Peonage Lesson Plan

Peonage Lesson Plan

Peonage

Forced labor

Race relations

Indentured servants

Social conditions

Forced labor--slavery

Peonage, also known as debt slavery, was used an option for farmers to control labor. The Raymondville peonage cases, which were the first of their kind in Texas history, were tried in the Nueces County federal court in January 1927. Although the practice was illegal, peonage labor was used during the early twentieth century in some counties of South Texas, where it had become common to force laborers, usually Mexican or African Americans but also whites, to work off debts owed to farmers. During times of labor shortage the practice included charging individuals with vagrancy in order to force them into labor; "friendly farmers" paid off their fines and then had the prisoners work off the debt by picking cotton, often under armed guard.

Handbook of Texas Online, Alicia A. Garza, "RAYMONDVILLE PEONAGE CASES," accessed July 29, 2019, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/pqreq.

Grade 4

Ana Cerda

Lezly Gonzalez

Melissa Cantu

UTRGV College of Education

EDCI3335.32

Spring 2019

University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Special Collections and University Archives

1865

1927

University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

UTRGV College of Education

Stephanie Anckle

Cerda, Ana, Gonzalez, Lezly, and Cantu, Melissa. (2019). Lesson Plan for Peonage Lesson Plan. Retrieved from. https://rgvprimarysourceguides.omeka.net/files/show/96

PDF

English

LessonPlan-Peonage-CerdaGonzalezCantu

Raymondville, Texas

§113.15. Social Studies, Grade 4
(b) Knowledge and skills
(22) Social studies skills. The student communicates in written, oral, and visual forms. The student is expected to:
(D) create written and visual material such as journal entries, reports, graphic organizers, outlines, and
bibliographies

The learner will understand the definition of slavery.
The learner will demonstrate their knowledge by creating a graphic organizer such as a web organizer with 90%
accuracy.

Newspaper articles
Sticky notes
Pencil
Paper
PowerPoint “Slavery”
Markers
Poster paper
Exit ticket

7 days

Abstract
The purpose of this lesson is to teach students about the evolution of the working system in the United States, and most importantly, in the Rio Grande Valley. Seven lesson plans were created in where the students will be learning about Peonage in the RGV. The first two days are based on Slavery, thus students make new connections to the new topic being taught. That way the student can have their previous knowledge activated going in to the next days, which are day three and four, in where the term Peonage will be introduced. Then the students will go into day five in where they will compare the characteristics of slavery and peonage. On day six and day seven the students will express their point of view on the topics through a series of activities. One of the activities will be to visit The Museum of South Texas History, and the last activity will be to create a proclamation about how the student would change the laws regarding the peonage system.

Introduction
There are several reasons for the creation of these lesson plans. Based on the fourth grade TEKS, the objective is to have the student apply their critical thinking skills to identify different points of view about the issue. It is important that the students learn about slavery and peonage because it helps them understand the
differences of the work systems we have today, compared to about 150 years ago. Peonage, also known as debt slavery, was a system in which an employer would compel a worker to pay off a debt with work. Some of the cases of peonage that were heard in the RGV area were from Raymondville in the 1920s; with almost 400 illegal cases when peonage was already “prohibited. Until one created controversy.

Rubric
Students will be evaluated on their overall collaborative work for the unit utilizing the rubric attached below.
The “Group Work” category is to evaluate how students worked with their group members in regards to
support, communication, and listening to their group members. Secondly, the category “Historical role play”,
focuses on how each students prepared for the role they are assigned. The third category is “Graphics
organizers”, which will be used to evaluate the activities in which graphic organizers are created.

Group work Routinely provides useful
ideas when participating
in the group and in
classroom discussion. A
definite leader who
contributes a lot of effort.
Usually provides
useful ideas when
participating in the
group and in
classroom
discussion. A strong
group member who
tries hard!
Sometimes
provides useful
ideas when
participating in the
group and in
classroom
discussion. A
satisfactory group
member who does
what is required.
Rarely provides
useful ideas when
participating in the
group and in
classroom
discussion. May
refuse to
participate.
Historical role
play
Can clearly explain
several ways in which his
character "saw" things
differently than other
characters and can
clearly explain why.
Can clearly explain
several ways in
which his character
"saw" things
differently than
other characters
Can clearly
explain one way in
which his
character "saw"
things differently
than other
characters.
Cannot explain
one way in which
his character
"saw" things
differently than
other characters.
Graphic
organizers
All graphics are related to
the topic and make it
easier to understand. All
borrowed graphics have
a source citation.
All graphics are
related to the topic
and most make it
easier to
understand. All
borrowed graphics
have a source
citation.
All graphics relate
to the topic. Most
borrowed graphics
have a source
citation.
Graphics do not
relate to the topic
OR several
borrowed graphics
do not have a
source citation.
3

