In this post, we present five quick ways to teach about current issues in immigration as well as a list of nearly 40 immigration-related lesson plans,useful Topics pages and multimedia from The Times and rich resources from around the Web.
Teachers: Tell us how you teach immigration.
1. Arizona’s new law: Read (or listen to news) about Arizona’scontroversial new immigration law. Investigate different perspectives on the new law here, here and here. You might also examine President Obama’s andSenator McCain’s opinions of the law.
Finally, tell us what you think about Arizona’s new legislation.
2. Immigration’s impact on public schools: Use these interactive graphics to examine the impact of immigration on diversity in America’s classrooms and study the growth in the number of English-language learners in American public schools.
Inspect the statistics in your own school district and consider different perspectives about how young immigrants should be taught in public schools. Read an article and watch a video about the case of a Virginia school that teaches English-language learners in separate classrooms from native English speaking students.
To explore the topic further, teachers can use this lesson with secondary students or this lesson for elementary students.
3. Who are today’s immigrants? Listen to the personal stories of immigrants in the United States who work white collar jobs and read about how immigrants today are evenly distributed across the economic spectrum. Analyze a chart that illustrates the relationship between immigration and economic growth and another that shows which cities have the highest percentage of immigrants working in white collar jobs. Compare what you have learned about immigrants in the United States today to stereotypes about immigrants to the United States.
Teachers may want to wrap up this examination of the lives of immigrants in the United States today using this lesson, which has students interview an immigrant in their community.
4. Immigration past and present: Surf the Times’s Immigration Explorer, read about who’s coming to America today, and examine charts and graphs that illustrate contemporary immigration statistics.
Record what you find using the Coming to America handout (PDF). Teachers can have students explore these resources further using the “Coming to America” lesson plan. They might also do activities in this lesson plan about the American Dream, or in this lesson in which students write letters from imaginary immigrants to relatives in their countries of origin.
5. Immigration and your community: Explore the Times series Remade in America, which examines immigration through seven different lenses:schools, workplaces, hospitals, politics, businesses, social services and the family.
Pick one of the lenses as a focus and examine the multimedia feature that accompany the article. Then use the Times’ Immigration Explorer to find immigration data about your own community and add information about your own community to your findings. Or, split students into seven groups to investigate immigration from all seven lenses.
Lessons on The Immigrant Experience
- Express Yourself
Crafting Social Location Maps and Identity Monologues - Coming to America
Examining Past and Present American Immigration Trends - Assimilate or Segregate?
Exploring the Debate Over Education and Integration for ESOL Students - Family Matters
Discussing What Diversity Within America’s First Family Means for America - It’s Your Move
Exploring Culture and Immigration - Huddled Masses Still Yearning to Breathe Free
Examining the Modern ‘Immigrant Experience’ - Living the Dream?
Expressing an Immigrant’s Story Through Art - Cultural Capital
Examining How Immigrant Groups Adjust to American Society - Deportation in Narration
Describing the Process of Deportation from Multiple Points of View - The Home Stretch
Teaching Cross-Cultural Awareness for International Newcomers to Your Community - News From Home
Interviewing Immigrants on Current Events in Their Countries of Origin - Connecting Immigrants in Black and White
Exploring the Role of Ethnic Newspapers in Keeping Immigrant Populations Connected to Their Home Countries and Each Other - Hmong Among Us
Creating Portraits of United States Refugee Communities - Home Bound
Examining I.N.S. Custody of Immigrant Children - Different Strokes
Understanding Somali Culture - Worlds Apart
Investigating Differences Among the Experiences of Immigrants
Lessons on Immigrant Rights and Immigration Law in the U.S.
- American Express or Visas?
Reading and Thinking Critically About Immigration Legislation - On the Fence
Role-Playing Different Perspectives on the United States-Mexico Barrier - Over the Borderline?
Examining and Discussing Different Perspectives on Immigration Legislation - What’s Your Angle?
Exploring Different Journalistic Angles in News Coverage of Immigrants’ Rights - Calling Names
Investigating How Names Frame Debate - Immigration Across the Nation
Understanding the Immigrants’ Rights Demonstrations of April 10, 2006 - Rushing the Border
Discussing the Complex Issues of Immigrants Who Overstay Their Legal Welcome - In the Melting Pot
Understanding the Immigration Process: A Social Studies Lesson - Work Forced
Exploring Issues Facing Young Farm Workers
