Maureen SouthornIST 668/Spring 2008Assignment #4: Collaborative Unit Plan Due May 4, 2008

Target Student Group

The target group for this lesson is Grant Middle School sixth grade students.

School demographics are heterogeneous. About 48 percent of students are white; 40

percent are African or African American; 8 percent are Hispanic; 2 percent are Asian or

Asian American; and 2 percent are Native American. Grant has very substantial sub-

populations of students with special needs (25%), economic disadvantages (80%),

and/or limited English proficiency (8%). The school has not made NCLB adequate

yearly progress ELA targets for a number of years and as of the 2007-08 school year is

in restructuring – year 4 status. Sixth grade ELA test passage rate currently sits at

about 35 percent. The administration has focused on teaching literacy skills within

content areas as key to making adequate yearly progress toward NCLB targets. There

are no dedicated full-time reading instructors; most teachers at Grant studied education

and/or their content area as an undergraduate and pursued literacy education as a

Master’s option.

Sixth grade students attend a secondary school yet fall under the “common

branch” category for education. Sixth graders at Grant attend classes with block

schedules of one hour each, with the same teacher for two blocks on most days. Their

teachers are required to teach literacy within the content area curriculum alongside

standard reading classes. This arrangement is ideal for unit studies, since students can

work on skills across the curriculum in one context for an extended period of time,

instead of just one short period each day or every other day.

ESL learners will also take part in the assignment. ESL learners at Grant

primarily hold SIFE status (students with interrupted formal education). Most came from

refugee camps abroad. Current ESL students are from Myanmar (Burma), Cuba,

Liberia, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Vietnam, Puerto Rico, Yemen, Sudan, Russia, Turkey,

and Haiti. The SIFE students are eager to please and very appreciative of education,

but encounter many problems since many have not before experienced the concept of

rules, order, and authority. While earlier groups of refugees were highly educated and

well-traveled, over the last decade the camps have grown larger, disorganized, and

chaotic, leaving this set of students ill-prepared for a school setting.

Instructional Goal

While strengthening their literacy skills, students will learn about the historical

causes behind waves of migration to the United States, then compare and contrast the

experiences of several immigrant groups.

Related Content Area Standards

ELA 1/ Gather and interpret information from children's reference books, magazines, textbooks, electronic bulletin boards, audio and media presentations, oral interviews, and from such forms as charts, graphs, maps, and diagrams. Select information appropriate to the purpose of their investigation and relate ideas from one text to another. Select and use strategies they have been taught for notetaking, organizing, and categorizing information. Present information clearly in a variety of oral and written forms such as summaries, paraphrases, brief reports, stories, posters, and charts. Select a focus, organization, and point of view for oral and written presentations.

Social Studies 1/ Know the roots of American culture, its development from many different traditions, and the ways many people from a variety of groups and backgrounds played a role in creating it. Gather and organize information about the traditions transmitted by various groups living in their neighborhood and community. Explore different experiences, beliefs, motives, and traditions of people living in their neighborhoods, communities, and State.

Learning Objectives

Students will:

challenge their assumptions related to the root causes for human migration, as

demonstrated by an anticipation guide

Learn and demonstrate, in quickwriting exercises, vocabulary skills related to the

migration experience

Demonstrate, in double-entry journal format, knowledge connections about

migration

Exhibit interviewing skills by drafting as a group questions to ask present-day

immigrants about their experiences

Successfully create artifacts about their target country, showcasing their new

knowledge about a local immigrant’s culture

Part One/One Day

The Immigrant Experience: introduction

(The introduction will be held in the classroom and led by the teacher.)

Many immigrants have come to the United States. Many arrived from a certain

country at a certain time period. This was called a “wave” of migration. We’re going to

look at a few waves, and compare and contrast their experiences.

Essential Question

How are the experiences of different groups who have immigrated into the

United States similar? Different?

Vocabulary Review

See attached sample vocabulary activity sheet. The Jackdaws portfolio also

includes several glossary/vocabulary sheets that can be copied and handed out to

students for their reference. Vocabulary sheets will not be collected or graded, although

the class should go over the sheet together to ensure that all students have matched up

the correct definitions.

