Grassroots Unit Planning (Map A)

Unit Theme / Topic / Problem?

Immigration
Unit Relevance? (Why is this topic important for students to
study / act upon?)
Immigration plays a central role in the lives of our students in Little
Village. The majority of the members of the Little Village community
are immigrants themselves or know of others who have immigrated to
the United States. Because of this, immigration has a significant
impact on the community as a whole, the school environment, and
home life, and it is a topic that should be explored in the classroom.

Grade?
5th
Duration?
4 weeks

Essential Questions? (Brainstorm 2 to 4 driving ?s)

Culminating Learning Action / Product / Assessment?

(What will students do to present their learning and take action?)

1. Why do people immigrate?

2. How do people choose which community they will immigrate to
in the United States?
3. How can immigrants advocate for themselves?
4. What is it like adjusting to life in a new country?

Learning Product #1: Throughout the week, students will keep an

immigration diary. This diary will be modeled off of Armadas diary about
her experiences immigrating from Mexico to Los Angeles in the book My
Diary from Here to There. Students can either write about their own
experiences with immigration or create their own story about the
experiences of immigrating to another country. At the end of the unit, the
teacher will compile all of the entries and create a class book for the
students to read and enjoy their peers work.
Learning Product #2: Students will each individually create a mosaic.
They will refer to their immigration diary that they have been working on
and choose a scene from their entries to create a mosaic depicting that
scene. The completed mosaics will be displayed throughout the
community.
Learning Product #3: At the end of this lesson on analyzing political
cartoons through an immigration lens, each small group will give a short

presentation about what they believe their political cartoon is arguing in

terms of NAFTA. Students will also turn in their cartoon and group
response sheets for teacher review.
Learning Product #4: Students will learn about the importance of
staying informed on immigration policy and advocating for the policies
they care about. Students will research a policy affecting immigration and
in groups, they will present both sides of the issue through a debate.
After all the debates are presented, students will choose one of the
policies debated and write a letter to a member of Congress advocating
for the policy.
Learning Product #5: Through a poverty-simulation activity, students will
understand the concept and importance of poverty, then will apply what
they learned in order to understand budgeting and its importance. Once
understanding how to create a budget, students will individually create
their own budgets, keeping in mind various factors they faced and learned
about during the poverty simulation.

Essential Threads? (Place an X for those that apply)

class(ism) X
culture X
economics X
gender

labor X
land /geography X
migration X
oppression X

politics / gov. X
race(ism) X
resources X
resistance X

Other Understandings Students Will Gain?

Applicable Disciplines and Specific Standards?

Local: Current and/or Historical Understandings

Students will understand why it is important to learn about
Chicago
Students will learn about the history of immigration to Chicago
and the Little Village
Students will learn about the Bracero Program
Global Connections (Current / Historical)
Coal industry
NAFTA
Economy: undocumented and documented status effects
Globalization
DREAM Act

Place an X for applicable disciplines (write in details)

Main Texts? (readings, video, photos, art, music, etc.)

My Diary from Here to There By: Armada Irma Perez
Poverty simulation scenario cards
Political cartoons on NAFTA
Sample informal and formal letters

Language Arts X
Mathematics X
Media / Tech X
Music

Natural Sciences
Psychology
Social Sciences
Theater / Drama

Visual Arts X
Specific subject:

Key Competencies (Common Core, ACT, or ILS)

(use Skills Cluster Maps for additional planning)
MATH
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.5.MD.A.1
Convert among different-sized standard measurement units within a given
measurement system (e.g., convert 5 cm to 0.05 m), and use these
conversions in solving multi-step, real world problems
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.5.MD.A.1
Convert among different-sized standard measurement units within a given
measurement system (e.g., convert 5 cm to 0.05 m), and use these
conversions in solving multi-step, real world problems.
LITERACY
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.1.B: Provide logically ordered reasons that
are supported by facts and details.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.2.D: Use precise language and domain
specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.3: Write narratives to develop real or
imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive
details, and clear event sequences.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.3.D: Use concrete words and phrases and

sensory details to convey experiences and events precisely.
CCSS.RI.5.5 - Compare and contrast the overall structure of events,
ideas, concepts, or information in two or more texts.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.6 - Analyze multiple accounts of the same

event or topic, noting important similarities and differences in the point of
view they represent.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.7 - Draw on information from multiple print or
digital sources, demonstrating the ability to locate an answer to a
question quickly or to solve a problem efficiently.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.5.2 - Summarize a written text read aloud or
information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually,
quantitatively, and orally.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.5.4 - Report on a topic or text or present an
opinion, sequencing ideas logically and using appropriate facts and
relevant, descriptive details to support main ideas or themes; speak
clearly at an understandable pace.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.5.1: Engage effectively in a range of
collaborative discussions with diverse partners on grade 5 topics and
texts, building on others ideas and expressing their own clearly
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.5.1.B
Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions and carry out assigned roles.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.5.1.C
Pose and respond to specific questions by making comments that
contribute to the discussion and elaborate on the remarks of others.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.5.1.D
Review the key ideas expressed and draw conclusions in light of
information and knowledge gained from the discussions.
SOCIAL STUDIES
CPS Social Science, Enduring Understanding #2, 5 grade Economic
systems are structured to meet the needs and wants of different societies.
th

