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Newsela ELA

What Is Labor Day and Why Do We Celebrate It?

Smiling worker in a hard hat operating a forklift for a Labor Day article about why the holiday is celebrated.
Smiliing Girl in Classroom

Christy Walters

August 7, 2026

Students may think of Labor Day as the holiday at the end of a long weekend, an excuse to go to a parade, or the unofficial end of summer. But this holiday can also open meaningful classroom conversations about workers, rights, and the labor movements that shaped life in the United States. 

Today, we’re exploring what Labor Day is and why we celebrate it. You’ll find Newsela Social Studies and Newsela ELA lesson ideas, articles, videos, and novel studies that connect the holiday’s history to skills you’re already teaching in class.

[What is Labor Day? Build background knowledge in social studies](id-ss)

Key Takeaways

  • Connect the holiday to its history. Use Labor Day to introduce your students to workers, labor rights, and the labor movement.
  • Trace how conditions changed. Timelines, annotations, and discussion prompts can help your students examine how workers organized for better conditions.
  • Choose a connection to explore further. If it fits your lesson, connect Labor Day to industrialization, labor unions, protests, or economic growth.

Labor Day gives students a real-world tie-in to the history of workers’ rights. Start with the holiday’s origins, then use Newsela Social Studies texts and activities to help students connect labor movements to issues people still discuss today.

Explore the History of Labor Day and workers’ rights

Labor Day is a chance to invite students to look closely at workers, rights, and the labor movements in U.S. history. With Newsela’s Honoring Workers on Labor Day text set, students can learn how the holiday grew from the fight for better hours, better pay, and safer working conditions. 

Start with a quick class discussion about workers’ rights and employer responsibilities. Then dive into the resources in the text set. As students read, they can highlight details that explain how Labor Day began or what rights workers fought for. 

Newsela Social Studies resources

Explore the history of Labor Day

Choose from these resources to explore the holiday’s origins, examine how workers organized, or discuss wages and strikes with your students.

History and early labor movements 4 resources
History and early labor movements resources
ResourceGrade levelRuntime / Reading LevelSpanish?
The History of Labor DayArticle 6–12 580L–1210L Yes
Excerpt from “Loom and Spindle or Life Among the Early Mill Girls”Memoir 4–12 540L–1390L Yes
The Rise of Organized Labor in the United StatesArticle 6–12 530L–1270L Yes
From the Knights of Labor to the WTOArticle 4–12 590L–1480L

Scroll left to right to see the full table.

Unions and organizing 4 resources
Unions and organizing resources
ResourceGrade levelRuntime / Reading LevelSpanish?
The basics of being in a labor unionExplainer 6–12 950L–1270L
When women were told they would be paid starvation wages, they protestedArticle 4–12 570L–1200L Yes
The Black labor movement from Reconstruction to the 20th centuryArticle 6–12 770L–1420L
Labor pushes back: Unions make a return during pandemicVideo 6–12 2:03

Scroll left to right to see the full table.

Wages and strikes 3 resources
Wages and strikes resources
ResourceGrade levelRuntime / Reading LevelSpanish?
McDonald’s raising its minimum wage, but some say it’s not enoughArticle 6–12 710L–1320L
Not the first time Hollywood’s been on strike; here’s how past strikes turned outArticle 6–12 730L–1300L
Labor markets and minimum wageVideo 6–8 10:37

Scroll left to right to see the full table.

What other Newsela Social Studies lessons help students explore Labor Day history?

After students understand why Labor Day exists, use related social studies lessons to help them go deeper. You might focus on topics like industrialization, labor unions, unfair labor practices, or how labor affects economic growth. Bonus points if you can connect the holiday to topics you already plan to teach!

Newsela Social Studies lessons

More social studies lessons about labor and workers’ rights

Choose a lesson by the topic you want to explore next: industrialization and the economy, workers’ rights and unions, or protests and source-based inquiry.

