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Interactive
DocsTeach

Exploring America's Diversity: Miguel Miñan (Beginner)

For Teachers 4th - 10th
Many have traveled from around the globe searching for the American dream. Scholars research the life Miguel Miñan, an immigrant from Brazil, using ship and census records. The activity focuses on American diversity and highlights the...
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Interactive
DocsTeach

Exploring America's Diversity: Gertrud Danneberg (Beginner)

For Teachers 4th - 10th
Everyone is an immigrant in their own way. Young scholars read historic documents to understand one woman's journey from Germany to the United States. The activity uses a mixture of text, discussion, and written prompts to help...
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Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

The Immigrant Experience

For Teachers 4th - 6th Standards
The Buttonhook by Mary Jo Salter is the focus of a unit that explores the immigration experience to Ellis Island. First, scholars bring in an artifact that represents their heritage. A group-exercise allows them to share and discuss...
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Lesson Plan
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Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation

Culminating Writing Project - Reporting on Angel Island

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
The unit study of Angel Island Immigration Station concludes with scholars using information from the previous lessons to craft a news story about the Angel Island program.
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Lesson Plan
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Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation

Making Your Mark: Free Verse Poetry

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Using the insight they have gained into the experiences of detainees at the Angel Island Immigration Station, young poets create their own free verse poems that they feel captures what it may have felt like to be an immigrant interned on...
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Lesson Plan
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Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation

How Do Pictures Tell the Story of Angel Island?

For Teachers 3rd - 12th Standards
Young historians learn more about the history of Angel Island Immigration Station through their analysis of primary source images. Guided by a list of inferential questions, scholars learn how to make and record observations on a...
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Lesson Plan
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Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation

Moving to the Poems of Angel Island

For Teachers 3rd - 6th Standards
A poem carved on Angel Island's walls is the guiding text of a instructional activity that challenges scholars to put movement into a written piece of art. After warm up-activities, learners play a game of "Pass the Clap" and "Pass the...
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Lesson Plan
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Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation

Immigration Case File Investigation

For Teachers 5th - 12th
Case files for Angel Island immigrants are kept at the regional archives in San Bruno, California. Groups study one such case file to understand the life histories and different experiences of the internees and then report out their...
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Lesson Plan
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Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation

Exploring Oral Histories of Angel Island Immigrants

For Teachers 5th - 12th
Empowered by the previous lesson where they interviewed a family or community member, young historians examine Angel Island immigrants' oral histories. They use a matrix to record their interpretation of the feelings of the immigrant....
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Lesson Plan
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Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation

Exclusion "Act"ivity

For Teachers 3rd - 5th Standards
Two simulations highlight the feelings individuals experienced when immigrating to Angel Island. During the first simulation, scholars listen to and answer questions, divided based on their answers. The second simulation pins learners as...
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Lesson Plan
1
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Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation

Film Screening: Carved in Silence

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Director Felicia Lowe's film Carved in Silence splices together re-enactments, interviews, and actual film footage to tell Angel Island Immigration Station's story. Viewers use a film matrix to record new information they learned from...
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Lesson Plan
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Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation

Leaving Home Forever: What Would You Put In Your Suitcase?

For Teachers 3rd - 8th Standards
Scholars put themselves in an immigrant's shoes to decide what items they would take on their journey to a new home. Learners read primary sources, take part in a whole-class discussion, and make a list that they share with their peers,...
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Lesson Plan
1
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Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation

Conditions in China: Why Might One Leave Home Forever?

For Teachers 4th - 8th Standards
Primary source texts provide scholars with the background information they need to understand why Chinese peasant farmers were driven to emigrate. After underlining keywords, phrases, and/or lines in the texts, individuals craft a...
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Lesson Plan
1
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Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation

The Chinese Exclusion Act

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
As part of a study of Angel Island Immigration Station, young historians examine the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, the first restriction on the United States immigration based on race and nationality. They complete a matrix identifying...
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Lesson Plan
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Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation

Where Is Angel Island? An Introductory Geography Lesson

For Teachers 4th - 8th Standards
Prepare young historians for a study of Angel Island Immigration Station with a lesson examining primary and secondary source materials, maps, and websites. Using what they have learned, individuals create a map of Angel Island, labeling...
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Interactive
DocsTeach

The SS Quanza and European War Refugees

For Teachers 8th - 12th
World War II not only resulted in major loss of life, but it also displaced thousands of people. An eye-opening activity uses primary documents to explore the refugee crisis during World War II. Scholars compare the event to modern-day...
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Interactive
DocsTeach

U.S. Policy and the Holocaust Refugee Crisis

For Teachers 10th - 12th
How did the United States respond to the Holocaust refugee crisis during World War II? The activity focuses on the United States' foreign policies and the arguments for and against offering assistance. Scholars analyze historical...
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Interactive
DocsTeach

Analyzing a Writing Assignment by a Teenage Refugee in New York During World War II

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Young historians delve into the world of teenage refugees during WWII to understand their experiences. The activity focuses on a writing assignment from a teen staying at a US refugee camp to explore the struggles they faced, such as...
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Interactive
DocsTeach

Analyzing Einstein's Citizenship Application

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Albert Einstein contributed greatly to America's history, but he wasn't always a citizen. An engaging activity analyzes Einstein's citizenship application to understand the process of immigration and how it impacts those trying to reach...
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Lesson Plan
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Facing History and Ourselves

Public Art as a Form of Participation

For Teachers 6th - 12th
David Binnington's mural commemorating the 1936 Battle of Cable Street is the focus of a lesson that looks at public art as a form of civic participation. After reading background material about the mural, individuals analyze a segment...
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Activity
US Department of Commerce

Immigration Nation

For Teachers 3rd - 5th Standards
People come and people go. Given tabular census data on the annual number of immigrants from four different regions of the world between 2000 and 2010, pupils create double bar graphs and line graphs from the data. They analyze their...
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Lesson Plan
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Teaching Tolerance

Using Photographs to Teach Social Justice | Exposing Anti-Immigration Sentiment

For Teachers 6th - 12th
The debate about immigration reform continues. To gain a deeper understanding of the issues involved, class members first examine a photo of an anti-immigration rally. Groups then conduct an internet search for an image that presents an...
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Lesson Plan
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Teaching Tolerance

Using Photographs to Teach Social Justice | Exploring Identity

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Even without captions, photographs can tell amazing, involved, and complex stories. Viewers analyze two photos, consider what the pictures reveal about the subjects' identity, and determine the social justice issues represented in the...
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Lesson Plan
Stanford University

Chinese Immigration and Exclusion

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
The Chinese Exclusion Act was the first race-based restriction on immigration in American history. Why was the act passed after Chinese immigrants helped build the Transcontinental Railroad? A series of documents, including speeches and...