Date: Monday - Day 1 (45 Minutes)
Subject / grade level: 4th Grade
Materials:
Newspaper articles
Sticky notes
Pencil
Paper
PowerPoint “Slavery”
Markers
Poster paper
Exit ticket

NC SCOS Essential Standards and Clarifying Objectives:
§113.15. Social Studies, Grade 4
(b) Knowledge and skills
(22) Social studies skills. The student communicates in written, oral, and visual forms. The student is expected to:
(D) create written and visual material such as journal entries, reports, graphic organizers, outlines, and bibliographies

Lesson objective(s):
The learner will understand the definition of slavery.
The learner will demonstrate their knowledge by creating a graphic organizer such as a web organizer with 90%
accuracy.

Differentiation strategies to meet diverse learner needs:
●ELL students will be paired un with a proficient ELL student.
●Students will have extra time for any activity.
●The teacher will be monitoring students for any kind of help they need.
●The teacher will have a word wall with vocabulary terms.
●The teacher will speak in complete and concise sentences.

ENGAGEMENT (5 Minutes)
● The teacher will write the word Slavery on the board.
● The teacher will provide each student with a sticky note.
● The teacher will ask the student what they think the word means, and the students will write a word on the sticky
and paste it on the board.
● After all students have posted their sticky note, then the teacher will guide a small whole-group discussion.

EXPLORATION (10 Minutes)

Teacher: Ms. Gonzalez, Ms. Cantu, Ms. Cerda
● The class will be divided in small groups of four students.
● The teacher will provide a section of a newspaper regarding event related to slavery here in the RGV.
● The students will discuss about the event they just read.

EXPLANATION (15 Minutes)
● The teacher will present a powerpoint presentation with information regarding Slavery
o The powerpoint will include a timeline of important events, facts, and court cases of slavery in the Rio
Grande Valley
● The teacher will ask questions like:
o What is fair? What is not?
o What do you think it is like being raised without freedom?
o How would you feel t if you were being mistreated?

ELABORATION (5 Minutes)
● The teacher will provide each group with poster paper.
● Each group will create a web organizer map.
● Each group will write the word slavery in the middle, and write important facts they learned from the lesson.
● Each group will do a small presentation demonstrating their graphic organizer.

EVALUATION (5 Minutes)
● The students will demonstrate their knowledge by completing the following exit ticket:

How would you feel if slavery still existed?

Subject / grade level: 4th Grade
Materials:
Pencil
Paper
PowerPoint
Youtube video “Introduction of Slavery Explained for Kids”
KWL chart sheet
iPad

NC SCOS Essential Standards and Clarifying Objectives
§113.15. Social Studies, Grade 4
(b) Knowledge and skills
(22) Social studies skills. The student communicates in written, oral, and visual forms. The student is expected to:
(D) create written and visual material such as journal entries, reports, graphic organizers, outlines, and bibliographies

Lesson objective(s):
The learner will understand the definition of slavery and its causes.
The learner will demonstrate their knowledge by creating a graphic organizer such as a web organizer with 90%
accuracy.

Differentiation strategies to meet diverse learner needs:
● ELL students will be paired with a proficient ELL student.
●The teacher will be monitoring students for any kind of help they need.
●The teacher will have a word wall with vocabulary terms.
●The teacher will speak in complete and concise sentences.

ENGAGEMENT (5 Minutes)
● Teacher will let students to watch a short youtube video called “Introduction of Slavery Explained for Kids”.
● Teacher will ask questions to students about what they saw.

EXPLORATION (10 Minutes)
● The students will create a KWL, individually, explaining what they they know, what they want to know and what
they want to learn about the slavery period.