Industrialization and economic change 4 lessons
Industrialization and economic change lessons
LessonClassroom focusSample content
Urbanization and Labor Evaluate how industrialization changed cities, labor, and the social and economic framework of the country.
  • The first American factories
  • Industrialization, labor and life
  • The Industrial Revolution and the Growth of Cities
  • Primary Sources: The Lowell Mill girls go on strike, 1836
Labor Study human capital and how labor affects economic growth.
  • What is human capital?
  • African-American coal miners: Helen, West Virginia
  • Factors of production
  • Principles of economics: Demand and supply at work in labor markets
Spread of Industrialization Explore industrialization through texts about labor unions, working conditions, and firsthand accounts of factory workers.
  • Dear Mama: Letters from a Mill Girl
  • The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire of 1911
  • The Rise of Organized Labor in the United States
  • Primary Sources: “How the Other Half Lives” by Jacob A. Riis
The Beginning of America’s Industrial Boom Explain how advances in technology and transportation increased productivity and contributed to the Industrial Revolution in America.
  • Transcontinental Railroad Connected the United States from East to West
  • When Everything Changed: the Industrial Revolution
  • Constructing roads, canals and railways in the 1800s changed America

Scroll left to right to see the full table.

Worker rights and organized labor 4 lessons
Worker rights and organized labor lessons
LessonClassroom focusSample content
Unfair Labor Connect everyday products to the work behind them and examine how laborers have been treated unfairly.
  • Primary Sources: The Lowell Mill girls go on strike, 1836
  • Sharecropping system kept freed slaves, poor whites living in poverty
  • Photographer documented work life of child laborers in the early 1900s
  • Captured and enslaved 400 years ago, Angela was the first African woman in Jamestown
Labor Unions Explore how labor unions protect workers and influence a market economy.
  • The Rise of Organized Labor in the United States
  • These shop teachers told their students to form a union
  • The Great Depression and labor
  • How the teachers strike is affecting life in Oaxaca
Organized Labor in the Gilded Age Examine the goals and outcomes of organized labor during the Gilded Age.
  • The Rise of Organized Labor in the United States
  • The History of Labor Day
  • When women were told they would be paid starvation wages, they protested
  • Five things to know about Pullman porters
Organized Labor Investigate how change happens through the tactics, rights, regulations, and standards connected to organized labor.
  • Lowell mill girls and the factory system; two views from 1840
  • Time Machine (1902): Children working in the Pennsylvania coal mines
  • Fast-food protesters make minimum wage plea to presidential hopefuls
  • Los Angeles teachers return to school after reaching deal

Scroll left to right to see the full table.

Protests and source-based inquiry 3 lessons
Protests and source-based inquiry lessons
LessonClassroom focusSample content
Protests and Strikes During the Great Depression Learn how workers organized and protested during the Great Depression.
  • The 1932 Bonus Army
  • American folk singers: The social poets of their time
  • The Great Depression and labor
  • The Harlan County Coal Wars
Mini Inquiry: How do workers make business better? Use text evidence to create a public service announcement about workers’ contributions and workers’ rights.
  • What is human capital?
  • Industrialization, labor and life
  • The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire of 1911
  • The History of Labor Day
DBQ: Was the Lowell Mill Factory good for women? Analyze Lowell Mill documents and develop an argument about whether young women benefited from factory work.
  • Lowell Mill Factory Documents
  • Lowell Mill Factory Background

Scroll left to right to see the full table.

[Why do we celebrate Labor Day? ELA lessons and text sets](id-ela)

Key Takeaways

  • Explain why Labor Day matters. Ask your students to connect the holiday to workers and their history, using details from what they read.
  • Build in a short evidence-based response. After students annotate or compare texts, have them cite a detail that supports their explanation of Labor Day.
  • Connect the theme to literature. If your class is reading a novel or book study, look for connections to working conditions, fairness, activism, or a character’s choices.

Through ELA lessons, students can move from asking “What happened?” to “Why does it matter?” Use paired texts, discussion, and evidence-based writing to help them explain Labor Day’s significance, no matter what grade level you teach.

Why do we celebrate Labor Day?

If you teach grades 2–4, this ELA lesson can help students answer the focus prompt: What is Labor Day and why do we celebrate it?

Students start by defining key vocabulary, then reading texts to find details about how and why people celebrate the holiday. The lesson flow gives you a quick way to move through the steps and get students researching and thinking to build literacy skills.

Why do we celebrate Labor Day?

Use this grades 2–4 sequence to help your students read about Labor Day and explain the holiday in their own words.

Build vocabulary

Define “labor” and “laborer” together, then ask students to predict what Labor Day celebrates.

