Highsmith, Carol M. Agricultural workers in a field outside La Conner, Washington. 2018. Photograph. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. https://www.loc.gov/item/2018698988/.
This source will be used as part of an anticipatory set to introduce the topic of migration in America and the reliance on field workers to harvest and produce crops in the field of agriculture. Students will complete a KWL chart for this primary source. The three columns—What I Know, What I Want to Know, and What I Learned—need to be on the board so students can fill the chart out with the teacher. Students are expected to take an inventory of their prior knowledge on this topic, make thoughtful observations based on the photo, and then reflect at the end of the lesson on what they learned from their peers via discussion about this source.
This picture was taken in 2018 in Skagit County, Washington. It is located in a rural community north of Seattle that relies on natural resources for employment.
Source: https://www.townoflaconner.org/
- Why is this picture significant?
- What do you feel when you look at this picture?
- To what extent are you familiar with a scene like this?
Extension Questions
- What do you already know about agricultural workers?
- What would you like to know about field workers?
- How does immigration relate to agriculture?
ELA Standard
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11–12.6. Analyze a case in which grasping a point of view requires distinguishing what is directly stated in a text from what is really meant
Social Studies Standard
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11–12.7. Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media (e.g., visually, quantitatively, as well as in words) in order to address a question or solve a problem.
Students use a variety of technological and information resources (e.g., libraries, databases, computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate knowledge.
- Place a Know-Want to Know-Learned (KWL) chart on the front board. Have students review the primary source and talk about it with a peer. Call on students to help you fill out the first column with information on what students already know about agriculture and field workers. Pay attention to stereotypes and assumptions that may not be factually true. Discuss those concerns and ask why students think certain things.
- Next, have students create questions based on their observations of the source. After giving students talk time, ask them to help fill out the second column with questions that they would like to have answered based on what they see.
- Hand out sticky notes to each student and have them write what they think are the answers to the questions their peers created. Collect the notes and read through them to see if any of the questions were answered accurately.
- Next, have students research the other questions online using different search engines or AI sites. Have students write their answers on sticky notes and mark where they took the answer from.
- Students should then discuss the similarities and differences of those results. As a class, determine which answers should go in the third column of the KWL chart. Have students verbally share their reasoning as to why they selected that answer after checking for validity. Remind students that the focus of the research is to answer their own (student-generated) questions about what they see in the picture.
- A connecting Read-Write-Think lesson can be found here: Scaffolding Research
Highsmith, Carol. Farmer’s tractor kicks up dust in a field outside La Conner, Washington. 2018. Photograph. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. https://www.loc.gov/item/2018698990/.