Heading: From the Mills to the Sweatshops: Lives of Women in Industry, Lowell Public Schools, February 21, 2009, Grade 8 Social Studies/ELA

Lesson Plan Created by: Barbara Fauvel and Kristen Sullivan

Key Questions: Questions to be addressed by this lesson include but are not limited to:

  • What conditions for working women are similar between the Mill Girls of the 19th century and the Los Angeles Sweatshops of the 21st century? What conditions are different between the two?
  • What are the reasons why young women migrated during the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century and why do women immigrate to the United States in the 21st century?
  • If you were working in the L.A. Sweatshops, what would you do to make change? Would you follow the leaders or start your own movement? If you did join or start a movement, what types of issues do you think you would face in your work and personal life?
  • As a sweatshop employee, how would you persuade your employer to change the conditions of your job?

Learning Objectives: At the close of this lesson students will be able to:

  • Identify positives and negatives of the working conditions of Mill Girls of the 19th century.
  • Identify the continuing battle for safety, equal rights, and the philosophy of unionizing labor forces that continues into the 21st century based on working conditions of the sweatshops located in Los Angeles manufacturing for major stores such as Forever21.
  • Compose a five paragraph essay using the John Collins Writing Program identifying the similarities and differences of women’s working conditions in the Industrial Mills of the 19th Century and current sweatshops of today.
  • Answer the question of how they would handle their situation if they were employees of the contractors for Forever21.
  • Students will recognize the reasons for emigration and immigration in the United States during the 19th century and the 21st century.

Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks Addressed:

English Language Arts

19.22: Write and justify a personal interpretation of literary, informational, or expository reading that includes a topic statement, supporting details from the literature, and a conclusion.

19.23: Write multi-paragraph compositions that have clear topic development, logical organization, effective use of detail, and variety in sentence structure.

21.6: Revise writing to improve organization and diction after checking the logic underlying the order of ideas, the precision of vocabulary used, and the economy of writing.

22.8: Use knowledge of types of sentences (simple, compound, complex), correct mechanics (comma after introductory structures), correct usage (pronoun reference), sentence structure (complete sentences, properly placed modifiers), and standard English spelling when writing and editing.

23.10: Organize information into a coherent essay or report with a thesis statement in the introduction, transition sentences to link paragraphs, and a conclusion.

23.11: Organize ideas for writing comparison-and-contrast essays.

Social Studies

USI.28 Explain the emergence and impact of the textile industry in New England and industrial growth generally throughout antebellum America. (H, E)

  1. the technological improvements and inventions that contributed to industrial growth
  2. the roles of women in New England textile factories

Instructional Technology Frameworks

G6-8: 1.6 Demonstrate use of intermediate features in word processing applications (e.g., tabs, indents, headers and footers, end notes, bullet and numbering, tables).

G6-8: 3.4 Independently use appropriate technology tools (e.g., graphic organizer) to define problems and propose hypotheses.

Learning Activities:

Students will read a journal of a mill girl highlighting important sections to daily life and working conditions.

Students will view the movie Liddy to complete their literature and social studies series on the Industrial Revolution using a graphic organizer to list working conditions in the mill that they view.

Students will conduct inquiry-based research in groups using a primary source found at Factory Rules from the Handbook to Lowell, 1848.

Questions students will answer are:

  • What was the workday like?
  • How many hours did they typically work in one day?
  • Did they report to anyone?
  • What happens if they say no to their supervisor?
  • Did they get paid if they were out sick?
  • Were Sundays their own?

Students will then view the movie Made in L.A. During both viewings students will use a graphic organizer to record the working conditions noted in both films by answering the questions above.

Students will then take both graphic organizers and create a pre-made template in Inspiration, a graphic organizing software. Students will print their graphic organizers and use this to draft their five paragraph essay comparing working conditions of 19th century and the present using Microsoft Word and formatting appropriately.

5 Paragraph Essay will include:

Introductory paragraph

2nd Paragraph: Similarities between working conditions and hours.

3rd Paragraph: Differences between working conditions and hours.

4th Paragraph: Reasons women immigrating/emigrating for work then and now.

Final paragraph: Describing how they would persuade their employers to make change in the work environment in either the mills of the past or sweatshops of today.

Differentiation: To allow for differentiation, you may begin the final graphic organizer in preparation for the five paragraph essay in Inspiration by using a template with some similarities and differences already included to begin the lesson for those students who need assistance.

Outline provided to special education students of major points.

3 paragraph essay for special education students and adjusted Focus Correction Areas for the John Collins writing program.

Annotated Bibliography:

  • "Factory Rules from the Handbook to Lowell, 1848." Factory Rules from the Handbook to Lowell, 1848. 1 Feb. 2007. Illinois Labor History Society. 25 Jan. 2009.
  • "Lucy Larcom, A New England Girldhood, 1889." Project Gutenberg. Available at:
  • "Lucy Larcom, A New England Girldhood, 1889." Primary Sources Workshop in American History. Winter 2001. WGBH Educational Foundation. 21 Feb. 2009. Available at:
  • Made in L.A. DVD. Sundance Interactive, 2007.