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Lesson Plan
US National Archives

Docsteach: Immigration to America: Stories and Travels

For Teachers 9th - 10th
This activity asks students to match documents to individuals based on the reasons these people came to and were living in the United States. The photographs and documents are attached to government forms in some of the millions of...
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Article
Migration Policy Institute

Migration Policy Institute: Fundamentals: Political Importance of Diasporas

For Students 9th - 10th
This web article, "The Political Importance of Diasporas," explains the meaning and origin of the word "Diasporas," then goes on to explore the different ways diasporas have political influence: through remittances sent to the home...
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Lesson Plan
PBS

Wnet: Thirteen: Yearning to Breathe Free: Muckrakers and Activism [Pdf]

For Teachers 9th - 10th
A lesson plan from the producers of the 16-episode PBS series "Freedom: A History of US" that leads learners through an examination of the role of muckrakers in the development of investigative journalism. Young scholars work to identify...
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Handout
Other

Canada's Immigration Museum: Fun Facts: Pier 21

For Students 3rd - 8th
Did you know that one in five Canadians have a connection to Pier 21? This is just one of the nine interesting facts you will learn about this important part of the Canadian immigrant experience.
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Lesson Plan
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: Lesson 50: Using Music to Teach Personal Narrative

For Teachers 9th - 10th
The personal narrative, apart from appearing as an option in the writing component of many state assessment tests, is a form of writing which allows students the chance to reflect seriously and honestly on important events in their own...
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Website
Other

Tenement Museum: New York Tenement Museum

For Students 9th - 10th
From the online home of the museum, take a virtual tour of the restored apartments in a tenement building located at 97 Orchard Street in New York's Lower East Side. Learn about the lives of actual past residents and experience what life...
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Unit Plan
CommonLit

Common Lit: Amphibians

For Students 5th - 6th Standards
CommonLit.org is a wonderful resource to use in a Language Arts classroom. Each story or article is accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. In addition, students can click on words to see...
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Handout
The History Cat

The History Cat: Ellis Island

For Students 9th - 10th
Tells the story of Ellis Island, the first stop for immigrants arriving in New York City beginning in 1890. Describes the process would-be immigrants to America had to go through before being allowed to board a trans-Atlantic ship, the...
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Article
Immigration and Ethnic History Society

Iehs: Veronika Doll, "A Lesson I Have Learned From a Witness"

For Students 9th - 10th
This article focuses on the author's research to learn about the Czechoslovakian immigrant family through the daughter who was willing to freely discuss her parents experiences, but not her own story. Years later, she spent time as a...
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Article
Immigration and Ethnic History Society

Iehs: Elizabeth Venditto, New Immigrant Storytelling Tools for Challenging Times

For Students 9th - 10th
This article focuses on "Immigrant Stories" which has enabled wide participation by giving individuals complete control over their stories and defining "immigrant" broadly. It teaches anyone, including students, to make a digital story...
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Article
Immigration and Ethnic History Society

Iehs: Damian Shiels, "Transatlantic Obligations: Immigrant Remittance Networks"

For Students 9th - 10th
This article focuses on immigrants to America having to send money back to their home country to the relatives left behind. It offers several examples including Irish immigrants. An estimated $260 million was remitted to Ireland from...
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Article
Immigration and Ethnic History Society

Iehs: Judy Ridner, How to Teach the History of the Scots Irish in Pennsylvania

For Students 9th - 10th
This is an article about the stereotypes of the Scots Irish in early Pennsylvania. The author discusses her book "The Scots Irish of Early Pennsylvania" which challenges these stereotypes.
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Article
Immigration and Ethnic History Society

Iehs: Stepan Serdiukov, Remembering the Old Neighborhood in Chicago

For Students 9th - 10th
This article focuses on the oral histories of Polish immigrants in Chicago. The Chicago History Museum's Polish American oral history archive started in 1976 under the Ethnic Heritage Studies Program Act. Researchers recorded 140...
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Article
Immigration and Ethnic History Society

Iehs: Asher Lubotzky, We Become the Scape Goat: African Voices at Indiana Univ.

For Students 9th - 10th
This article focuses on Indiana University's (IU) transformation in terms of its foreign student population. From 1950 to 1977, IU transformed itself from an "All-American school" into an international hub. It provides two short stories...
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Article
Immigration and Ethnic History Society

Iehs: Evan Turiano, Teaching Fiction in Immigration History

For Students 9th - 10th
This article focuses on using fiction to teach immigration history. Including fiction like Atticus Lish's 2015 novel, "Preparation for the Next Life" can meaningfully enrich a history seminar. A critical analysis of the novel introduces...
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Unit Plan
CommonLit

Common Lit: Book Pairings: "Inside Out & Back Again" by Thanhha Lai

For Students 5th - 8th
In this novel based on her life, Ha and her family are living in Saigon when the Vietnam war forces her family to flee to Alabama. Selected (6) reading passages (grades 5-8) to pair with "Inside Out & Back Again" by Thanhha Lai....
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Lesson Plan
PBS

Now With Bill Moyers: Starting From Behind

For Teachers 9th - 10th
A lesson plan that helps students examine the immigrant experience from an adolescent's point of view by exploring how the American dream motivates students to succeed.
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Handout
Chicago History Museum

Encyclopedia of Chicago: Tenements

For Students 9th - 10th
An encyclopedia entry about tenements that focuses on the housing situation of poor immigrants in late nineteenth-century and early twentieth-century Chicago. Includes information about early efforts to improve public housing in the city.
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Interactive
New York Times

New York Times: Crossword Puzzle: Immigration

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Here is an interactive & printable crossword puzzle developed by the New York Times Learning Network. The theme of this puzzle is Immigration.
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Unknown Type
EL Education

El Education: More Voices of u.s.

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students interview people who have immigrated from other countries as well as the countries these people immigrated from. Then students write stories based on the information gathered and compile the stories into a book illustrated with...
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Graphic
Curated OER

Farmer Standing With His Oxen in a Field, Smuts, Saskatchewan, 1912

For Students 9th - 10th
Immigration and the Canadian experience are portrayed by Library and Archives Canada through the eyes of photographs. Presented are images of of immigrant Canadians who helped to build the Canadian ideal of multiculturalism and the...
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Graphic
Curated OER

Group at Ukrainian Wedding Posed in Front of a House With a Thatched Roof, 1911

For Students 9th - 10th
Immigration and the Canadian experience are portrayed by Library and Archives Canada through the eyes of photographs. Presented are images of of immigrant Canadians who helped to build the Canadian ideal of multiculturalism and the...
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Graphic
Curated OER

Seven Armenian Boys Standing Before a Grove of Trees, Georgetown, Ontario, 1925

For Students 9th - 10th
Immigration and the Canadian experience are portrayed by Library and Archives Canada through the eyes of photographs. Presented are images of of immigrant Canadians who helped to build the Canadian ideal of multiculturalism and the...
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Graphic
Curated OER

Japanese Girls Standing in Front of a Fence and a Tree, Letellier, Manitoba

For Students 9th - 10th
Immigration and the Canadian experience are portrayed by Library and Archives Canada through the eyes of photographs. Presented are images of of immigrant Canadians who helped to build the Canadian ideal of multiculturalism and the...