Teacher should focus on the words emigration and immigration by reviewing the

prefixes and what they mean (in, out) to support better comprehension and recall.

“E-“ is the Latin root for “out.” emerge (out + dip) / emotion (out + move) / emit

(out + sound) / elevate (out + lift) / eclipse (out + leave) / educate (out + lead) / effect

(out + do) / eject (out + throw) / elect (out + choose). Do not confuse with French root,

“em-,” which means “before.”

“Im-“, the Latin root for “into,” is used before the letter m, b, or p. “Im-“ can also

mean not, but usually readers can tell which of these two meanings apply. Imbibe (in +

drink) / imperil (into + danger) / implode (in + explode) / import (in + carry) / impound (in

+ shut) / imprint (in + press) / impoverish (in + poor) / impel (in + drive).

Anticipation guide

Students will fill out the anticipation guide before starting the unit. The teacher

will collect and save the anticipation guides until the end of the unit, then redistribute

them so students can compare before and after answers. The anticipation guide will not

be graded.

Before unit Statements After unitAgree Disagree Agree Disagree

All immigrants came to the United States to pursue opportunities for work or ways to earn money.Immigrants traveled in family groups when moving to the United States.Daily life in the United States was easier for immigrants, as compared to daily life in their country of origin.The people of the United States truly accept legal immigrants: the tired, the poor, the huddled masses seeking to be free.

What is Immigration?

Teacher will provide an overview of immigration waves, using the Immigrant Timeline

provided in the Jackdaws packet or a similar aid.

Part 2/ 5-7 days

Wave 1: Irish/The potato famine and Ellis Island

Day 1/Shared reading: Led by the TL in the LMC. The Amazing Potato, Chapters

4 and 5. Use shared reading strategies to boost comprehension. Illustrations

are black and white and smaller than a page; the TL may want to blow up and

display a few pictures during the session.

Day 2+/Independent exploration and Sustained Silent or Guided Reading. Led

by the teacher in either classroom or LMC. Teachers can present a centers-style

set-up depending on reading level and dynamics of the class. By end of part 2,

all students will have a) answered key questions using the Jackdaws portfolio

broadsheet on the Irish and non-fiction selections by Doalm, Rebman, Meltzer 1,

Meltzer 2, Bartoletti, and b) completely read Giff’s Water Street. The non-fiction

selections range in reading levels from grade 3 (The Amazing Potato) to grade 7

(Bartoletti’s Black Potatoes: The Story of the Great Irish Famine). Giff’s Water

Street is rated at a 4.8 reading level, an appropriate level since most students

prefer to read for pleasure at a grade level or two lower than their school

placement. Tan’s The Arrival, a wordless book, should also be made available to

support full reading range.

Days 2-7/Read-Arounds: In the classroom, facilitated by teacher. Students will

mark their favorite passages to share and discuss with the class.

Day 3 or 4/Quickwriting: In the classroom, facilitated by teacher. Two topics

could include Potato Famine and Ellis Island. Teacher should grade for

comprehension, vocabulary use, grammar, spelling, and syntax.

Circa day 7/SSR response: In the classroom, facilitated by teacher. Double

Entry Journal: Teacher will hand out the following quotes for students to write double

entry journal reflections. Double entry journals will be scored up to 3 points each for

writing voice and style, grammar, syntax, spelling, and comprehension. Total possible

score for each journal is 15 points (full total: 60 points).

Wave 1: Quote 1

…She’d waited for this day all summer. This was the last year she’d ever spend in school. It would be time for her to go to work…Would it be the box factory like Annie during the day? Would it be the fish store or a vegetable market? Or worse, cleaning someone’s house? How could she spend the rest of her life like that, doing something that didn’t matter to her? And remembering what Da always said: “We have to better ourselves in this new country. Each generation doing better than the last no matter

how hard it seems.” (Giff 58-59)

Wave 1: Quote 2

“If I were on a farm somewhere, working in a field, I wouldn’t care how hard I’d have to work… Do you know what it was like working in that caisson under the river? Closed in, knowing the river was just inches away, deep underneath.” (Hughie) shuddered… “I couldn’t do it either,” Thomas said. “Never.” “I think you could,” Hughie said. “I think you could do anything you had to do…. I’m going to fight until someone stops me, or bashes my head in. I’m going to fight until I get the money for a farm.” (Giff 114-115)

Wave 2: Chinese/The Transcontinental RR and Angel Island

Set-up will mimic format for wave 1.

