Immigrants: Our Ancestors

By Ruth Manna

A Symbol of Freedom

The United States includes people of many races, cultures, ethnicities, and religions who have come together to make one nation. Students learn about who they are and where they came from by interviewing relatives and displaying their results.

OBJECTIVE

Students will:

Interview parents about family history and record results
Display results using timeline, bar graph, and maps
Listen to and discuss read-aloud books
Create artwork to show what they have learned

LESSONS FOR THIS UNIT
Lesson 1: Learning to Interview
Lesson 2: The Interactive Read-Aloud
Lesson 3: Displaying the Data

REPRODUCIBLES
Classmate Interview Form (PDF)
Cover Letter to Parents (PDF)
Interview Form for Mom's and Dad's Families (PDF)
Words From Other Countries (PDF)

CULMINATING ACTIVITY

An international luncheon is one way to celebrate diversity and conclude this unit. Ask parents and adult co-workers to prepare a dish from another country to share at the luncheon. Invite parents to join you. We had everything from pizza to fried rice to enchiladas. We ended our celebration with a piñata.

SUPPORTING BOOKS

Books for Teaching About Immigrants

Teacher Store

The Teacher Store

Esperanza Rising

by Pam Muñoz Ryan

When Esperanza and Mama are forced to flee from their home in Mexico to a Mexican farm labor camp in California, they must adjust to a life without the fancy dresses and servants to which they were accustomed on Rancho de las Rosas.

Now they must confront the challenges of hard work, acceptance by their own people, and economic difficulties brought on by the Great Depression.

"A poignant look at the realities of immigration." — Horn Book

$15.95
Hardcover Book | Grades 3-9

Esperanza Rising

Grades 3-9 $15.95

Teacher Store

The Teacher Store

Immigration Then & Now

See below for complete list of titles. Appropriate titles of equal value may be substituted if any of the listed titles are unavailable at shipping time.

Set Includes:

Angel Island
The Colors of Freedom
If You Lived 100 Years Ago
If Your Name Was Changed At Ellis Island
Immigrant Kids
The Industrial Revolution
Jane Addams
New Kids in Town: Oral Histories of Immigrant Teens
Primary Sources Teaching Kit: Immigration
Standing Tall: The Stories of
$56.00 You save: 31%
Book Collection | Grades 6-9

Immigration Then & Now

Grades 6-9 $56.00

ARTICLE	Ethnic Minorities Covers the history of the American immigration of ethnic minorities, including settlement patterns, identity issues, cultural assimilation, and demographics.

LESSON PLAN	Discovering Your Heritage Exhibits a lesson plan where class members are asked to interview their families about their cultural heritage, create a family tree, and map...

ONLINE ACTIVITY	Uncover Prehistoric Pueblos Join archaeologists in New Mexico and investigate 1000-year-old ruins believed to be the ancient settlements of early Native Americans