Students complete a unit about the history and geography of the Dominican Republic and the reasons for Dominican immigration to the U.S. in the 1960's. They conduct Internet research, write a biographical sketch of Raphael Trujillo, and...

Joris Debeij's film, Making It in America, takes a look at Alma Velasco, a Salvadoran immigrant who was granted political asylum in the United States. The lesson gives a face to immigrants and their struggles to embrace the...

Young social historians examine immigration debates of the early 20th century through primary sources, such as political cartoons. They analyze the material, discuss their findings, and complete a critical thinking worksheet. All...

Poems carved into the wooden walls of the Asian immigrant prisons on Angel Island provide upper elementary graders an opportunity to study not only the story behind the poems but to also focus on the figurative language employed by the...

After a grand conversation about immigration to the United States, scholars interview a family member to learn about their journey to America. They then take their new-found knowledge and apply their findings to tracking their family...

Students research the challenges of immigration from countries around the world. Students view the movie El Norte. They discuss current events related to immigration. They present information on well known Hispanic immigrants and their...

After observing a map of trails that settlers took in the 1800s, your class will write a journal with the perspective of a settler. In their journals, they must describe the trail they traveled, geographical features they saw, states and...

While every family's immigration story is unique, patterns emerge when looking at individual narratives. Using clips from the PBS video series, "Latino Americans," learners look at commonalities among immigrant experiences. A chart helps...

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...

The Chinese Exclusion Act—the first race-based immigration restriction—is echoed in today's debates on the topic. Using graphic organizers and structured discussions, historians consider the reasons behind the act and compare the...

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...

Current immigration issues and the rhetoric surrounding the controversies come into focus with a lesson that uses Richard Blanco's anthem, "The U.S. of Us," written after the August 2019 attack in El Paso, Texas, to open a discussion of...

The Pilgrims may have arrived in North America by way of the Mayflower, but chances are, your class members' ancestors came to the United States in another way. Guide them through an exploration of their own heritage, countries of...

Students examine the experiences of an immigrant coming to the United States. Using the internet, they research information related to the Cuban/American baseball experience. They present their findings to the class and answer any...

Students examine the reasons why people immigrated to the United States. Using maps and charts, they analyze population movements and religious affiliations. They discover how the United States became a lesser Protestant country.

Students research immigration from Europe to the United States. In this immigration lesson, students read the book, The Long Way to a New Land. Students use a world map to locate Sweden and other countries in Europe. Students pretend...

Students explore the connection between World War II and Jewish immigration to Israel after the War.  In this World History lesson, students discuss the details of what it might have been like to live through the Holocaust. ...

The tradition of the First Thanksgiving is really a story of immigration. Connect the feelings and customs of the early Pilgrims to the experiences of the immigrants in your class with an introduction to the 13 colonies, the Mayflower,...

Immigration issues are nothing new. An interesting lesson focuses on the racially motivated Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and its impact on the Chinese American community. Scholars read articles, analyze political cartoons, and...

Eleventh graders understand push-pull factor in Asian Amencan immigration. They identify patterns of Asian immigration to the United States and recognize their correlation to the concurrent socio-economic and political conditions of that...

Mexican Repatriation: the forgotten deportation of American citizens. The resource focuses on the deportation of Mexican American citizens during the Great Depression. Young historians read documents, complete a free-write, and fill out...

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...

Students, in groups, create a student book for an assigned group of immigrants to the Colonial United States (Huguenots, Scots, Irish, Africans.) They create drawings for the book and rhyming text that depicts three struggles that...

Young scholars study patriotic symbols of America. In this American history instructional activity, students construct a KWL chart on United States symbols and examine visuals of the Great Seal and bald eagle. Young scholars create...