Day 1/Shared reading: Led by the TL in the LMC. Lee and Choi’s Landed. This is

a color picture book, so no additional action is needed to prepare materials. TL

should introduce idea that Asian immigrants entered the U.S. at the Angel Island

location, and invite students to think about how the experiences of Asian

immigrants might compare or contrast with European immigrants.

Days 2-3/Independent Exploration: Also held in LMC. Students will rotate

between print documents (at tables in main room) and the web resource (in the

computer lab adjoining the main room). Teacher and TL will both be available to

help. Activities:

o Print documents: Jackdaws portfolio broadsheet, “The Chinese” and Pert’s

To the Golden Mountain: The Story of the Chinese Who Built the

Transcontinental Railroad.

o Li Keng Wong’s Asian Island experience website:

http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/asian-american/angel_island/

index.htm. This website links to other educational websites about Chinese

immigration. Teacher/TL can encourage students to explore these or not

depending on time constraints.

Day 4/Quickwriting: Golden Mountain, Paper Son, Angel Island

Days 4-7/Sustained silent and guided reading: Yep’s The Journal of Wong Ming-

Chung: A Chinese Miner (My Name is America: A Dear America Book).

Days 4-7/Read-Arounds: Students will mark their favorite passages to share and

discuss with the class.

Day 7: Double Entry Journal:

Wave 2: Quote 1

I’ve met the hungriest Americans I’ve ever seen. They were so thin their bones were like sticks… There was something familiar about the newcomers. As I stared at their gaunt faces, I realized what it was: their faces were the faces of starvation. Back in China, those had been our faces. The cheekbones of my parents’ faces had stood out just like theirs. I never want to see that again. The dream is the right one. As scared as I am, I have to try to find gold. (Yep 77-78)

Wave 2: Quote 2

There are a lot of things rich people aren’t supposed to do in China. You can’t even scratch when you itch. That kind of life would be tighter than a too-small jacket. Here on golden Mountain I am free. I can scratch all I want. And I can get all the books I want from San Francisco… I wondered if this is how the swans feel when they leave one home for another. (Yep 191)

Wave 3: Refugees

ESL student interview session: sample questions

1. Before you traveled to the US, you must have had some thoughts about what it would be like. Is life in the US what you expected it to be?

2. What is difficult about living in the US?

3. What is easy?

4. Please describe an example where an American has misunderstood or believes something untrue about your country.

5. Who has helped you the most to settle in to your new home country?

Day 1/In the LMC. Primary sources, part 1: Immigrant student interview

preparation. Students will gather at the tables in the LMC main room. TL will talk

about interviewing to the class, describing interview etiquette, techniques, and

the different kinds of questions students might ask their schoolmates. Teacher

will split students into small groups to prepare questions for several minutes.

Each group will record their question on large sticky paper placed on the wall in

several areas of the library. One member of each group will present their

questions to the class. As a large group, the class will eliminate duplicates and

discuss the remaining questions. The TL will facilitate discussion about how

appropriate and interesting the questions are. The teacher will suggest any

points that might have been missed. Selected questions will be written down on

the whiteboard. Chosen questions will be submitted to the ESL teacher, who will

determine which students will be selected for an interview based on the question

list.

Day 1-2/in the LMC. Primary sources, part 2: Teacher & TL will present

Kannon’s Beyond the Fire website at http://www.itvs.org/beyondthefire/ using the

main room LCD projector and a laptop secured by the TL for the activity.

Teacher and TL will co-present how to fully use the site by using John from

Sudan as the example. They should be sure to demonstrate all aspects of the

site, including how to view the country timelines and the full stories of each teen

on the site. After the presentation, students will move into the computer lab to

explore the site on their own. TL will ensure that the website is bookmarked and

that headphones are provided at each computer station. If computer availability

is limited, teachers may copy and hand out Oduah’s “To Be a Teen Refugee”

article and discuss this with class members not using computers. This activity

should begin right after the interviewing preparation session, and should continue

for at least one full class period to ensure that all students get a substantial, if not

comprehensive, look at the 15 stories presented on the website.

