Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media
Immigration: Why Come to the United States?
Don't limit your curriculum to texts! Young historians listen to a song, read an interview, and examine a cartoon as they explore motivations for immigrating to the US in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Unauthorized Immigration and the US Economy
As part of a study of immigration and the U.S. economy, class members assume the role of newspaper editors to determine which submitted letters to print on their paper's editorial page to present a balanced view of the debate.
K12 Reader
Discrimination Against Gold Rush Immigrants
Immigration to the US has been a topic of discussion for many years. Inform your class about discrimination against immigrants during the Gold Rush with a short reading passage. After reading, class members answer five questions related...
Curated OER
The Poetry of Chinese Immigration
Numerous people from China immigrated to the US during the era of industrialization and expansion. Provide your class with a glimpse into the life of a Chinese immigrant through the poetry they left behind. They then compose a poem of...
Northeast Georgia Regional Educational Service Agency
Who Were the Tired, the Poor, the Huddled Masses Yearning to Breathe Free?
Elvira Woodruff's The Orphan of Ellis Island: A Time Travel Adventure is the core text in a interdisciplinary unit study of immigration at the turn of the century.
Advocates for Human Rights
The Rights of Immigrants in the United States
Based on their understanding of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Rights of Migrants in the United States, groups adopt a human rights perspective and analyze media reports to evaluate how the US is addressing the...
Museum of Tolerance
Disenfranchised People of the New Nation
Why are some immigrant groups in the United States embraced while others become disenfranchised? To answer this question, teams investigate why groups emigrated to the US, why some of these these peoples were...
Curated OER
Immigration Illumination Project Curriculum Materials
Gain an understanding of the complex topic of immigration with a collection of resources. Class members engage in a series of activities designed to give them insight into the factors that influence immigration policies and the effects...
Advocates for Human Rights
U.S. Immigration Policy
The United States Immigration Policy is incredibly complex. To gain a deeper understanding of the criteria, quotas, preferences, and categories of immigrants admitted to the US, class members engage in a role playing activity that...
Curated OER
The Diversity of Filipinos in the United States
ELLs are introduced to the experiences of Filipino immigrants to the United States. As a class, they discuss the various waves of immigration to the United States and state the reasons why they would leave the Philippines. They compare...
Core Knowledge Foundation
Volume 2 - A History of the United States: Modern Times—Late 1800s to the 2000s
The second volume of the Core Knowledge History of the United States ebook begins by asking young scholars to consider the impact immigration, industrialization, and urbanization had on the United States in the late 1800s. The text ends...
Curated OER
Coming to America
Through this set of three lessons about Ellis Island, class members will learn about why immigrants came to the United States, find out about the difficulties that went along with coming to America, become familiar with the immigration...
NPR
Is There Really an Immigration Line?
If you've ever looked at the US immigration system, you know that it is complex and a source of controversy. An insightful lesson plan encourages learners to conduct their own analyses of the US immigration system by asking them to...
University of Southern California
Coming to America After the War
As part of their exploration of the American dream, class members examine primary source materials to compare immigrant experiences of those arriving early in our country's history to those arriving in the US after World War...
ProCon
Illegal Immigration
Should immigrants who illegally reside in the United States be eligible for citizenship? With information about undocumented immigrant population estimates, sanctuary cities, and unaccompanied immigrant children, pupils consider the pros...
Advocates for Human Rights
A Global Perspective on Immigration
To gain a global perspective on immigration, groups investigate and create a map of the migration patterns in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East. Class members then examine the background, immigration history, and...
Advocates for Human Rights
Migrants in the Media
Class members examine two documents—The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and The Rights of Migrants in the United States—and then use reports in the media to assess how well the US is doing in ensuring these rights.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Albert Sabin and Bioethics: Testing at the Chillicothe Federal Reformatory
Do the ends justify the means? Getting a drug approved in the US is a long and involved process. But at some point out, it involves testing on humans. The ethics of such testing is the focus of a resource that uses Dr. Albert...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Refugees from the Caribbean: Cuban and Haitian “Boat People”
Should refugees fleeing poverty be allowed the same entrance into the United States as those fleeing persecution? High schoolers read about US foreign policy in the late 20th century regarding refugees from Cuba and Haiti, and engage in...
Advocates for Human Rights
Civic Engagement and U.S. Immigration Policy
To conclude their study of immigration and human rights, class members create a civic engagement project centered on an issue of immigration and designed to influence US immigration policy. They examine examples of attempts to...
NPR
Exploring the American Dream
What is the American Dream? When did this term first gain popularity? Intermediate and advanced English language learners discuss the idea of the American Dream and conduct out-of-class interviews with those who immigrated to the US. On...
NPR
The History of America’s Weed Laws
To understand the laws regarding marijuana use in the United States, you can go all the way back to the 1800's to learn about farming hemp, or you can go back to 2018 when California became the sixth state to legalize recreational...
Teaching Tolerance
Changing Demographics: What Can We Do to Promote Respect?
America has always been seen as a melting pot to the world. Scholars research the concept of blending cultures in the United States and how it is changing over time. The final instructional activity of a four-part series analyzes the...
DocsTeach
Exploring America's Diversity: Motel Garber (Beginner)
Young detectives delve into the past in an exciting series exploring immigration. The activity uses primary sources to teach elementary scholars historical analysis. Academics read records to understand the life of Motel Garber, from...