Website 1. US Immigration History
The main purpose of incorporating this source into the lesson is to allow the students to explore a different form of text - an Internet article. This website would be used at the beginning of the unit, as it provides valuable insights on the history of immigtation in the United States. This is a great tool for building background knowledge on the topic. Even though the students are able to relate to the topic on a personal level, they might not be familiar with the history of the process in the US, which goes back possibly 10,000 years, when tribes from Northeast Asia settled in North America and became the forefathers of Native Americans. The website offers a succinct summary on European immigration of 17-18th centuries, which we traditionally consider the beginning of immigration in America. Students will need to have a good understanding of the history of immigration in order to acheive unit goals and be able to compare the events of the past with the events of the present. Students will develop understanding of the the idea of America as a melting pot. The overarching theme in this text is that today's America is represented by a mosaic of peoples and cultures, which is also an important concept that my student will need to understand.
The website has a list of significant historic dates in U.S. immigration. As a class, we can engage in a discussion of which dates can be considered most significant and why. Students will work in groups to create time-lines and tree-maps (classification) which will serve as supporting visuals for the unit. This text contains a lot of new words, so I will use it to introduce the key vocabulary of the unit.
Rapidimmigration. (2008). US Immigration History. Retrieved from
http://www.rapidimmigration.com/1_eng_immigration_history.html.
Website 2. Interactive Tour of Ellis Island.
One of the first things that comes to mind when we talk about immigration in the United States is Ellis Island - a staple in the history of immigration in America. As many as 40% of all Americans can trace their roots to Ellis Island. Knowing how immigrants entered the United States in the beginning of the 20th century is important for the students' final assignment - comparing the immigration of the past and the present. The website will be a great supplement to textbook reading, as it offers an interactie tour of Ellis Island and takes the student through the different stages of the process that newcomers had to go through when they arrived in America. Each stop of the tour is accompanied by additional authentic pictures dating back to the beginning of the century and narratives of the actual immigrants describing their experiences at Ellis Island. The visuals and the emotionally charged narratives make it easy for the user to visualize what it was like to be a newcomer here in the beginning of the 20th century. I would use this source for a jugsaw activity, where groups of students would be experts on different stages of immigration process at Ellis Island and orally share their reports with the rest of the group. There are also possibilities for classroom discussions on such topics as:
1) Was Ellis Island important? How?
2) Were the procedures fair?
3) Compare the experience of newcomers at Ellis Island with your experience of coming into the country.
Scholastic. (2011). Interactive tour of Ellis Island. Retrieved from
http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/immigration/tour/stop1.htm.
Trade book 1.
Bridge to America
By Linda Glaser, 2005.
ISBN-13: 978-0618563012
Readability: 510 L, grade level - 3
Amazon: Ages 9-12
Glaser, L. (2005). Bridge to America. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company.
Introducing this book to my students would be a logical sequence to the Ellis Island activities, as the events described in the book date back to the beginning of the century. Bridge to America is based on the events of the early life of a real person, Fivel, a Jewish boy, who grew up in a small village in Poland in extreme poverty and who is dreaming of going to America, where life is better, so he can join his father whom he barely even remembers. His family had to wait eight long years for their father to send them the money for the trip to America - eight years of poverty, hunger, fear... Finally his dream came true; they sailed to America!
As the students in my class have different language proficiency and reading levels, and all three trade books are of different readability, it would make more sense to plan the remainder of the unit as a jigsaw activity. I do see the task of reading all three novels being overwhelming to the students of low intermediate/intermediate levels of proficiency. Bridge to America would be an assigned reading to the least proficient students. This book mostly focuses on the events of Fivel's life prior to his coming to America, which gives the reader a good idea of why people wanted to come to America in early 20th century. Students in this group would have to further explore the reasons for people coming to this country in 17-20th centuries and draw parallels to why people want to come to America today. To develop their writing skills, students will write a memoir describing their life in their native country prior to immigrating into the United States. Another possibility for writing is RAFT. Students will write a letter to Fivel to tell him what to expect once he arrives to America. As these activities are based on the topics that directly tap into the students' real-life experiences, I am hoping it will sustain their interest and will promote motivation for further learning.
Trade book 2.
La Linea
Ann Jaramillo, 2006.
ISBN-13: 978-0312373542
Readability: 650L, grade level - 4-5
Amazon: Ages 9-12
Jaramillo, A. (2006). La Linea. New Milford, CT: Roaring Book Press.
