Maureen Southorn

IST 668/Spring 2008

Assignment #4: Collaborative Unit Plan

Due May 4, 2008

Target Student Group

The target group for this lesson is GrantMiddle 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.

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.

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 unit
Agree / 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 AngelIsland

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 AngelIsland 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:
  • Print documents: Jackdaws portfolio broadsheet, “The Chinese”and Pert’s To the GoldenMountain: The Story of the Chinese Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad.
  • Li Keng Wong’s AsianIsland experience website: 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: GoldenMountain, Paper Son, AngelIsland
  • 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

  • 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 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 Sudanas 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 the15 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.