Day 3/Primary sources, part 3: held in LMC main room. ESL students will visit

class and answer interview questions. Teacher, TL, and ESL teacher will

moderate. Several students may be designated as note-takers. At the end, the

teacher will lead a summary of the interviews and write down the countries

represented by the students interviewed on the whiteboard. Students will be told

to select one of the countries listed to study. They should arrive on day 4 with

their choice selected.

Culminating Project: Country Study

Students will choose to study a country represented by the interviewees or provided

at the Beyond the Fire website. The teacher will give an overview of the project, noting

that students must use a certain number of print resources and the Culturegrams

database for their reports. The TL will provide a research orientation, demonstrating a)

the public catalog and how to find the call number for the country; b) the Culturegrams

subscription database; and c) the selected web resources students are permitted to use

for the project. Students will gather data on:

1. Country Facts and Figures – population, leaders, flag, currency, major cities, etc.

2. Celebrations and holidays

3. Myths and folktales

4. Culture groups (ethnicities, tribes, social strata, etc.)

5. Daily life – family and gender roles, work, school system, dating, common

hobbies

6. Food – staple foods, traditional recipes

7. Language – learn a greeting in target language, note one language or multiple

languages used, gestures

8. Sports – to play or watch

Students will capture this information in a graphic organizer, then turn this into an

artifact that will be shared with the class and displayed in the hall. The teacher can

allow students to work in pairs or as groups, if desired. The artifact could include a

collage, essay, book, or PowerPoint presentation. The teacher and TL should establish

in advance the milestones and deadlines, and make sure to present these up front so

students know what to expect. Deadlines and milestones should also be displayed on

the main room whiteboard as a reminder to all students. Teacher and TL will circulate

among all students to get progress checks and give individual feedback throughout the

project, over several days, as students research their topics.

Each student or group will show the class their project and tell the class the most

interesting fact they discovered and why they found this interesting.

Teacher will assess projects as a portfolio-type assignment, considering not only

the finished project but also the progress made from earlier discussions. TL can assist

with assessment as needed. Teacher/Tl should give immediate feedback after

presentation to reinforce student interest and help them understand the strengths and

weaknesses of their project.

Culmination: Instructional Conversation

After the presentations end, the class will sit at the LMC center tables for a grand

conversation on these topics:

Compare life in the country you studied to life in the U.S. If you were born in that

country, would you emigrate?

If you, as an American, were dropped off in the country you studied, would you

be welcomed? Attacked?

How has the immigrant experience changed over time? Do today’s immigrants

have problems similar to the European and Asian immigrant groups we studied?

Teacher and TL should end the unit by discussing their observations about what the

class has learned.

Text Set

>14 books/series, nine websites, and one primary document portfolio<

In-class, independent exploration, sustained silent reading, and guided reading

selections

Baker, L., Ed. (2004). U.S. Immigration and Migration Reference Library: Farmington

Hills, MI: Thomsen Gale. This comprehensive reference set provides all sorts of

resources for a migration unit and includes Almanacs vol. 1 and 2, Biographies

vol. 1 and 2, one-volume Primary Sources, and a Cumulative Index. Teachers

can photocopy and pass out copies of the Homestead and Chinese Exclusion

Acts, and students can look up and read full biographies of prominent and

successful immigrants by nationality.

Bartoletti, S.B. (2001). Black Potatoes: The Story of the Great Irish Famine, 1845-1850.

Boston: Houghton Mifflin. This Sibert Award winner will keep students’ interest

through eyewitness-style memoirs of the famine and a multitude of drawings and

news clips from the time period. Even students who merely views the maps,

quotes, and poems will gain much from flipping through this volume.

Dolan, E.F. (2003). The Irish Potato Famine: The Story of Irish-American Immigration

(Great Journeys). New York: Marshall Cavendish. This connects the famine and

other root problems in Ireland more closely to the decision to migrate. The books

contains many photographs and tables in black and white and color.