EXPLANATION (15 Minutes)
● The teacher will present a PowerPoint explaining how the slavery system worked, including:
o Cotton picking
o Crop harvesting
o How families were treated

Teacher: Ms. Gonzalez, Ms. Cantu, Ms. Cerda
Date: Tuesday - Day 2
o Salaries
o Where families lived

ELABORATION (10 Minutes):
● Students will use their electronic devices (iPad) provided by the school to investigate an important historical
character in slavery.
● Students will write in a piece of a paper a small biography, the paragraph should be a summary about the
character's life, and their relevance.
● Students will turn in the mini biography.

EVALUATION (5 Minutes)
The teacher will perform an informal assessment by walking around the classroom looking at students’ independent work.
The teacher may ask the students the following questions:
● Why did you choose this person?
● Why did you think it's important to commemorate their life?

Subject / grade level: 4th Grade
Materials:
Newspaper articles
Sticky notes
Pencil
Papers
PowerPoint
Markers
Poster Paper
Exit ticket

NC SCOS Essential Standards and Clarifying Objectives
§113.15. Social Studies, Grade 4
(b) Knowledge and skills
(21) Social studies skills. The student applies critical-thinking skills to organize and use information
acquired from a variety of valid sources, including electronic technology. The student is expected to:
comparing, contrasting, finding the main idea, summarizing, making generalizations and predictions, and
drawing inferences and conclusions;
(A) differentiate between, locate, and use valid primary and secondary sources such as computer
software; interviews; biographies; oral, print, and visual material; documents; and artifacts to acquire
information about the United States and Texas;
(C) organize and interpret information in outlines, reports, databases, and visuals, including graphs,
charts, timelines, and maps ;

Lesson objective(s):
The learner will understand the definition of peonage.
The learner will demonstrate their knowledge by creating a graphic organizer such as a bubble double map and
comparing the two new terms with 90% accuracy.

Differentiation strategies to meet diverse learner needs:
● ELL students will be paired un with a proficient ELL student.
●The teacher will be monitoring students for any kind of help they need.
●The teacher will have a word wall with vocabulary terms.
●The teacher will speak in complete and concise sentences.

ENGAGEMENT (5 Minutes)
● The teacher will write the word Peonage on the board.
● The teacher will provide each student with a sticky note.

Teacher: Ms. Gonzalez, Ms. Cantu, Ms. Cerda
Date: Wednesday - Day 3
● The teacher will ask the student what they think the word means, and the students will write a word on the sticky
and paste it on the board.
● After all students have posted their sticky note, then the teacher will guide a small whole-group discussion.

EXPLORATION (10 Minutes)
● The class will be divided in small groups of four students.
● The teacher will provide a section of a newspaper regarding events or a court case related to peonage here in
the RGV.
● The students will discuss about the event they just read.

EXPLANATION (15 Minutes)
● The teacher will present a powerpoint presentation with information regarding Peonage.
o the powerpoint will include a timeline of important events, facts, and court cases of Peonage in the Rio
Grande Valley
● The teacher will ask questions like:
o What is fair? What is not?
o What do you think it is like being raised without freedom?
o How would you feel t if you were being mistreated?

ELABORATION (10 Minutes)
● The students will have 2 minutes to present in groups what their section of the newspaper article was about.
● If the section was regarding an important event, the group will have to explain the occurrence.
● If the section was regarding a court case, the group will have to explain the outcome of the case.

EVALUATION (5 Minutes)
● The students will demonstrate their knowledge by completing the following exit ticket:
In a piece of a paper students will answer, and write to the following question:
The peonage is wrong/right because _______ .

Date: Thursday - Day 4
Subject / grade level: 4th Grade- Peonage
Materials:
Willacy Court Case Article
Paper
Pencil
Word search worksheet
Material for story
Journal
Sentence strips

NC SCOS Essential Standards and Clarifying Objectives
§113.15. Social Studies, Grade 4
(b) Knowledge and skills
(21) Social studies skills. The student applies critical-thinking skills to organize and use information
acquired from a variety of valid sources, including electronic technology. The student is expected to:
comparing, contrasting, finding the main idea, summarizing, making generalizations and predictions, and
drawing inferences and conclusions;
(A) differentiate between, locate, and use valid primary and secondary sources such as computer
software; interviews; biographies; oral, print, and visual material; documents; and artifacts to acquire
information about the United States and Texas;
(D) identify different points of view about an issue, topic, historical event, or current event;

Lesson objective(s):
The learner will analyze the important events of the Willacy Court Case.
The learner will judge the case through an interpretation of the court case.

