American Immigration Past and Present

How do you describe the American Dream? What motivates others to immigrate to the United States, and why do some groups have trouble attaining the American Dream? Your learners will consider these questions as they explore figurative...

In an engaging simulation, class members imagine immigrating to the United States in the late nineteenth-century and arriving at Ellis Island. They then write creative journal entries about their experience and chart their journeys.

The Statue of Liberty may embrace the huddled masses of the world, but has American society always joined in? After young historians read a passage about the history of American immigration in the 19th and 20th centuries, focusing on...

A comprehensive look at the prohibition debate through the lens of immigration gives scholars intriguing material for a debate and essay of their own. They watch four video clips (find these on the PBS website), discussing issues in...

Prompted by a viewing of Emiko and Chizu Omori’s Rabbit in the Moon, a documentary about the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II, high schoolers examine a series of documents, including the Bill of Rights and the UN’s...

What do Jerry Yang, Patrick Ewing, John Muir, Charlize Theron, Peter Jennings, and Saint Frances X Cabrini all have in common? They are all immigrants to the United States. Famous and not-so-famous immigrants are the focus of a resource...

Take a closer look at America's shift toward a primarily urban population and into the world's largest industrial power in the early twentieth century. This video reviews the demographics of the first major waves of immigration into the...

Students study the American immigration experience. In this Ellis Island lesson, students research primary documents from the immigration station, take a tour of the station, and then prepare and perform dramatic presentations based on...

Eleventh graders identify the positive/negative effects of the Industrial Revolution of the United States. Evaluate the outcome of the Industrial Revolution of the US. Compare the industrializations and immigration of the early 20th...