Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez by Kathleen Krull

NON-FICTION/BIOGRAPHY

Harvesting Hope is a biography of Cesar Chavez. Chavez was a Mexican-American who fought for labor rights. In 1937, Cesar’s family farm had to be sold in order to make money and pay their debts. His family then fled to California to work as farm hands, making little money. Cesar and his family were discriminated against and treated poorly. He began “La Causa” in correspondence with a group called the National Farm Workers Association. In the end he began a famous march to Sacramento to get a bill signed for better treatment of farm laborers.
I would use Harvesting Hope in my classroom during social studies. The fifth grade social studies curriculum focuses on learning about social movements in the United States. This would be a great social movement to study that would incorporate the Hispanic culture and United States government. The book also has many Spanish words and phrases that can also be used to introduce the Spanish culture and language to the non-Hispanic students.