Integrated Unit: Immigration

Unit objective: This unit will show children that everyone at one point or another came from different places around the world for different reasons. Some families came long ago and many families continue to immigrate to America today. Students will become aware of why people would immigrate to a new country and what it took to make their journeys. Children will learn how families bring their cultures to their new home which provides a mixture of cultures in America. They will understand that the diversity of cultures creates a rich environment here in America. This unit will provide students with the knowledge of some of the challenges, rewards, and issues that one may face through immigration.

Overview: Students will engage in activities across the curriculum that will demonstrate different aspects of immigration. They will use their own backgrounds to relate to the content and make more meaningful connections. Using literature, students will make further connections and gain a deeper appreciation for people of different backgrounds and what it took to get to where they are today. They will also learn how to measure and calculate their own family’s journey to America using map skills and measurement.

Language Arts:
Sequencing events in a story
Writing diary entries
Identifying genres
Basic comprehension
Vocabulary
Math:
Measurement: Review of Inches, feet and mile
Calculating distances between countries using maps
Measurement: cooking traditional family recipe
Kinesthetic:
How far is a mile?→ Walking outside
Social Studies:
Geography
What would you pack for your journey?
Reasons for immigration
Culture brought to America→ traditions, foods, clothing, and language
Job opportunities
Learning Mapskills
Arts:
How many countries are represented in our class? Painting flags
Illustrating scene from book

Literature used:
Letters from Rifka by Karen Hesse This book will be used during LA and also to provide children with more knowledge of what a young girl’s journey from Russia was like
Suki’s Kimono by Chieri Uegaki, Illustrated by Stephane Jorisch This book can be used to show students what children may face when they come to a new country
The keeping Quilt by Patricia Polocco This story shows students that many people can only pack what they are wearing and nothing else. Students could imagine what they might pack if they could only bring a few things with them.
Jalapeno Bagel by Natasha Wing, Illustrated by Antonio Castro This book shows the kinds of traditions and culture that families bring from their homeland. In class, we would cook the jalapeno bagels or recipes that student’s bring in that were traditional in their homeland.
The Arrival by Shaun Tan This is an example of what one family faces in order to come to America and can be used in the lesson to discover each student’s family journey to America
Goodbye 382 Shin Dang Dong by Frances Park and Ginger Park, Illustrated by Yangsook Choi This story shows the journey of a little girl moving to America and teaches students how she adjusts in her new home while keeping memories of her old home in Korea.
Marianthe's Story: Painted Words and Spoken Memories by Aliki This story shows the struggle of a little girl in school who comes to America. It portrays art as a universal language that can help students to see other ways of communicating and also the strength that it takes for students like the one in this book.
The memory Coat by Elvira Woodruff and Michael Dooling This book can be used to show children what it was like coming through Ellis Island and what individuals faced while doing so.
A Day's Work by Eve Bunting and Ronald Himler This story can be used to begin a discussion about job opportunities for immigrants in today’s society in America.
Grandfather's Journey by Allen Say This book could be used to show the journey of one man and his family and could evolve into studying why people leave their homelands for a new one.


Title: Points of origin: Where did my family come from?
Grade Level: 3
Time needed: Time at home, 90 minutes
Essential Question: Where did I originate from and what was our journey to America like? What culture did my family bring to America?
Materials: The Arrival by Shaun Tan. Large and small maps of the world, point of origin sheet from parents, books, computers with internet access, sticky notes, paper, pencils
Assumed Prior knowledge: That each person has a family background and origin
Objectives:
• Use a world map to locate their point of origin.
• Learn that our classmates come from a variety of places in a variety of ways.
• Discover examples of different culture and traditions from around the world.
• Discuss different ways in which our families came to America.
• Understand that cultures are brought to the United States when families emigrate.
• Understand that culture is a part of what makes us who we are.
Agenda:
1. Before this lesson, teacher must send home a note to ensure that students can identify their journey to America. It should describe the project and its purpose and hopefully encourage family conversation about their background. Also, encourage family members to share stories about their family’s history and how they came to America and where they are today. Did you bring any culture from your old home to America? If family is unable to provide this information, have students research a person online or through books to learn how they came to America.
2. Look at the story, The Arrival by Shaun Tan with whole group. Since there are no words, the teacher and class can take turns describing what is going on. Students will use sticky notes throughout the book to write down at least 2 obstacles that the characters face during their journey. After the story is complete. Students will pair share their sticky notes.
3. With a formulated list of all of the places that families have originated from, mark off the origins on a large map to give children a visual display of where their classmates have come from. Briefly observe and discuss the different places that students have originated from. After whole group activity, have children create individual maps that mark off their own point of origin and the journey that they or their family has taken to come to America.
4. Children will then write a brief “story” of how they came to America. Story lengths may vary in length depending on the information they were able to gather at home. Story must be at least 5 sentences for most students.
5. In groups of four, students will read their stories to their group.
6. When groups are finished reading stories, come together as whole group again. Use sticky notes from before and have students discuss if some of their classmates/classmate’s families may have encountered the same obstacles. Place sticky notes on large map, where appropriate.
Assessment:
1. Finished stories and maps will be reviewed. Stories must be at least five sentences and match the journey on their map.
2. Map must be marked with their points of origins given by their families or their chosen character.

