Lesson 2: the Many Faces of America

Lesson 2: The Many Faces of America

Goals

1. Enlarge Ss’ vocabulary by providing frequently used words concerning family life in newspapers.

1. Familiarize Ss with the three waves of immigration in America.
2. Familiarize Sswith the various styles of newspaper headlines.
3. Get Ss to know more about a particular immigrant group---the Hispanics and get them to know Chinese immigration to the United States through passage reading.
4. Get Ss informed about “The Washington Post”
5. Ss do more reading on the internet concerning immigrants in America and are offered chances to report to the class, practicing their oral English.
6. Integrate reading, speaking and writing skills into one course.

Time Arrangement

Period / Activities
1 / Useful words;Background information;Language features; Understanding of the text;
2 / SupplementaryReading;
Information on The Washington Post;
Ss’reports (presentations and PPT);
Homework

Contents

Ⅰ. Frequently used terms in newspaper articles concerning “Family”

Ⅱ.Background Information

1. Three Waves of Immigration:

1).The First Wave of Immigration(1680--1880):

Who were they?

Why did they come?

2). The Era of New Immigration(1900--1920):

Who were the new immigrants?

Why did they come?

• Political Reasons
• Social Reasons
• Economic Reasons
• What issues did they face?
• What Impact Did They Have?
  

3).The Third Wave of Immigration (1965---) also called “Modern Era Immigration”

Who are the modern immigrants?

Why did they come?

What issues do they face?

2. HispanicAmericans( population, customs, life styles,beliefs……)

III. Language Features

The functions and various styles of the headlines:

IV.Understanding of the the Text

1. Outline

Para1-4: Fast increase of Hispanics

1)．Specific example of Hispanic increase

2)．Statistics showing Hispanic population growth

3)．Becoming the largest minority group in the near future

4)．Resembling America’s self-image of a century ago

Para.5:Reasons for the great increase of Hispanics

1)．Immigration flows from Mexico and other parts of Latin America

2)．High birth rate

Para6-9: Characteristics of Hispanics

1)．Powerful work ethic

2)．Upward mobility of long-established and U.S-born Hispanics

3)．Religious belief and education level

4)．Language barrier for adults

Para.10: Diversity of Hispanics

Different political preferences and entertainment tastes

Para.11．Author’s view on the nature of Hispanics

People with a variety of backgrounds and origins

2. Language points:

Well-intended:

Fiesta Indianapolis:

dry columns of numbers:

identify themselves as black::

Ellis Island:

long-established immigrants:

iconic suburbs:

upward mobility:

telenovelas:

homogeneous:

Tejano music:

technobanda music:

Univision news anchor:

at outreach:

Ss are asked tofind out where special features are used in the text.

3. Answers to the Questions

Ex.2 1)．C 2)．D 3)．B 4)．A

Ex.3

1)．Many Hispanics，especially the long-established and U．S-born Hispanics，have achieved success and shown clear signs of upward mobility．Many have moved to iconic suburbs．According to theAssociation of Hispanic Advertising，Hispanic household incomes have been growing 7.5 percent per year over the past 5 years．

2)“Hispanic”is a government-invented term for people of Latin American or Spanish descent or Spanish-language background，and there are no clear criteria to determine who is Hispanic．So census takers simply accept a person's self-description todetermine who is Hispanic．

3)．There are two reasons for the huge increase in the Hispanic population．One is the large immigration flows from Mexico and other parts of Latin America．It is the main reason for the huge increase of the Hispanic population．The other reason is the high birth rate of Hispanics．Hispanics have plenty of children．And 31 percent of Hispanic households have five or more people，compared with 12 percent among non-Hispanic whites．

4)．Hispanics have a powerful work ethic．Workforce participation among Hispanics is 80 percent，the highest of any measured group．Even those in poverty receivewelfare far less often than poor blacks or whites．

ⅴ. SupplementaryReading

Check Ss’ understanding of the after-class reading by asking Qs, and by asking Ss to report what they have read to the class.

Ⅵ. Information on The Washington Post

Ⅶ.Ss report on what they have acquired on the internet concerning the topic.

Ⅷ.Homework

Write on “What I’ve learnt from this lesson?” or write on “Hispanics in America” or “Chinese Immigration to America” (150words).