In this unit students explore immigration by reading a series of narrative nonfiction and fiction texts that highlight the experiences of early and recent immigrants.
As part of the upgrade to Fishtank Plus, this unit was revised in November 2020. Some texts, materials, and questions may have changed as part of the revision. If you are looking for the 2018-2019 version of this unit, visit our archives.
In this unit, students explore immigration by reading a combination of informational nonfiction, narrative nonfiction, and fiction texts that highlight the experiences of early and recent immigrants. In the first bend of the unit, students are pushed to notice and think about the different reasons people choose to leave their homes and settle in a new community or country. They will also learn about—historically and in the present day—who is allowed to come to the United States and wrestle with whether or not the system is fair.
In the second bend, students will be pushed to think about the different memories, cultural traits, goods, ideas, languages, and skills that individuals and families bring with them when they move to a new place and how these characteristics enrich the community. While students are exposed to a wide variety of immigrant experiences over the course of the unit, not every experience or feeling about immigration is captured in this unit. Because students might be first- or second-generation immigrants, it is crucial to be sensitive to and respect the varying experiences and feelings of students and families. It is our hope that this unit, in connection with others, will help students build sensitivity and empathy for varying cultures and experiences within the United States.
Some of the links below are Amazon affiliate links. This means that if you click and make a purchase, we receive a small portion of the proceeds, which supports our non-profit mission.
Book: Coming to America: The Story of Immigration by Betsy Maestro (Scholastic Press, 1996) — 780L
Book: Brothers in Hope: The Story of the Lost Boys of Sudan by Mary Williams (Lee & Low Books, 2005) — 610L
Book: Islandborn by Junot Díaz (Dial Books, 2018)
Book: My Diary from Here to There by Amada Irma Pérez (Children's Book Press, 2009) — 780L
Book: The Storyteller's Candle by Lucia Gonzalez (Lee & Low Books Inc., 2012) — 730L
Book: Xochitl and the Flowers by Jorge Argueta (Children's Book Press, 2008)
Book: Ellis Island (National Geographic Readers) by Elizabeth Carney (National Geographic Kids, 2016) — 800L
Book: Gittel’s Journey: An Ellis Island Story by Lesléa Newman and Amy June Bates (Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2019) — 700L
Book: Landed by Milly Lee (Farrar, Strauss, & Giroux, 2006) — 790L
Book: La Frontera: El Viaje Con Papa/My Journey with Papa by Deborah Mills, Alfredo Alva, and Claudia Navarro (Barefoot Books, 2018) — 730L
Book: The Arabic Quilt: An Immigrant Story by Aya Khalil (Tillbury House, 2020) — 710L
Video: “Angel Island Immigration Station Tour - AIISF” by JJMediaLabs (YouTube)
Video: “Discovering Angel Island: The Story Behind the Poems” by KQED (YouTube)
See Text Selection Rationale
This assessment accompanies this unit and should be given on the suggested assessment day or after completing the unit.
?
This unit is one of the only units in the science and social studies sequence where the majority of texts are Read Aloud to students. Therefore, the focus of this unit is on modeling reading aloud with prosody. This involves reading with expression, timing, phrasing, emphasis, and intonation in a way that supports comprehension and meaning-making. In later units and during independent reading, students will have multiple opportunities to practice fluent reading in grade-level texts.
?
At this point in the year, students have mastered writing complete sentences and have also learned how to use the conjunctions "because," "but," and "so" to make their sentences more interesting. In this unit, they will learn how to combine, or put together, two or more sentences so that their writing is clear and interesting for their readers.
In Units 1 and 2, students generated evidence and brainstormed strong topic sentences that are supported by this evidence. In this unit, students will practice using strong evidence to support an opinion. Rather than adding every single fact as evidence, students will weigh which is most important and why.
?
"chimed in" "word got around" admit amnesty appeal ashamed authorities begged bitter bilingual border citizen clenching compass collage defeat descendant denied deported dreading dreadful examine familiar flourish forsaken green card hardship hastily humiliation identification card immigrant interpreter interrogation limit merchant nursery official opportunities poverty provide regulate refugee reunite relief settle/settler speechless steerage stern steamship stealthy unite
-ful -less de- in- re-
?
Coming to America pp. 1 – 18
RI.2.3
Describe different reasons people chose to settle in the Americas by identifying and explaining the connection between historical events and ideas.
Coming to America pp. 18 – 30
RI.2.3
RI.2.7
Describe what happened at Ellis Island by identifying and explaining the connection between historical events.
Writing
Coming to America
L.2.1.d
L.2.1.f
Explain why the United States is called “a nation of immigrants” by writing simple sentences in the past tense.