Title: Coming to America
Grade Level: 3
Time needed: 5 30 minute blocks to complete book, 60 minute block.
Essential Question: Why do immigrants come to America? What do they face when coming to America? What is the beginning, middle, and end of the story?
Materials: Letters from Rifka by Karen Hesse, “diaries”, sequence worksheet
Objectives:
• Identify sequence to improve comprehension.
• Understand that stories, have a beginning, middle and ending.
• Use knowledge of sequencing and immigration to write a “new” entry in Rifka’s diary.
• Model a diary entry from observing how Rifka wrote entries.
• Recognize the hardships immigrants face.
Agenda:
1. Read aloud the book Letters from Rifka by Karen Hesse to the class until finished. Throughout story discuss different points of the book and have children try to relate to Rifka’s story. Discuss obstacles she faces and how they children would handle what she faced.
2.When story is finished, review sequence of Rifka’s story. Have students complete sequence worksheet to assess understanding.
3.Go over worksheet as a class.
4.Explain that students will be writing their own entries in Rifka’s diary. They may choose to write a chapter anywhere in the story and must identify where it should be placed. Students will be assessed by a rubric they must follow. If students have extra time, they may illustrate a scene from that complements their new entry or they may illustrate any scene from the book.
5.When students have completed their additional diary entry, they will use their clock partners to share their story with. Diary entries will also be placed in a spot in the classroom so that students have the opportunity to read other classmate’s entries during free reading time.
Assessment:
1.Student’s sequence worksheets will be assessed. They must be accurate and complete. Choice of where their entry goes in the story will also determine if they understand the sequence.
2.Student’s diary entries will be assessed according to a rubric created for activity.

Title: Mileage to America
Grade Level: 3
Time needed: 90 minutes
Essential Question: How do I calculate how far it would take to travel to America? How far is it from my place/s of origin to America? Why do you need to know how far it is to travel to another place?
Materials: maps with mileage keys, Mileage worksheet, ruler, chart paper
Assumed Prior knowledge: People have traveled far distances from heir homeland to America.
Objectives:
• Use a world map to calculate mileage
• Learn how to calculate how far one’s journey would take
• Discover how far it is to travel to a new place.
• Discuss different reasons for needing to know how far a journey is
• Understand the need for knowing how to calculate distance
Agenda:
1.Before class, mark off a course outside that measures one mile.
2.Explain to children that it is important for immigrants to know how far they are traveling so that they can be prepared for their journey. Review how big an inch and a foot are. After discussing and visualizing how big an inch and foot are, take children outside and begin walking the course that you marked off. Tell children to notice how far they walk
3.When done walking, ask class how many feet they think they walked. After class has “guestimated” the distance, tell them that they have walked 5,280 feet, which is ONE mile.
4.Back inside of classroom, brainstorm, writing answers on the board, how far the children think their families’ journeys were to America now that they have an idea of how far a mile is.
5.Using maps, demonstrate how to measure how far a journey would take from one place to somewhere in America.
6.Have children use their own personal maps to measure how far their families traveled to come to America. Explain that this is an approximate measurement.
7. As whole class, have children share each journey’s distance. Record answers on chart paper. Have children make comparisons of the different journeys and the distance each family traveled to come to America.
Assessment:
1. Children will be assessed on their ability to use the mileage key on the maps provided. Each child should have measured the approximate distance between their families’ homeland to a destination in America. Teacher should double check their measurements for accuracy.