Tobacco bag stringing: Secondary activity seven

In this activity for grades 7–12, students take on the role of legislators who must make a decision concerning the passage of an amendment to the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. Students will evaluate the impact of emotional appeal in persuasion. This activity builds on information learned in activities one through six.

A lesson plan for grades 8–12 English Language Arts and Social Studies

By Pauline S. Johnson

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Related pages

• Tobacco bag stringing: Secondary activity five: In this activity for grades 7–12, students will evaluate primary source photographs from the tobacco bag stringing collection and some of Lewis Hine's photographs from the George Eastman House collection.
• Tobacco bag stringing: Secondary activity one: This activity for grades 7–12 will help students understand what tobacco bag stringing was and why it was important to communities in North Carolina and Virginia. Students will read and analyze an introductory article about tobacco bag stringing.
• Tobacco bag stringing: Elementary activity four: In this activity for grades 3–5, students will read and evaluate a primary source letter from the Tobacco Bag Stringing collection. This should be done after Activity one, which is the introductory activity about tobacco bag stringing. Students will investigate the influence of technology, and its lack, on the tobacco bag stringers. They will do a role play/debate in which they will assume the roles of owners of companies and other people that were involved in the issue.

Related topics

• Learn more about American history, Great Depression, North Carolina, history, labor, legislation, tobacco, tobacco bag stringing, and workers.

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Legal

This is one of a series of activities that will help educators use the Tobacco Bag Stringing project materials in their classrooms. Throughout the series students will learn about tobacco stringing, study primary source documents and visuals, and practice critical thinking and analysis skills.

Learning outcomes

• Students will read and evaluate primary sources.
• Students will experience historical empathy.
• Students will practice higher order thinking.
• Students will take on the role of a legislator in a simulation of debate and a vote for an amendment.

Teacher planning

Materials/Resources

• Copies of the Proposed amendment to the Fair Labor Standards Act for each student.
• Copies of the materials that have been used in activities One, Two, Three, Four, Five, and Six. This should include the data matrix from Activity Five.
• Copies of the role sheets, cut so that each student gets one role.
• Copies of the Proposed Amendment Worksheet for each student.

Time required for lesson

• 10 minutes on the day before the debate
• Homework the night before in preparation
• One class period for the simulation

Activities

before the simulation

1. Give students copies of the Proposed amendment to the Fair Labor Standards Act.
2. Go over the amendment sections A through D. The first section of the proposed amendment does not necessarily need to be discussed.
3. Give students a copy of the Proposed Amendment Worksheet.
4. Instruct the students to think about how they should try to convince the House of Representatives to vote on the amendment.
5. For homework the students should think about the unit discussions and the matrix from activity five. Students who have access to computers at home should access Tobacco bag stringing: Life and labor in the Depression and read the letters, some of which they have seen in the classroom. They should consider the March 16, March 30, and April 13 letters that were not entirely evaluated in previous activities.
6. Students should fill in the chart with ideas to use in a debate.

Day of the simulation

1. The teacher should check for completed charts. You may consider giving an alternate assignment to those who have not completed the assignment.
2. On the day of the simulation, have each student choose a role from the role sheet at random from an envelope or hat. Tell students they must abide by the role sheet they chose.
3. The teacher should take on the role of Speaker of the House and encourage a discussion of the proposed amendment.
4. Students should give reasons for supporting or voting against the proposed amendment according to their role. They should use information and data from the materials in the Tobacco Bag Stringing project and from the stories in the Life Histories from American Memory.
5. During this simulation students should understand how emotions and raw data are used to support or weaken arguments.
6. Students should recognize that this simulation is based on true events in the 1930s.
7. Each student should speak at least once. For shy students, allow them to use the amendment worksheet they worked on for homework or to get help from another student.
8. Near the end of the class period have the “House” vote on the proposed amendment.
9. End the class with a debriefing on the process that was observed by the students and the teacher. Was factual or emotional information the most effective? Why is this important to consider?

Assessment

• Assess by collecting the amendment worksheet after the debate.
• Assess by evaluating the quality of arguments of the students during the debate.
• Each student should speak at least one time during the congressional debate.