 10,000 were little children. The workers were striking for more pay andshorter hours. Every day little children came into Union Headquarters, some with the thumbmissing, some with their fingers off at the knuckle. They were stooped things, round-shouldered and skinny. Many of them were not over 10 years of age; state law prohibitedtheir working before they were 12 years of age.

The law was poorly enforced and the mothers of these children often swore falsely as to theirchildren’s ages. In a single block in Kensington, 14 women, mothers of 22 children all under12, explained it was a question of starvation or perjury, that the fathers had been killed ormaimed at the mines.

I asked the newspapermen why they didn’t publish the facts about child labor inPennsylvania. They said they couldn’t because the mill owners had stock in the papers.

“Well, I’ve got stock in these little children,” said I, “and I’ll arrange a little publicity.”

I asked some of the parents if they would let me have their little boys and girls for a week or10 days, promising to bring them back safe and sound. They consented. A man named Sweenywas marshal for our “army.” A few men and women went with me to help with the children.They were on strike and I thought they might well have a little recreation.

The children carried knapsacks on their backs that held a knife and fork, a tin cup and plate.We took along a wash boiler in which to cook the food on the road. One little fellow had adrum and another had a fife. That was our band. We carried banners that said, “We wantmore schools and less hospitals.” “We want time to play.” “Prosperity is here. Where is ours?”

SSoouurrccee:: ““MMootthheerr JJoonneess aanndd tthhee MMaarrcchh ooff tthhee MMiillll CChhiillddrreenn”” ((11990033)),, bbyy MMootthheerr JJoonneessA. Look through the newspaper for examples of protests of any kind in articles

or photos. Select one example and list the Who, What, When, Where, Why and How ofthe protest.

B. Work with a partner to identify two positions on the protest. Select one of the twopositions and write a position statement. Your partner should write an opposing positionstatement. Discuss the issue with your partner, with each of you taking the position youhave selected. Rewrite your position statements after the discussion. In the rewrite,counter arguments raised by your partner.


ACTIVITY 11

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TTHHEE CCHHIILLDD LLAABBOORR DDEEBBAATTEE

NNAAMMEE _______________________________________________________________________

The struggle for child-labor reform lasted decades. While reformers protested the poverty, workingconditions and loss of childhood experienced by child workers, some officials claimed the federalgovernment did not have the right to regulate labor practices in the states. Farm, factory and textile-mill owners argued that child labor was essential to their industries and that the government shouldnot interfere in private business. Some civic leaders were concerned that if children did not work,they would fail to develop a good work ethic.

SStteepp 11A. Find the answer to the following questions in the Timeline of Child Labor Reform below.

1. In what year was the first lobbying group for child-labor reform established in the UnitedStates?

2. In which years did the U.S. Supreme Court declare child-labor reform lawsunconstitutional?

3. What was the name of the Act that prevented companies with federal contracts from usingchild labor?

4. Which President signed the Fair Labor Standards Act into law?

TTIIMMEELLIINNEE OOFF CCHHIILLDD LLAABBOORR RREEFFOORRMM1904 The National Child Labor Committee, the first effective lobbying group for child labor reform,

is established in the United States.1906 Senator Albert Beveridge (R-Ind.) introduces the first bill to regulate child labor.1912 The U. S. Children’s Bureau, the first federal agency devoted expressly to the welfare of

children, is established.1916 Congress passes and President Woodrow Wilson signs the Keating-Owens Act, the first federal

legislation regulating child labor.1917 The U. S. Supreme Court declares the Keating-Owens Act unconstitutional.1919 Congress passes the Child Labor Tax Act, which places a heavy tax on goods produced using

child labor.1922 The U. S. Supreme Court declares the Child Labor Tax Act unconstitutional.1924 Congress proposes a Child Labor Amendment to the U. S. Constitution. The proposed

amendment is never ratified.1930 Delegates to the White House Conference on Child Health and Protection prepare the

Children’s Charter, a set of 19 principles that includes a Bill of Rights for the HandicappedChild.

1933 The National Recovery Act includes a prohibition on labor by children under the age of 16.1936 The Walsh-Healy Act becomes law, preventing companies with federal contracts from using

child labor.1938 The Fair Labor Standards Act, containing child-labor provisions, is signed into law by

President Franklin D. Roosevelt.1941 The Supreme Court upholds the constitutionality of the Fair Labor Standards Act, which is

still in force today.


ACTIVITY 12

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TTHHEE CCHHIILLDD LLAABBOORR DDEEBBAATTEE

NNAAMMEE _______________________________________________________________________

SStteepp 22Read the arguments from the debate in the early 20th century over the establishment of child-laborlaws, found on pages 14-15 of Children Who Built America.

A. Look for examples of similar arguments for and against child labor in the newspaper materialsyou have collected to date. Write an argument supporting one side of the issue using both thehistorical documents and contemporary material from the newspaper.

MMyy ppoossiittiioonn::________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

PPooiinnttss tthhaatt ssuuppppoorrtt mmyy ppoossiittiioonn:: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

AArrgguummeennttss aaggaaiinnsstt mmyy ppoossiittiioonn:: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

RReebbuuttttaall ttoo aarrgguummeennttss aaggaaiinnsstt mmyy ppoossiittiioonn:: ______________________________________________________________________________________________

B. Have a Class DebateOrganize your class into three groups:

Group 1: Debate team in favor of child labor.Group 2: Debate team opposed to child labor.Group 3: Reporters covering the debate.

Have the debate teams work together to build their arguments. Set a date and time for thedebate and invite others to attend. Hold the debate. The reporters listen to the debate andwrite news articles about the debate. Select one of their articles and submit it to yourschool newspaper.


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AANNAALLYYZZIINNGG AA NNEEWWSSPPAAPPEERR OOPP--EEDD CCOOLLUUMMNN

1. Select a column or essay from the Op-Ed page of the newspaper. Complete the followinginformation about the column:

TTiittllee:: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

AAuutthhoorr:: __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

SSeeccttiioonn aanndd PPaaggee NNuummbbeerr::____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. Answer the following questions about the article:

a.) What is the subject?

b.) What is the author’s opinion about this subject?

c.) List the statements that the author uses to support his or her opinion:

d.) What key words and phrases does the author use to persuade the reader in the conclusionof this article?

3. Find an opinion piece that has a different point of view. Repeat this activity with that column.


Appendix A

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FFIILLMM RREEVVIIEEWW


APPENDIX B

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