Printer-friendly versionAfter exposure to relevant literature in class, students will research their family history by interviewing their parents. They will use this information along with visual props to tell their story to classmates.
Getting Started
1. Address special concerns before beginning these activities (see Family Ties and Fabric Tales main story). If parents are uncomfortable with the lesson, you can alter the format for the entire class and have them interview a friend, family member or neighbor about their family immigration history.
2. Prepare your students for the lesson by providing a rich array of literature that focuses on immigration. Suggested books include A Peddler’s Dream by Shefelman and Shefelman (Houghton Mifflin) and New Faces of Liberty by Jorgensen-Esmailli and Brown (Many Cultures Publishing.)
To give them more control over the project, you may want let older students select the class readings. Take the class on a field trip to the community or school library to check out books. Display a selection of titles in class from which students may chose.
A Homework Assignment
1. Brainstorm with students to develop a list of interview questions.
2. Students can write down the agreed upon questions. Alternatively, you can compile the questions on a homework sheet to copy and distribute.
3. Encourage students to obtain family history information and stories from different family members.
4. Allow them one week to complete their family history sheets.
Classroom Activities
1. Students may use the information they gathered to perform a monologue. Assuming the identity of the person they interviewed, they may tell about their experiences in a dramatic presentation. They can dress the part and add interesting details about the journey based on the realities of the time period.
2. Students can write a letter to the folks back home (their country of origin) describing their journey and the new land. These letters can be put into a class book of Immigration Tales with accompanying illustrations or photos.
3. Student can write short stories from a "different" perspective. For example, Grandmama’s babushka (scarf) may tell the story of the trip to America. Or, her broach may have a tale to tell. Uncle Roberto’s hat and suitcase may be the storytellers.
4. You can ask parent volunteers to help coordinate the preparation of traditional foods from cultures students have researched. Or, have students bring in already-prepared foods for a class celebration.
5. Students can research music that has immigrated to the United States (African High Life, Jamaican Reggae, Italian Opera, Russian Symphonies, Caribbean Calypso) and perhaps put on a concert for peers.
Knowledge Unlimited, Inc. (800-356-2303) offers an award-winning kit, Everything You Need to Teach About U.S. Immigration ($129.95), which includes a video, The Golden Door: Our Nation of Immigrants, an eight poster set, America: A Nation of Immigrants, and a resource book, One Nation, Many Peoples. Each item can also be purchased individually.
