Kids on Strike

by:  Susan Campbell Bartoletti

By the 1900's nearly two million children were working in the United States.  From the coal mines of Pennsylvania to the cotton mills of New England, children worked long hours every day under stunningly inhumane conditions.  After years of oppression, children began to organize and make demands for better wages, fairer housing costs, and safer working environments.

If you are working with 5-8 year old students you might:   develop curriculum around jobs that children do at home.  Discussion could be around what kind of chores they do and how many chores they are asked to do. 

You may also incorporate what a strike is and ways that the students can go about to ask for any changes that they want for their "jobs" that they do.

Anther idea would be to read a picture book to the class about child labor or going on strike such as, John Henry, Pumpkin Soup or Click Clack Moo; Cows that type.

If you are working with 9-11 year old students you might:    use primary sources to look at and build content around it.

You may also use photographs by Lewis Hine to analyze and look at to understand the concept of child labor and hazardous working conditions. 

You may also have groups study different strikes and have them participate in a jigsaw activity to teach their peers about different strikes. 

Another idea for this age group would be for the students to develop a time line with dates of strikes and important dates or laws that were passed about child labor rights.

If you are working with 12-14 year old students you may want to: develop a "mock" strike by splitting the class into two groups and having one side be the strikers and one side be the factory owners.  Students in each groups would need to develop a plan of action and work on negotiating skills to come to a resolution. 

You may also have groups study different strikes and have them participate in a jigsaw activity to teach their peers about different strikes.

Another idea would be for students to develop a cause and effect table or graphic organizer about the Industrial Revolution and what affects this had on child labor.

Join the picket line and have some fun exploring all the links.

Go to Kids on Strike Vocabulary.

Go to Kids on Strike Vocabulary Activities.

Go to Kids on Strike Resources.

Return to Childrens Literature page.

Kids on Strike-Lesson Plans

Bartoletti, S.(1999) Kids on Strike. New York, NY.  Houghton Mifflin Company.