Differentiation strategies to meet diverse learner needs:
● ELL students will be paired un with a proficient ELL student.
●The teacher will be monitoring students for any kind of help they need.
●The teacher will have a word wall with vocabulary terms.
●The teacher will speak in complete and concise sentences.

ENGAGEMENT (5 Minutes)
● The students will be given the following scenario:
10
Teacher: Ms. Gonzalez, Ms. Cantu, Ms. Cerda
● How you feel If you owed money to someone and now they deprive you from your liberty to work and pay them
off?
● The student will write a short explanation on their journals about their feeling towards this situation.

EXPLORATION (10 Minutes)
● Students will do a word search with keywords about the Willacy County Peonage Case.
● Key words such as Peonage, court, Willacy, Raymondville, Mexican, farmers, sentence, penalties, Kennedy
Smith, Sheriff Raymond, etc.

EXPLANATION (15 Minutes)
● The teacher will interpret the Willacy Court case, and its important events to students by reenacting the story
with marionettes.
● The teacher will tell the case as a story but asking students at the same time to maintain attention.
● The teacher can bring paper characters to improve understanding of the case.

ELABORATION (10 Minutes)
● The students will take the role of that of a Judge of one of the previous cases presented by the teacher.
● On their interactive journal, the students will overrule the decision of the judge, if needed, and write what they
would have decided if they were to be the judge in one of the cases.

EVALUATION (5 Minutes)
● The teacher will create sentence strips with facts and inaccurate facts which will be read out loud.
● The students will have to state whether the sentence is true or false, and if it is false, state why.

Date: Friday Day 5
Subject / grade level:4th grade
Materials:
Video Peonage “Involuntary Servitude”
Poster paper for the Double Bubble Map
Pencil
Colored pencil
Markers
Exit Ticket

NC SCOS Essential Standards and Clarifying Objectives:
§113.15. Social Studies, Grade 4
(b) Knowledge and skills
(21) Social studies skills. The student applies critical-thinking skills to organize and use information
acquired from a variety of valid sources, including electronic technology. The student is expected to:
comparing, contrasting, finding the main idea, summarizing, making generalizations and predictions, and
drawing inferences and conclusions;
(C) organize and interpret information in outlines, reports, databases, and visuals, including graphs,
charts, timelines, and maps ;

Lesson objective(s):
The learner will identify the definition of slavery and peonage.
The learner will demonstrate their knowledge by creating a graphic organizer such as a web organizer with 90%
accuracy.

Differentiation strategies to meet diverse learner needs:
● ELL students will be paired un with a proficient ELL student.
●The teacher will be monitoring students for any kind of help they need.
●The teacher will have a word wall with vocabulary terms.
●The teacher will speak in complete and concise sentences.

ENGAGEMENT (5 Minutes)
● Watch video What is Involuntary Servitude? What does Involuntary Servitude mean? Involuntary servitude meaning.

EXPLORATION (10 Minutes)
● Students will create a chart in their journal where they have the two topics: Slavery and Peonage.

Teacher: Ms. Gonzalez, Ms. Cantu, Ms. Cerda
● Students will use their prior knowledge , and what they have learned through the week to write facts under each topic.

EXPLANATION (10 Minutes)
● The teacher will conduct a short small group discussion about Peonage and Slavery.
● The teacher may ask the students questions like the following?
● Are there any differences/similarities between these two systems? What are they?

ELABORATION (15 Minutes)
● Together the classroom will create a double bubble map in where they will compare Slavery vs. Peonage.
● The students will understand the the meaning of the new vocabulary terms like, peonage, slavery, freedom, child
labor, slave trade, debt, etc.
● It will show the students the evolution of the employment system, and civil rights.
EVALUATION (5 Minutes)
● The students will demonstrate their knowledge by completing the following exit ticket:
Slavery and peonage are similar because _____.