Read and highlight

Have students read “Celebrating Labor Day” and highlight details about how and why people celebrate.

Discuss the holiday

Ask students what Labor Day celebrates, how people celebrate it, and how they would like to celebrate.

Create a headline

Use the Headlines worksheet to help students summarize how and why we celebrate Labor Day.

Compare and contrast Labor Day texts

If you teach grades 6–10, try this ELA lesson to help students answer the focus prompt: Use evidence from both articles to explain how and why we celebrate Labor Day.

Students will compare two articles and use evidence from both to explain the holiday’s origins and how people celebrate it today. The lesson flow keeps the work focused on reflection, annotation, and evidence. 

Compare and contrast Labor Day texts

Guide your students through two texts, then ask them to explain Labor Day’s history using evidence from both sources.

Focus prompt

Why did Labor Day become a national observance, and how do people celebrate it today?

Warm-up

Start with what students know

Ask what students already know and wonder about Labor Day and labor unions. Keep their questions visible as they read.

Text 1

Read about the holiday

Have students read “The History of Labor Day” and mark details about the holiday’s origins and observance.

Read The History of Labor Day

Text 2

Read about organized labor

Have students read “The Rise of Organized Labor in the United States” and mark details that add context to the holiday.

Read The Rise of Organized Labor

Synthesis

Respond with evidence from both texts

Return to the focus prompt. Ask students to discuss or write an explanation that cites a relevant detail from each source.

Optional worksheets

Choose a follow-up task

Use these resources if you want students to organize their evidence or share what they learned in another format.

What other Newsela ELA lessons focus on Labor Day and working conditions?

Students can also connect Labor Day to broader ELA skills practice for research, synthesis, and text evidence.

Use these lessons when you want students to move beyond studying the holiday itself and explore how workers’ experiences appear across literary, informational, and contemporary texts.

Newsela ELA lessons

More ELA lessons about Labor Day and working conditions

Choose a lesson to explore working conditions across time or help your students synthesize what they learn about farm labor.

Lesson Classroom focus Sample content
Working with Evidence: Working Conditions Then and Now Students examine historical and current working conditions through literary and informational texts, then analyze claims and synthesize their research.
  • Industrial Revolution
  • Lowell Mill Girls
  • Child Labor, Then and Now
  • Argumentative Essays
  • History of Labor Unions
  • Current Working Conditions in the Garment Industry
  • The Research Process
Real-World Connections: Farm Labor Students draw on their experiences and multiple texts to compare past and present systems of farm labor.
  • A Brief History of American Farm Labor
  • When Labor Laws Left Farmworkers Behind—and Vulnerable to Abuse
  • Tomato pickers persuade companies to sign on to human rights movement
  • “We’re not animals”: U.S. farmworkers labor in deadly heat with few protections

Scroll left to right to see the full table.

Labor Day novel and book studies

You can also connect Labor Day to longer ELA units about working conditions, economic pressure, and the fight for fair treatment.

Use these novel and book studies when you want students to explore Labor Day themes through character, conflict, and historical context.

Newsela ELA novel and book studies

Labor Day novel and book studies

Choose a book by the kind of work it portrays, then review the grade guidance and teacher note before planning your lesson.

Factory and industrial labor 3 books
Factory and industrial labor book studies
Novel or bookStory / Labor Day connectionAppropriate grade levelHow to use in classSample contentTeacher note
"Uprising" by Margaret Peterson Haddix This novel connects to the 1909–1910 shirtwaist workers’ strike, unfair factory practices, union organizing, immigrant women workers, and the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. Grades 7–12 Use it to help students explore why workers organized and how labor activism changed workplace protections.
  • The Progressive Era: Working Conditions
  • The fire that sparked a workplace revolution
  • The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire of 1911
 Includes unsafe factory conditions, labor exploitation, protest, and the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire.
"Lyddie" by Katherine Paterson Lyddie becomes a textile-mill worker in industrial-era Lowell and encounters long hours, dangerous conditions, wage pressure, petitions, and labor activism. Grades 3–7 Use it to introduce the early American labor movement, women’s industrial labor, and how working conditions shape identity.
  • What is the Industrial Revolution?
  • Dear Mama: Letters from a Mill Girl
  • Sarah Bagley, the voice of America’s early women’s labor movement
 Includes child labor, unsafe working conditions, poverty, and historical references to enslavement and freedom.
"The Jungle" by Upton Sinclair The novel exposes the exploitation of immigrant industrial workers, dangerous meatpacking conditions, working-class poverty, and the need for reform. Grades 9–12 Use it to discuss muckraking, government regulation, labor rights, corruption, and reform movements.
  • The Rise of Organized Labor in the United States
  • When women were told they would be paid starvation wages, they protested
  • Reformers: Jacob Riis
 Includes exploitation, poverty, unsafe labor conditions, corruption, and food-safety concerns.

