"GIVE ME YOUR TIRED, YOUR POOR..."
Last week we began our unit on Immigration. 100,000,000 Americans can trace their ancestry back to Ellis Island in New York Harbor. As our nation has grown because of immigration, so has it suffered because of the disagreements Americans have had over the issue. Students will study immigration history, using the past to help develop opinions about the present and future.
We will attempt to answer the following questions:
Why do people come to America?
Who gets to come here?
What is an American?
What is the purpose of America?
Is changing the rules OK?
How do people in America view immigrants?
Students are generally working in pairs in creating a six-part portfolio, in which they will explore a specific immigrant nationality's experience in coming to America.
The portfolio description is as follows:
Except for Native Americans, we are a nation of immigrants. The American culture has its foundations in Great Britain. However, our culture has changed over the years as people from different countries immigrated. They have brought us their language, traditions, religions, food, music, and even their clothing.
Immigration is an issue that has been important in this country for over 130 years. It remains a controversial national dilemma. We know that a large part of our heritage is in the immigrants who came here from across the world. We will explore several questions about immigration.
Who are these immigrants?
What were their lives like in their homeland?
What did they seek in America? Were they pushed, pulled or both?
What did they experience getting here?
How did the Americans already here react to the new immigrants?
How did these immigrants change America?
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