Lesson Plan

The 1968 L.A. School Walkouts

Overview

This 11-minute video examines how thousands of high school students walked out of classes in East Los Angeles in 1968 to protest inequality for Mexican Americans in the public education system. Among the students' concerns were classes that omitted Hispanic history, a lack of bilingual teachers and a system that steered Chicano students to vocational training rather than college-prep classes.

Lesson Plan: The 1968 L.A. School Walkouts (ELA)Student Activity: The 1968 L.A. School Walkouts (ELA)Lesson Plan: The 1968 L.A. School Walkouts (Soc. St.)Student Activity: The 1968 L.A. School Walkouts (Soc. St.)

Objectives

Students will:

  • Analyze the historical context and significance of the East Los Angeles student walkouts in the 1960s.
  • Analyze the motivations and goals of the student activists during the walkouts.
  • Evaluate the impact and long-term consequences of the East Los Angeles student walkouts on education and civil rights in the United States.
Subjects
  • English Language Arts
  • U.S. History
  • Civics & Government
Topics
  • U.S. History
  • Chicano Movement
  • 1960s America
  • Civil Rights
  • Policing
For Teachers

Essential Questions

  • What impact did the East L.A. student walkouts have on education and civil rights in the United States?

Additional Resources

Transcript for "How a 1968 Student Protest Fueled a Chicano Rights Movement"Retro Report 
Students of East Los Angeles ProposaCalifornia State University-Los Angeles, John F. Kennedy Library Collection) 
Reference Costa’s Level of InquiryAVID Open Access 
Socratic Seminar strategy pageFacing History & Ourselves 

Standards (National Council for the Social Studies C3 Framework)

Analyze historical, contemporary, and emerging means of changing societies, promoting the common good, and protecting rights.

Evaluate citizens’ and institutions’ effectiveness in addressing social and political problems at the local, state, tribal, national, and/or international level.

Use questions generated about individuals and groups to assess how the significance of their actions changes over time and is shaped by the historical context.

Analyze the relationship between historical sources and the secondary interpretations made from them.

Refine claims and counterclaims attending to precision, significance, and knowledge conveyed through the claim while pointing out the strengths and limitations of both.

Standards (Common Core State Standards)

Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.

Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

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Questions? Tips? Concerns? Reach out to our Director of Education, David Olson: dolson@retroreport.com