SHORT-HANDLED
HOE
EL CORTITO
GRANDPA'S SHORT-HANDLED HOE
EL AZADÓN DE MANGO CORTO DEL ABUELITO
http://www.colapublib.org/chavez/hoe_story.htm
http://www.colapublib.org/chavez/hoe_play.htm
    first URL in English and Spanish
    short story by Dennis O'Leary, bilingual teacher
    second URL is variation in play format

SHORT HOE ACTIVITY
http://www.colapublib.org/chavez/hoe_activity.htm
http://chavezfoundation.org/images/activities/Short%20Handle
%20Hoe%20vs%20Long%20Handle%20Hoe.doc
    excellent hands-on experience
    children work with a fascimile of this cruel tool for a short time
    banished from use in the fields in 1975
    used in thinning sugar beets and lettuce
    César Chávez never looked at a head of lettuce in a market
         without thinking of how laborers had suffered for it from seed
         to harvest. (FIGHT IN THE FIELDS)
   
   




Called "el brazo del diablo" [the devil's arm] by farmworkers, the damaging effects of "el cortito," the 24-inch long short hoe, issued to farmworkers to thin lettuce [called "green gold by the growers], celery and beets caused untold body damage before its use was legally stopped. "You have to walk twisted, perpendicular to the ground. You were always trying to find the best position." -- César Chávez
Without access to a large space indoors or outdoors for this activity, I have used the space between rows of desks instead.
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As an alternative task, have children hold on to the tips of their shoes and walk up and down "rows" to see how long they can comfortably do it.
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"I measured your land inch by inch."
                 -- Jessie de la Cruz, farmworker, speaking to grower