Giff, P.R. (2006). Water Street. New York: Wendy Lamb Books. Bird (short for Bridget)

and Thomas, children of Irish immigrants, carve out their new lives in an 1875

tenement building overlooking the construction of the new Brooklyn Bridge. The

book touches on the Irish potato famine, lives and recipes of a healer (Bird’s

mother), pop culture (a woman taking over the bridge’s construction after her

husband and son are incapacitated), and illnesses of the time (scarlet fever

outbreaks and Cassion’s Disease, a early form of “the bends” suffered by

underwater bridge workers). Giff’s descriptions focus on the close togetherness

of Bird’s family; Bird’s attempts to balance her fears with the expectations of her

immigrant parents; and problems of alcoholism, bloody boxing matches, and

illiteracy among the Irish immigrant group.

Kannon, S. (2004). Beyond the Fire. An Electric Shadows Project/ITVS Interactive.

http://www.itvs.org/beyondthefire/. This powerful website, based on an

independent film effort, asks readers “What would you do if you had to leave

forever? What would you choose to take with you?” Students can learn about

the refugee experience by clicking on one of 15 teens displayed on a world map.

Each teen image brings up their native country’s map and a timeline of the area’s

conflicts. A third click activates the teen’s “passport” including their name,

background, and current home and school in the U.S. From here students can

access 2-3 oral histories about key events in each teen’s life, from being shot at

age 7 to misunderstandings endured at a U.S. high school. Audio clips are

accompanied by family and home country photos. Each clip is horrifying, yet told

with a tone of acceptance and hope. This resource was a favorite among

teachers who looked over this unit plan. One teacher actually bookmarked this

to follow up a Holocaust unit covered in the Technology and Literacy curriculum.

Lee, M. (2006). Landed. Y. Choi, Illus. New York: Farrar Straus Giroux. In the 1880s,

12-year-old Sun must study for and negotiate the immigration process at Angel

Island. How long will Sun stay on the island? Will he pass the test? Will his

friends be sent back to China? Will Sun ever see his father again? This book is

beautifully illustrated, with simple text for a read-aloud to middle school students.

Comprehensive author notes chronicle the life of the real Sun, who was the

inspiration for this book, and shed light on the rest of his life and connection to

the book’s author.

Meltzer, M. (1992). The Amazing Potato: A Story in Which the Incas, Conquistadors,

Marie Antoinette, Thomas Jefferson, Wars, Famines, Immigrants, and French

Fries All Play a Part. New York: Harper Collins. This book focuses very

specifically on the history of the potato itself, but Chapters 4 and 5 cover the

famine in Ireland and its impact on the migration patterns of Irish. This book is

written with simpler language than other resources on this topic, making it an

excellent choice for struggling readers.

Meltzer, M. (2002). Bound for America: the Story of the European Immigrants (Great

Journeys series). New York: Marshall Cavendish. Gives excellent charts, facts

and figures that will help students place Irish immigration into the bigger picture,

allowing them to compare and contrast motivations to migrate from other nations.

Full-page photographs add to the book’s attractive appearance.

Oduah, C. (2003 Oct. 20). To Be a Teen Refuge. WireTap Magazine Online. Retrieved

April 29, 2008 from http://www.wiretapmag.org/stories/16975/. This article,

written by a high school student, explains in understandable prose many details

about the current influx of refugees into many area of the United States.

Pert, L. (2003). To the Golden Mountain: The Story of the Chinese Who Built the

Transcontinental Railroad (Great Journeys series). New York: Marshall

Cavendish. Another full-color, photograph-filled offering will give students more

background about the many jobs pursued and held by Chinese immigrants.

Gives great focus to daily life and the root causes behind anti-Chinese sentiment

in America.

Rebman, R.C. (2000). Life on Ellis Island (The Way People Live series). San Diego:

Lucent Books. This book will help students understand the treatment of all

immigrants during migration “in-processing.” Includes photographs of documents

and the immigrants coming in, and provides easy-to-understand prose for

struggling readers.