Ellis Island pp. 4 – 11
RI.2.7
Explain how the author uses images and diagrams to help a reader better understand early immigration by explaining how specific images contribute to or clarify understanding of a text.
Ellis Island — Pages 16-23, 26-28
RI.2.7
Describe how the author uses photographs to help a reader better understand life on Ellis Island by explaining how specific images contribute to and clarify understanding of a text.
Gittel's Journey pp. 1 – 20
RL.2.2
RI.2.3
Describe the challenges Gittel faced when immigrating to the United States by identifying key details in the text.
Gittel's Journey pp. 21 – 36
RI.2.6
Identify the main purpose of the text and infer what the author is trying to explain or describe.
“Discovering Angel Island” — (0:00-6:32)
“Angel Island...”
RI.2.3
Describe what life was like on Angel Island using details from the video.
Landed — Pages 1-4, 12, 15-24
RI.2.3
RI.2.7
Explain why Sun can only use his memory to get to America by recalling key details and events from the text.
Landed pp. 25 – 35
RI.2.6
Identify the main purpose of the text and infer what the author is trying to explain or describe.
Landed
Gittel's Journey
L.2.1.f
Make sentences better and more interesting by combining two or more sentences.
Brothers in Hope pp. 1 – 20
RI.2.3
RI.2.8
Describe the dangers and hardships the Lost Boys faced by describing reasons an author uses to support points in a text.
Brothers in Hope p. 21 — to end
RI.2.3
RI.2.8
Explain what life was like for the Lost Boys in the refugee camp and how life would be different in the United States by identifying and describing reasons an author uses to support points in a text.
Islandborn pp. 1 – 22
RI.2.7
RI.2.8
Describe the memories the people from the Island bring with them when they moved by describing how reasons support particular points.
Islandborn p. 23 — to end
RI.2.6
Identify the main purpose of the text and infer what the author is trying to explain or describe.
My Diary from Here to There pp. 1 – 21
RI.2.3
RI.2.8
Describe the challenges Amada and her family face when trying to get to the United States and how they feel about the different challenges by drawing conclusions about characters and character feelings.
My Diary from Here to There p. 22 — to end
RI.2.6
Identify the main purpose of the text and infer what the author is trying to explain or describe.
La Frontera pp. 1 – 24
RI.2.3
RI.2.8
Describe the challenges Alfredo and his Papa face when trying to get to the United States and how they feel about the different challenges by drawing conclusions about characters and character feelings.
La Frontera p. 25 — to end
RI.2.6
Identify the main purpose of the text and infer what the author is trying to explain or describe.
3 days
Writing
W.2.1
SL.2.2
SL.2.4
SL.2.6
L.2.2.b
L.2.6
Interview a family member, neighbor, friend, or school staff member. Write a letter to the person explaining what you learned from them and why you admire them.
3 days
All unit texts
W.2.1
W.2.5
SL.2.1
SL.2.2
L.2.1.d
L.2.2.b
L.2.6
Discuss the different reasons people choose to immigrate and settle in a new community.
Write a letter to a child whose family is about to immigrate and settle in a new community by stating an opinion and supplying supporting reasons.
The Storyteller's Candle pp. 1 – 15
RL.2.3
Describe how Hildamar and Santiago’s feelings about living in El Barrio began to change by drawing conclusions about characters and character feelings.
The Storyteller's Candle p. 16 — to end
RI.2.3
RI.2.6
Explain what the author is trying to describe or explain about immigration by identifying and explaining how the Three Kings Day celebration brought the community together.
Xochitl and the Flowers pp. 1 – 19
RI.2.3
RI.2.8
Describe how and why Xochitl and her family bring El Salvador to California by describing key details and events from the text.
Xochitl and the Flowers p. 20 — to end
RI.2.3
RI.2.6
Explain what the author is trying to teach a reader about immigration by identifying and explaining the main purpose of a text.
The Arabic Quilt pp. 1 – 14
RI.2.3
RI.2.8
Describe the confusing feelings some immigrants have when they immigrate to a new country by identifying character actions, dialogue, and feelings.
The Arabic Quilt p. 15 — to end
RI.2.6
Explain what the author is trying to teach a reader about immigration by identifying and explaining the main purpose of a text.
4 days
Project
W.2.2
SL.2.2
SL.2.4
SL.2.6
L.2.6
Research a culture that is represented in your class or community. Create a presentation to teach others about the culture.
4 days
Writing
All unit texts
W.2.1
SL.2.1
SL.2.6
L.2.1.d
L.2.2.a
L.2.2.b
Defend how immigrants enrich a community. Write a letter that explains how immigrants can enrich the community.
?