Format
1. The program begins with a class discussion to activate prior knowledge and build background on the topic of immigration.
2. Students investigate several push factors that might make people want or need to leave their home countries.
3. Students use primary sources to explore the stories of immigrants who were able to attain at least part of their American Dreams. Case studies include a German Jewish immigrant, focusing on the economic factors behind his success, and an Italian-American family's progress over two generations.
4. Students utilize a variety of sources to uncover challenges faced by all immigrants, including getting an education, finding work, securing housing, and building community.
5. The program concludes with a discussion of whether the United States was indeed a land of opportunity for immigrants in the 1800s and early 1900s.
Objectives
Students will be able to:
1. Identify push factors that influence immigration.
2. Examine multiple perspectives to evaluate the challenges new immigrants faced related to employment, housing, and discrimination.
3. Analyze a variety of visual, written, and audio primary and secondary material to form an opinion about whether America was a land of opportunity for new immigrants in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Standards Alignment
National Standards
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.4.RI.1 -- Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.4.SL.1 -- Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 4 topics and texts, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.4.SL.2 -- Paraphrase portions of a text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.4.SL.3 -- Identify the reasons and evidence a speaker provides to support particular points.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.5.RI.1 -- Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.5.SL.1 -- Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 5 topics and texts, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.5.SL.2 -- Summarize a written text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.5.SL.3 -- Summarize the points a speaker makes and explain how each claim is supported by reasons and evidence.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.6-8.RH.1 -- Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.6-8.RH.2 -- Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of the source distinct from prior knowledge or opinions.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.6-8.RH.4 -- Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary specific to domains related to history/social studies.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.6-8.RH.7 -- Integrate visual information (e.g., in charts, graphs, photographs, videos, or maps) with other information in print and digital texts.
State Standards
Connecticut Elementary and Secondary Social Studies Frameworks
HIST 4.1 Explain connections among historical contexts and people’s perspectives at the time.
ECO 4.1 Compare the benefits and costs of individual choices.
ECO 4.2 Identify positive and negative incentives that influence the decisions people make.
GEO 4.3 Explain how culture influences the way people modify and adapt to their environments.
GEO 4.6 Explain how cultural and environmental characteristics affect the distribution and movement of people, goods, and ideas.
GEO 4.7 Explain how human settlements and movements relate to the locations and use of various natural resources.
GEO 4.8 Analyze the effects of catastrophic environmental and technological events on human settlements and migration.
HIST 5.4 Explain why individuals and groups during the same historical period differed in their perspectives.
HIST 5.5 Explain connections among historical contexts and people’s perspectives at the time.
HIST 5.6 Compare information provided by different historical sources about the past.
GEO 5.3 Explain how human settlements and movements relate to the locations and use of various natural resources.
ECO 5.1 Identify positive and negative incentives that influence the decisions people make.
HIST 8.1 Analyze connections among events and developments in historical contexts.
HIST 8.2 Classify series of historical events and developments as examples of change and/or continuity.
HIST 8.6 Detect possible limitations in the historical record based on evidence collected from different kinds of historical sources.
HIST 8.7 Use questions generated about multiple historical sources to identify further areas of inquiry and additional sources.
HIST 8.8 Evaluate the relevance and utility of a historical source based on information such as maker, date, place of origin, intended audience, and purpose.
HIST 8.9 Explain multiple causes and effects of events and developments in the past.
ECO 8.1 Explain how economic decisions affect the well-being of individuals, businesses, and society.
ECO 8.3 Analyze the role of innovation and entrepreneurship in a market economy.
GEO 8.3 Explain how changes in transportation and communication technology influence the spatial connections among human settlements and affect the diffusion of ideas and cultural practices.