Subject / grade level: 4th Grade
Materials:
South Texas Museum
School bus
Quick Questionnaire

NC SCOS Essential Standards and Clarifying Objectives
§113.15. Social Studies, Grade 4
(b) Knowledge and skills
(21) Social studies skills. The student applies critical-thinking skills to organize and use information
acquired from a variety of valid sources, including electronic technology. The student is expected to:
comparing, contrasting, finding the main idea, summarizing, making generalizations and predictions, and
drawing inferences and conclusions;
(A) differentiate between, locate, and use valid primary and secondary sources such as computer
software; interviews; biographies; oral, print, and visual material; documents; and artifacts to acquire
information about the United States and Texas
Lesson objective(s):
The learner will identify how slavery impacted the RGV.
Differentiation strategies to meet diverse learner needs:
● ELL students will be paired un with a proficient ELL student.
●The teacher will be monitoring students for any kind of help they need.
●The teacher will have a word wall with vocabulary terms.
● The teacher will speak in complete and concise sentences.

ENGAGEMENT (5 Minutes)
● The guide will provided a quick introduction of the South Texas Museum, including its history and the exhibition
they have, as well as the expectation for the students.

EXPLORATION (10 Minutes)
● The students will explore all the exhibitions at the South Texas Museum.

EXPLANATION (15 Minutes)
● The teacher will further explain the exhibitions if students have any doubts.

ELABORATION (10 Minutes)
● The students will visually understand how slavery affected/impacted the RGV.

Teacher: Ms. Gonzalez, Ms. Cantu, Ms. Cerda
Date: Day 6- Field trip to Museum of South Texas
EVALUATION (5 Minutes)
● The teacher will provide students with a quick questionnaire about the exhibition at the Museum.
● The questionnaire will include the following questions:
● What did you think about the museum?
● Do you think people living in the RGV during Slavery were affected?
● How did the exhibition helped you clarify slavery concepts?

Subject / grade level: 4th Grade
Materials:
Pen/pencil
Proclamation worksheet
Proclamation PowerPoint

NC SCOS Essential Standards and Clarifying Objectives
Lesson objective(s):
The learner will create a proclamation to declare the importance of slavery abolishment.
Differentiation strategies to meet diverse learner needs:
● ELL students will be paired un with a proficient ELL student.
● Extra time will be given for students if needed.
● The teacher will be monitoring students for any kind of help they need.
●The teacher will have a word wall with vocabulary terms.
● The teacher will speak in complete and concise sentences.

ENGAGEMENT
Students will watch a video created by the teacher. https://youtu.be/sw6cVPIVb6Q .

EXPLORATION (5 Minutes)
● The teacher will guide a whole group discussion about the video they just watched.
● Students will express their opinions about the situation.

EXPLANATION (15 Minutes)
● The teacher will present a PowerPoint about a Proclamation, and it will include, iits purpose, its importance, and examples.

ELABORATION (10 Minutes)
● The student will be give a proclamation worksheet.
● It is important for students to express their feelings and opinions towards slavery/peonage and create their own proclamation.

EVALUATION (5 Minutes)
● Students will volunteer to read their Proclamation In front of class.

Teacher: Ms. Gonzalez, Ms. Cantu, Ms. Cerda
Date: Day 7

Authentic Assessment

The students will reenact the Willacy court case as a whole class. Each student will have a role related to the case, and will have to interpret to the best of their ability. The student will be responsible of researching and making connections with what they have learned throughout the lessons to the fit the role they are given. The roles will include: A judge, jury, the defence, defendant, testimonies, and the sheriffs. The students will be graded based on their knowledge of the case and their performance.

References
Audiopedia, T. (2017, February 08). Retrieved February 22, 2019, from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d88xXp-ZrFQ&t=97s

Brent Campney’s research collection on race relations in South Texas; February 7, 1922.ELIBR000179, Box #1, Folder Willacy County Peonage Scene and Quintuple Lynching 1926-1927. University Library, Special Collections and University Archives, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Edinburg, Texas.

E., T. (2011, July 27). Borger Daily Herald (Borger, Tex.), Vol. 1, No. 103, Ed. 1 Wednesday, March 23, 1927. Retrieved from https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth167035/m1/1/

Illustrated, H. (2015, October 08). Retrieved February 22, 2019, from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUfJCh7Rd_Q

Primary Sources on Peonage. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://libraries.olemiss.edu/information-literacy/2016/11/02/primary-sources-on-peonage/ .

Video peonage. (2019, February 23). Retrieved from https://youtu.be/sw6cVPIVb6Q.