LaShante A. James
I have included three lesson plans that demonstrate how to facilitate the development of meaningful connections to texts, as well as analyzing the immigrant or migrant experience. Through these lessons, students should focus on the theme of Growing Up in Urban America, and look to answer the question: "How am I a product of my environment?"
Examining the Immigrant Experience: Comparing Riis, Nasaw and
Yezierska
These three texts all explore life at the turn of 19
th
century New York City slums. Each provide vivid images through text and photo of the immigrant experience, and provide the students an opportunity to formulate comparison across texts, and to themselves. These works force students to reflect on how these conditions were created, and how these conditions compare to today's urban environment.
Objective: Students will be able to analyze the immigrant experience by examining photographs, work in cooperative groups to analyze immigrant experiences by scrutinizing photographs, and establish personal connections with readings and photos.
Materials
- Selected photos from Riis'
How the Other Half Lives
- Excerpt Chapter I of Yezierska's
Bread Givers
- Excerpt Chapter II of Nasaw's
Children of the City
- Photo Analysis Questions
- Extended Reader Response Questions
Procedure
1. Using a method of your preference, divide students into working groups. Explain the students that they will work together to answer the questions about the photos they will receive.
2. Each group should receive a different photograph from Jacob Riis'
How the Other Half Lives
and the Photo Analysis Questions: 1.What can you tell about the living conditions of this time period from the photograph? 2. Identify the mood that is represented in the photograph. 3. What evidence in the photograph supports your above identifications?
3. Allow students at least 10-15 minutes to answer the questions, before recollecting the group. Each group should share their findings.
4. In the same groups, explain to that they will participate in a book club about to chapter from two different texts,
Children of the City
and
Bread Givers
.
5. Instruct students to pay attention to the living conditions of these characters, and personal connections when reading as a group. Explain that it is appropriate for students to discuss the text as they read with their peers.
6. As a closing activity, groups should share out their findings with the rest of the class. Instruct students to make note of anything they may have missed.
Assessment
Using the findings from the readings and the photo analysis, students should choose a prompt and develop an extended reader response: 1. How does the lack of space affect the activities of the children in the photos and readings while growing up in an Urban environment? How can you connect to the activities of these children? 2. How was the urban experience (living conditions, rules and expectations) during the readings and photographs compare (similar) to your experience of growing up in the city? 3. What are common themes and issues that connect Riis'
How the Other Half Lives
, Yezierska's
Bread Givers
and Nasaw's
Children of the City
?
This assessment could be a follow-up assignment for the next class, or it could act as a homework assignment to assess what students learned that day.
The Impact of the Great Migration: Experiencing Chicago from Multiple Perspectives
This lesson explores how the Great Migration affected various groups in the city of Chicago (i.e. African Americans, European Immigrants and Young Migrants). Similar lessons can be recreated by using any text on the list, and pairing it with one of the visual texts listed above.
Objectives: Students will be able to develop predictions about the Great Migration based on Jacob Lawrence's
Migration
Series, compare and contrast immigrant and migrant experiences in Chicago during the early 20
th
century using David Grossman's
Land of Hope
, and determine how the living conditions affected the youth of Chicago during the early 20
th
century.
Materials
- Computer access for
Migration Series
(http://www.phillipscollection.org/migration_series/flash/series.cfm)
- Graphic organizer
-
Land of Hope
, Chapters Five and Six
Procedure
1. Have the
Migration Series
loaded for student viewing.
2. As a class warm-up, have student select a single piece and describe what they believe Jacob Lawrence is trying to depict, and use the title and details from the painting to explain their thinking.
3. After students share their initial responses to the Lawrence
Migration Series
, introduce Grossman's
Land of Hope
. Provide excerpts from Chapter Five and Six.
4. Advise students that as they read that they should closely read looking for the following categories:
a. Housing
b. Transportation
c. Jobs
d. Education
5. I recommend a guided reading for this text, because of his complex language for struggling readers. If students are more advanced, Book Clubs may also be helpful.
6. At the end of the class, student should compose a reflection on the accuracy of the predictions made at the beginning of class about the
Migration Series
.
Assessment
In order to compare and contrast the experience of the African American migrant to the European Immigrant in Chicago during the period of the Great Migration, student should first complete a graphic organizer that allows them to list the categories identified above. A T-chart or Venn diagram may prove to be useful for this assessment.
There may not be information for every single group, but student may be able to draw inferences based on one group's experience as opposed to the other. Once the chart is completed, students should compose a page response explaining their findings from the readings.
In Search of Promise: Comparing the pull of immigration and migration
Although these two texts do not focus solely on the adolescent view of immigration/migration, they both allow the reader to see a common force compelling people to pick and move from all they know to an uncertain and a unfamiliar place. Both texts document the changing industries in the United States in need of employees, and how two different labor groups, African American sharecroppers and Mexican farmers moved toward American cities.
Prior to introducing this text, the historical contextual foundation must me provided for students. As a collaborative activity, enlist the history teacher to provide a lesson on economic benefits of the Midwest and west during the early 20
th
century. It would be helpful if the types of jobs and skills are highlighted for each group, and how that region was appealing to their needs.
Objectives: Students will be able to identify the motivation for immigration or migration, compare and contrast multiple texts and draw appropriate conclusions.
Materials
-
Land of Hope
excerpt Chapter Three
-
Becoming a Mexican American
excerpt Chapter Two
- Comparative Chart
Procedure
1. Have student think about what are some of the conveniences of remaining home or near people they know, and allow them to discuss.
2. Draw connections to the fact that many immigrant/migrant groups left those conveniences and the readings today will explore the pull of two American cities.
3. Distribute reading materials and charts.
4. Instruct students to complete the chart while reading, paying close attention to why people decided to move in large numbers.
5. Allow students to compare notes at the end of class; which allows students to ask questions for clarification, defend their ideas and clarify their initial thinking.
Assessment
After having the evidence organized on a comparative charts, chart should be differentiated based on your class level, and students should compose a comparative response to the readings.
The first paragraph should cover the similarities of the motivation behind the movement of African Americans and Mexicans during the early 20
th
century. The second paragraph should explain the differences in the movement experience (i.e. jobs, housing and acceptance).