ART
ILS.26.B.2d Visual Arts: Demonstrate knowledge and skills to create
works of visual art using problem solving, observing, designing, sketching
and constructing

Critical Vocabulary Terms?

immigration, poverty, budget, income, expenditures, policy,
advocacy, politcal cartoon, NAFTA

ILS.27.B.2: Identify and describe how the arts communicate the

similarities and differences among various people, places and times.
Primary Instructional Approaches?
Read-Aloud
Technology
Modeling (I-Do, We-Do, You-Do)
Small group interactions
Student-to-student

Modifications / Differentiation?

Instruction in students native language (Spanish)

Students can use a computer and write their diary online in a
blog format.
ELLs will be able to give their presentations either in English
or Spanish.
Students who are struggling will be paired with more
advanced students during small group work.
Advanced students can give the presentation on their own if
they desire.
ELLs will be able to write/draw either in English or Spanish.
Students will be allowed to use a calculator.

Community connection? (field trips, speakers, events)

Class-driven farmers/artisans market

Scope and Sequence (a list of key activities / steps towards the learning project / action)
See folders 2c for skill support, 2d for instructional support and 2e for assessment ideas in the Curriculum Toolkit, 3 ed.
rd

(See table below)

Introduction of Unit
(Background)

Prior to this unit, the students have been looking at immigration from a world standpoint, and discussing some
reasons why people might choose to immigrate. In this unit, we will start to focus in on immigration within the
Mexican culture and within the community of Little Village. Throughout the week , the students will be keeping
immigration diaries. Students will be able to choose whether they want to pretend they are immigrants coming to
the U.S. and write about their journey, or they can write about their daily life using detailed descriptions and word
and phrases to describe events and feelings. When the diaries are completed, the students will be transforming
what they have written into art in the next lesson.

Lesson 1 (Lauren)

Writing

Connection (Segue
to Lesson 2)

Before this lesson, students will have completed their immigration diaries that they have been working on in the
previous week. The previous lesson ties directly into the upcoming art lesson. The students will also be working on
various activities during this week such as exploring how immigration impacts their own community and will
analyze a map of Little Village to gather information regarding the population, and statistics surrounding Little
Village.

Lesson 2 (Brianna)

Art

Connection (Segue
to Lesson 3)

Prior to completing lesson #3, students will need to have learned about the NAFTA treaty. Teacher will need to
explain what the treaty is, who is involved in the treaty and how each country was affected by it. Because this
topic is multi-faceted, the teacher will need to provide scaffolding and additional supports in order to aid in
students comprehension. Learning about NAFTA will better help students understand the economic reasons for
Mexican immigration and will also aid in completion of the final project, helping to set up a market that
economically supports the Little Village community.

Lesson 3 (Raegan)

Social Studies

Connection (Segue
to Lesson 4)

Before this lesson on formal letter writing as a form of advocacy, the students will need to have learned about the
immigration policies they will be advocating for through their letters. To do this, the students will have been broken
into 3 research groups, and each group will have been assigned a different immigration policy to further research.
They will have conducted research about three major policies affecting immigration: NAFTA, the DREAM Act, and
the Arizona SB 1070 Act. Students in each group were further divided into two smaller groups to create debate

teams on each topic. Each group will have performed their debate for their peers to learn more about each policy
as well. They will use what they learned about the immigration policies to choose a policy to advocate for or
against in their letters.
Lesson 4 (Sofia)

Social Studies/Writing

Connection (Segue
to Lesson 5)

Students will be learning about the importance of advocating for themselves and for issues that matter to them.
Thus, students will be learning about several policies that greatly affect immigration and immigrant families. They
will learn that one important way they can advocate for themselves is by reaching out to politicians through letterwriting to make their voices heard. Upon learning of the importance of advocacy, students will move from focusing
on large-scale national policies to a more personal centering on their own neighborhood issues, in particular
poverty and budgeting.
Before the lesson on poverty and budgeting, students will have been taught how to create a budgets and different
types of budgets are used. This will help students to connect what they learn about poverty to the creation of a
budget from their poverty simulation scenario standpoint.

Lesson 5 (Ashley)

Math

Closing of Unit
(Wrap-up)

Throughout the week, students have learned about immigration from a personal, political, artistic, and
mathematical standpoint. They have researched immigration issues prominent in their community, as well as
historical issues that have resulted in the form of political issues and treaties. The unit will come to a close after
the unit on poverty and budgeting, as students will begin to understand how poverty greatly impacts their
community and the world. Students will segue into a unit focused more on poverty and the elements and issues
that surround it, moving away from the cross-curricular unit on immigration. To bring the immigration unit to a
close, students will run a community market as a final project of this unit, to demonstrate their knowledge and
learning of immigration from a community perspective. The market provides immigrants opportunities to immerse
themselves in the community and sell their goods.