This book is suitable for more advanced readers in my ESOL class. It is a contemporary story of survival, courage and determination. Miguel has dreamed of joining his parents in California since the day they left him behind in Mexico almost seven years ago. On the morning of his fifteenth birthday, Miguel’s wait is over when his father sends him a message with instructions. The trip north to the border—la línea—is filled with dangers, thieves, border guards, and topped with a grueling, two-day trek across the desert. Miguel knew it was going to be hard, but he never thought that he would have to do it with a younger sister in tow. With things not going as planned and with their money gone, they have no choice but to hop on a mata gente - a dangerous train ride to the border. In California they reunite with their family, their dreams seem to be coming true, but they also realize ten years later that you can't always count on dreams - even the ones that come true.
The focus of this reading group will be the journey to America. For all immigrants coming to America is a journey in its direct and figurative sense. Students will explore different ways that people can come to the United States and places where they can enter. They will compare the ways it was done in the past with the modern-day situation. To support their ideas visually, students will produce and present tree-maps (classification) and double-bubble (comparison-contrast) graphic organizers. The students will ponder on such philosophical questions as: is it worth all the dangers the immigrants face? Will life across la linea fulfill all their dreams? Students will also discuss different ways the concept of "crossing the line" was presented in the book. For writing extension, students will have a choice of either writing a memoir about their journey to the United States or an essay about whether or not coming to America will fulfill their dreams.
Trade book 3.
A Step from Heaven
Na An, 2001.
ISBN-13: 978-0142500279
Readability: 600L, grade 4
Amazon: Young adult
Na, A. (2001). A Step from Heaven. Asheville, NC: Front Street.
This book tells the story of a Korean family that immigrates to California in search of a better life, only to find that the American Dream is harder to achieve than they thought. The tale is told through the eyes of Young Ju, who is a preschooler when the book begins and is growing to be a young woman by the time the book ends. Caught between the two cultures and isolated by the growing tension within her family, Young Ju eventually finds herself at a crossroads, forced to make a decision that will likely tear her family apart.
Even though her family is sliding into despair as they struggle to achieve the American Dream, Young Ju is the only one in her family who does not give up on her dreams.
This group of students will focus on examining the difficulties that newcomers usually encounter when coming to the United States, such as economic hardship, language barrier, and acculturation. Students will find and analyze cultural clashes presented in the book. In particular, they will examine the ways different members of the family deal with cultural differences, especially Young Ju. Students will compare and contrast Young Ju to the rest of her family. They will also compare the difficulties this Korean family had in America with the difficulties that earlier immigrants may have encountered in this country (first colonists, European immigrants of the early 20th century). For a writing assignment, students will produce a personal narrative, in which they will tell about the difficulties they faced in the United States and the ways they try to overcome these difficulties. If students are not willing to share their own experiences, they will have the option of doing a RAFT. They will pretend they are Young Ju writing a letter to her grandma in Korea, telling about her bittersweet experience in Mi Gook - America.
The first intervention strategy used to help students stop and think about what they have just read is "T-charts." Students will read the designated passage silently and then write the main idea sentence on the left-hand side. Students would share in class the sentences they wrote and the whole class would talk about the maion idea. The passage would be re-read for reinforced comprehension. Students would list 2-3 words that were unknown or unfamiliar on the right hand-side of the chart. T-chart would help students organize information and focus on what was important in that passage, as well as reinforce the concept of the main idea. This scaffold will help students think about how they have learned and remember new information.
Once the students are comfortable with using T-charts, they can graduate to using sticky notes. After reading a segment, instead of writing down a sentence about the main idea, students would write a few key words on the sticky notes that would constitute their "tracks" in reading. They would share and discuss their key words as a whole class. Then, using their sticky notes, students would write a short summary of what has been read so far. The sticky notes would help the students retell the events in sequence focusing only on the main events. Using sticky notes is a scaffold to help ELL's do what independent readers do - actively respond or question text as they read. Sticky notes is a way to train students to stop and gather important information. Once the skill is developed - the notes will be no longer needed, as pausing and reflecting will become internalized as a part of their reading process.
The Reading section provides some sample reading selections supplemented by comprehension exercises. The texts and exercises vary in length and the degree of difficuly, which allows for differentiation for ELLs of various levels of language proficiency. I think it is a great idea to use internet texts from time to time to introduce students to various forms of print.