Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Immigrants Welcome?

For Teachers 9th
Ninth graders examine the world after the end of World War II. In groups, they complete a Naturalization Review Board activity and discuss how immigrants changed the United States. As a class, they discover how the immigration policies...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Immigration to the United States

For Teachers 1st - 3rd
Students work together as a class to create a videotape examining their different family histories. They interview their families about their experiences immigrating to America. They draw illustrations of their family to be included on...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Nationalism and Immigration

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students use the internet to research how immigration patterns changed after 1880. Using this information, they create a pie chart to organize it effectively and discuss how immigration changed Europe and the United States. They also...
Lesson Plan
Constitutional Rights Foundation

Refugees From Vietnam and Cambodia

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
The United States may have pulled its troops from the Vietnam War in 1973, but the conflict was far from over for the citizens living in Asia at the time. An informative resource lets learners know about the wave of over 220,000...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Assembling a Story

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students observe, discuss, and interpret Radcliffe Bailey's work, By the River. They create personal narratives of people who came to the U.S. during the 18th or 19th century.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Editorial Cartoons: A Historical Example of Immigration Debates

For Teachers 11th
Eleventh graders analyze political cartoons.  In this American History lesson, 11th graders research the Chinese Exclusion Act and the current arguments about immigration to the United States.  Students create a graphic...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The American Mosaic

For Teachers 11th - 12th
Students discuss what it would be like to be new to a town. They are then asked questions related to the immigrants coming to America. Extensions of this lesson are available.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Analyzing Oregon’s Population Changes

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Students examine immigration. In this Oregon history lesson, students compare and contrast the population patterns of the state in the 1800's and the 1900's.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Ellis Island: The "Golden Door" to America

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students write a narrative from the perspective of an immigration inspector or European immigrant. In this Immigration lesson, students read an online history of Ellis Island and evaluate its significance by writing answers to discussion...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Eerie Canal

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Learners discover bodies of water in the United States by investigating the Eerie Canal.  In this U.S. Geography lesson, students discuss Lake Eerie and the canal that was built in order to transport goods.  Learners research...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Defining moments from the past with lessons for a post-9/11 world...

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Learners examine extension ideas concerning 9/11, Defining Moments. They analyze a variety of Supreme Court cases, the U.S. Constitution, Mass Media Interpretations, Racism, Immigrant groups and U.S. geography. Many questions are asked...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Immigrant Role-Playing

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Learners role-play as immigrants coming to America during the early 1900's. They conduct Internet research printing out pictures and reading biographies. Students use the information gathered to create scrapbooks in which the write...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

19th Century Immigration.

For Teachers 11th
Eleventh graders analyze primary source cartoons depicting discrimination against immigrants. They study the historical relationship Dominican Republic has had with the United States. They assess how this relationship is linked to...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Debate over Guest Workers Programs

For Teachers 11th
Eleventh graders examine various immigrant stories.  In this American History activity, 11th graders discuss the different proposals for the guest-worker programs.  Students debate this system as a whole class. 
Lesson Plan
Advocates for Human Rights

Migrants in the Media

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
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.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

History Lesson 10: Plyler v. Doe: Can States Deny Public Benefits to Illegal Immigrants?

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students consider the rights of illegal immigrants. In this illegal immigration lesson, students analyze the Supreme Court case Plyler v. Doe and determine whether illegal immigrants should have access to public benefits. Students...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Trails of Understanding: The Earliest Immigrants

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students research Native American tribes. For this human migration lesson, students determine how tribes lived and established cultures. Students create PowerPoint presentations that feature their findings.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Learning from Photos

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students use photographs to study the Bracero Labor Program. In this analyzing photographs lesson, students are broken up into groups and given a photograph of Bracero laborers. They predict the answers to questions about the photo...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

America: The Land of Career Opportunity

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students study, discuss, and analyze why people have emigrated to America. They watch The New Americans and research immigration in the U.S.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

"Exploring U.S. Motives Behind WWII Imprisonment and Deportation of German, Japanese, and Italian Latin Americans"

For Teachers 8th - 9th
Students research and examine the secret Special War Problems Division program in Latin America and discuss the impact of the program on civil and human rights. They assess the motives for the program and explore various quotes from that...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Refugees from the Caribbean: Cuban and Haiti "Boat People"

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students investigate the plight of Cuban and Haitian refugees. In this refugee lesson, students discover the history of "boat people" and U.S. policies regarding refugees. Students role play presidential advisers that must recommend new...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

My Name is Osama - Bullying and Name-Calling

For Teachers 3rd - 12th
Students read the story of an Iraqi immigrant boy named Osama who faces taunts of terrorist in his U.S. school after the attack of September 11. They discuss the characters and their struggles in the story. Students respond to...
Lesson Plan
Constitutional Rights Foundation

Refugees from the Caribbean: Cuban and Haitian “Boat People”

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
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...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Japaneses Internment: Lesson 1 of 4: Chronological Events Leading to Internment

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students examine facts about history of the Asians experience in America and identify patterns of Asian immigration in the United States. Students develop reasons specific Asian ethnic groups migrated to the United States and predict...