American Centuries

Pocumtuck Valley
Memorial Association

American Centuries > Lessons > History Lessons By Teachers > Do Onions Make You Cry?

Do Onions Make You Cry?

Details

Author
Lorraine Liantonio
Topic/Subject Area
Immigration; Eastern European; Industry, Occupation, Work; Agriculture, Farming
Historical Era
Rise of Industrial America, 1878–1899, Progressive Era, World War I, 1900–1928
Grade Level
Elementary (K–5)
Creation Date
2010
Last Revision Date
2024

Related items

About This Lesson

Summary and Objective

Students will understand that observation of paintings and photographs can help them to obtain information about Eastern European immigrant onion farmers in the Connecticut River Valley. They will use their observations along with historical facts to write a journal entry in the voice of a farmworker.

Materials & Resources

Collection Items

Teaching Plan

  1. The teacher will present to the class the story of how Eastern European farmers in the Connecticut River Valley worked to make onions a cash crop. Background information can be obtained from reading the collection labels, especially the “Onion Pickers.” After the presentation, students will observe the collection items.
  2. The teacher will lead a discussion, using the pictures in the collection, about the sequence of events: planting, weeding, harvesting, and storing the onions.
  3. Each student will select one of the paintings or photographs of the workers. They will then form groups based on the picture they selected.
  4. Each group will study their picture in depth. They will use the zoom feature to observe the details in the picture.
  5. They will jot down as much information as they can about the setting (season, weather, landscape, etc.) and the people (age, gender, clothing, posture, facial expression, etc.).
  6. Each student will then select a character in the picture. They will identify with that character to write a thoughtful reflective journal entry about that day on the farm. The journal entry will be dated and should be a creative piece of writing based on historical facts. Students will need reminding to use appropriate language that would be in keeping with the time, place, and culture. They will be encouraged to include in their writing many items from their picture observation notes.
  7. Each of the groups will have an “Author’s Circle” to share their writings.
  8. One or two students from each group will share their journal entries with the whole class.