Scroll left to right to see the full table.

Farm and migrant labor 3 books
Farm and migrant labor book studies
Novel or bookStory / Labor Day connectionAppropriate grade levelHow to use in classSample contentTeacher note
"The Grapes of Wrath" by John Steinbeck The Joads’ experiences include migrant labor, suppressed wages, exploitative employers, strikebreaking, labor organizing, and collective action. Grades 9–12 Use it to explore the human cost of the Great Depression, farm labor, activism, migration, and community action.
  • Farming and the Dust Bowl During the Great Depression
  • Farmworker children uprooted by California rules
  • “We’re not animals”: U.S. farmworkers labor in deadly heat with few protections
 Includes poverty, displacement, environmental hardship, migrant labor, and hostility toward migrant families.
"Esperanza Rising" by Pam Muñoz Ryan Esperanza and her family become California agricultural laborers during the Great Depression. The story includes poor working conditions, wage disputes, a farmworker strike, and retaliation against striking workers. Grades 3–7 Use it to bridge immigration, farm labor, worker solidarity, protest, family history, and labor rights.
  • When Labor Laws Left Farmworkers Behind—and Vulnerable to Abuse
  • Dolores Huerta: “Yes we can!”
  • When Hoover deported 1 million Mexican Americans for supposedly stealing U.S. jobs
 Includes grief, displacement, immigration, deportation, farm labor, and unfair working conditions.
"Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck The novella centers itinerant ranch workers during the Great Depression and supports discussion of worker precarity, isolation, poverty, and the search for stability. Grades 9–12 Use it to discuss the American Dream, marginalization, economic insecurity, and workers’ hopes for a better life.
  • What is the American Dream?
  • A Brief History of American Farm Labor
  • African-Americans and the CCC
 Includes poverty, loneliness, worker instability, marginalization, racism, ableism, and unequal access to the American Dream.

Scroll left to right to see the full table.

Contemporary work and economic insecurity 2 books
Contemporary work and economic insecurity book studies
Novel or bookStory / Labor Day connectionAppropriate grade levelHow to use in classSample contentTeacher note
"Fast Food Nation" by Eric Schlosser This contemporary book study examines low-wage fast-food employment, meatpacking work, worker safety, vulnerable workers, and corporate systems that shape labor conditions. Grades 9–12 Use it to connect Labor Day themes to current labor issues, food systems, worker safety, consumer choices, and argument writing.
  • Fast-food protesters make minimum wage plea to presidential hopefuls
  • “Wage theft” is a rallying cry for some fast-food workers
  • An excerpt from Upton Sinclair’s “The Jungle”
 Includes low-wage work, meatpacking, worker safety, food systems, advertising, and corporate influence.
"Front Desk" by Kelly Yang The story explores immigrant workers managing and cleaning a motel under an exploitative owner, along with low pay, economic insecurity, and unequal power between workers and employers. Grades 3–7 Use it to explore inequality, community, immigrant experiences, economic insecurity, entrepreneurship, and writing for change.
  • Issue overview: Income inequality
  • Tips for writing effective letters to Congress
  • Study: U.S. inequality persists 50 years after landmark report
 Includes poverty, discrimination, immigrant experiences, housing insecurity, and unequal power between workers and employers.

Scroll left to right to see the full table.

Teach Labor Day with texts students can connect to

Labor Day is a chance to help students look past the long weekend and ask bigger questions about issues that affect their friends, family, and neighbors.

Whether you’re teaching the holiday through Social Studies inquiry, ELA text evidence, or a longer novel study, Newsela gives students ways to explore why Labor Day matters through content that meets them where they are.

Ready to dive in? If you’re not a Newsela customer yet, sign up for an account to start your 45-day trial of our premium differentiated content and activities for free.

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