Scriabine, C. (1995). Immigration: 1870-1930. Jackdaw Portfolio #G84. New York:

Golden Owl Publishing. This portfolio combines fascinating primary documents

with a prepared set of document-based inquiries and fantastic reference

materials written by an expert in the field. Teachers will want to use Broadsheets

1 (Immigration in the Industrial Age), 2 (Northern Europeans: A Continuing

Stream), and 3 (Asians: The Chinese) as core reading, then allow students to

explore the interesting artifacts such as:

o Advice to Immigrants: What Every Immigrant Should Know/ A Simple

Pamphlet for the guidance and benefit of prospective immigrants to the

United States. By Cecilia Razovsky, Dept of Immigrant Aid, Council of

Jewish Women

o Telegram from the Asiatic Exclusion League of America to Immigrantion

Convention dated Nov 16 1911 calling for “a halt on the cheap labor that is

being dumped on our shores to be used as a club to reduce the wages of

laboring men now in the country… the League welcomes the immigrant

that comes here with his family to till the soil, but is opposed to the single

an who comes to be herded like cattle in a life destroying atmosphere to

work for a pittance that is insufficient to properly maintain a man in decent

surroundings…”

o Photographs and political cartoons capturing and skewering the

immigration waves

Tan, A. (2007). The Arrival. New York: Arthur A. Levine Books. This wordless book

follows a man who escapes a repressive nation and travels to his new home.

The illustrations are striking and highly detailed. Readers are thrown into a

foreigner’s shoes, where all signs are written upon with strange symbols and

communications take place primarily though gestures and facial expressions.

Each panel will transport readers though the protagonist’s memories and

impressions as he finds his way in a new world.

Yep, L. (2000). The Journal of Wong Ming-Chung: A Chinese Miner (My Name is

America: A Dear America Book). New York: Scholastic. This first-person

account presents a fictionalized but historically accurate picture of Gold-Rush era

Chinese immigrants. Wong, nicknamed Runt, travels to California to help his

Uncle seek gold and earn wages to elevate their family in China out of poverty

and tax debt. Subtle text captures nuances from this controversial time period,

from the underlying hatred of native whites for the Chinese workers, to the status

Chinese gave to men who could read and write.

Pre-selected resources for culminating country study project

Culturegrams subscription database. http://www.culturegrams.com/. Ann Arbor, MI:

ProQuest K-12 http://www.proquestk12.com/about/default.shtml.

Series: Enchantment of the World. Sample Title: Willis, T. Afghanistan: Enchantment of

the World. New York: Scholastic Children’s Press.

Series: In America. Sample Title: Taus-Bolstad, S. (2006). Pakistanis in America.

Minneapolis: Lerner Publications.

Series: Visual Geography. Sample Title: DiPiazza, F.D. (2006). Sudan In Pictures.

Minneapolis: Lerner publications.

Websites:

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/ Library of Congress Country Studies and Country

Profiles

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/country_profiles/default.stm BBC Country Profiles

http://www.ethnologue.com/country_index.asp Languages of the World, Web

Edition

http://www.everyculture.com/index.html Countries and Their Cultures

http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=21&year=2007 Freedom

House Country Reports

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/ U.S. Department of State Background Notes

References

Alessandro, A. (2008 Apr. 30). Syracuse City School District ESL Teacher. Interview.

New York State Office of Instructional Support and Development. (2007, Nov). Schools

and Districts in Need of Improvement: Elementary and Middle Schools

Accountability Status 2007-08 (Rest of State). Retrieved April 25, 2008, from the

NYSTAR website,

http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/irts/school-accountability/home.shtml

New York State Office of Testing Accountability and Reporting. (2007). The New York

State School Report Card: Accountability and Overview Report 2005-06: Grant

Middle School, Syracuse City School District. Retrieved April 25, 2008, from the

NYSTAR website, https://www.nystart.gov/publicweb/AllDistrict.do.

New York State Office of Testing Accountability and Reporting. (2007). The New York

State School Report Card: Comprehensive Information Report 2005-06: Grant

Middle School, Syracuse City School District. Retrieved April 25, 2008, from the

NYSTAR website, https://www.nystart.gov/publicweb/AllDistrict.do

Nugent, B. (2008 Apr 30). Syracuse City School District ESL Teacher. Interview.