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. Using a variety of primary sources, students discuss 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 Standards
4.His.5.a Explain how push and pull factors influence the development of cultural enclaves in the United States.
4.His.9.a Summarize how different kinds of sources can be used to understand the settlement and resettlement of individuals and groups.
4.Geo.5.a Explain how cultural and environmental characteristics of places change over time in the United States.
4.Geo.5.b Explain how the cultural characteristics of communities in a particular place are sustained and evolve over time.
4.Geo.6.a Describe how economic, social, and political factors influence migration and population distribution throughout the United States.
4.Geo.8.a Explain the environmental and cultural characteristics that shape the movement of people, goods, and ideas in United States regions.
4.Geo.11.a Describe a global economic event or issue that led to change and migration in a United States region.
8.His.5.a Analyze the perspectives of immigrant groups and their reasons for moving to and within the United States.
8.Eco.1.a Explain how the transition from an agricultural-based economy to an industrialized economy affected the well-being of individuals, groups, and businesses.