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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Becoming American: Between Two Worlds

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students examine American identity. In this immigration lesson, students explore the plight of Chinese Americans in their attempts to assimilate into the American culture while keeping their Chinese identities. 
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Immigrant Experience In America

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Learners study immigration, Ellis Island, and tenement life from 1890 to 1924. Each student create an identity of an immigrant and write an essay in the first person. Essays describe what they found when they arrived in New York City.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Immigrant Experience in America

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students explore immigration in the United States. In this immigration activity, students read about Ellis Island and tenement houses as they conduct research regarding the topic in order to write an essay.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Becoming American: The Chinese Experience

For Teachers Higher Ed
Students examine the experience of Chinese American immigrants in the PBS series BECOMING AMERICAN. ESL learners investigate and explore their own identities within a multicultural context.
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Lesson Plan
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1
Facing History and Ourselves

Many Voices, One National Identity

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
To conclude the unit on "Exploring Identity in the United States," pupils consider whether it is possible to combine many voices into one national identity. After creating an identity chart that lists words, phrases, and images that they...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Immigration in the United States

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students explore how recent immigration and migration patterns impact social and political issues. They apply affective learning techniques
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Unit Plan
Annenberg Foundation

Utopian Promise

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Scholars learn all about the Puritans in the third installment of a 16-part lesson series. After watching a video, they read and discuss biographies of Puritans and Quakers from American history, write journal entries and poetry, and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The House on Mango Street

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students read The House on Mango Street and analyze why the author chose to tell this story and how the characters are affected by immigration, poverty, and discrimination. Students compare this story to others about immigration to...
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PPT
National Humanities Center

Teaching The Great Gatsby: A Common Core Close Reading Seminar

For Teachers 11th - 12th
The 41 slides in a professional development seminar model how to use close reading techniques to examine the many layers of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. In addition to passages from the novel, slides provide biographical...
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Lesson Plan
PBS

Puerto Rican Perspectives

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
Puerto Ricans are wholly American, but their history with the United States has been one of tumult. Using clips from a PBS documentary, viewers consider the history of the island and Puerto Rico's contributions to the mainland United...
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Lesson Plan
1
1
Facing History and Ourselves

Finding Your Voice

For Teachers 6th - 12th
To begin a study of what it means to be American, high schoolers first consider their own identities. They draw a picture of what they think an American looks like and share their images. Next, they examine an image of the "Flag of...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Grappling with Identity in Latino Poetry

For Teachers 9th - Higher Ed
Students identify some common themes involving the Latino immigrant experience as conveyed through a variety of media, explore issues of identity in some examples of poetry written by Latinos and learn some basic poetry reading strategies.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

State of Mind: Inventing the American Identity

For Teachers 7th - 10th
Pupils define national identity, explain importance of having national identity, describe America's national identity, work together and formulate class vision of what America's national identity is, identify United States symbols and...
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Unit Plan
Annenberg Foundation

Masculine Heroes

For Teachers 6th - 12th
What were the driving forces behind American expansion in the nineteenth century, and what were its effects? Scholars watch a video, read biographies, engage in discussion, write journals and poetry, draw, and create a multimedia...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

From America, With Love

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students research the experiences of specific immigrant groups in the United States. Letters are written from imaginary immigrants to relatives in their countries of origin, including historically accurate details.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Reformers versus Residents in Five Points: A Role Play

For Teachers 8th - 10th
Social Studies and role-playing can go hand in hand. Learners use supporting evidence found in primary and secondary source material to develop a character from the Five Points neighborhood in the 1850s. Each student takes on the role of...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Cultural Riches

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Learners examine culture and how immigrants adapt to American culture while contributing elements of their various cultures to that of the United States.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Ellis Island: Gateway To America

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders study the immigration station on Ellis Island. Through several activities, they see that immigrants who arrived at Ellis Island came to America from different countries, mostly those in Europe, for a variety of reasons.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Opportunity and Danger

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Students analyze the immigrant experience. In this Chinese immigration lesson, students research Internet and print sources regarding the topic. Students also watch videos regarding the topic and interview immigrants or children of...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Changing Places

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Learners investigate the Chinese-American immigration experience. In this assimilation lesson, students watch "Becoming American: The Chinese Experience" and then participate in classroom activities regarding the topic. The activities...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Ethnic Culture and Identity in the Columbia River Basin, 1850-1950

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students explore cultural history of immigrant groups that settled in the Columbia River Basin from 1850 to World War II, and examine various primary sources to explore role cultural and social customs played in keeping alive immigrant...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Coming of Age Readings: Experiences in Korea and by Asians in America

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Bring multi-cultural experiences and literature into your language arts class with this lesson. Here, young readers explore the points of view of first and second-generation Asian immigrants with a list of various fiction and nonfiction...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

In the Future we will all be Mixed Bloods and Mestizoes

For Teachers 7th - 9th
Students examine the concept of origin and ethnicity. In this ethnic studies lesson plan, students engage in a variety of interdisciplinary activities including posters, and discussions to better understand our past and future.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Changing Places

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students examine the experiences of immigrants coming to America from China. They create cultural profiles for themselves and others. They identify the reasons why people immigrate to another country.