Migration and

Immigration
to California

Michelle Macdonald
ED 120
Fall 2015

Curriculum Unit Plan: Immigration and Migration to California

1. Overview of the unit
This 4th grade unit will be focused on instances, causes, and effects of migration and
immigration to California in history. I would like to do a partial survey, beginning with an
introductory lesson showing how California was built on immigration. My focuses for the survey
will be: Chinese immigration during the Gold Rush, the Dust Bowl migration, and modern
immigration (esp. from Mexico). Ideally, I will go somewhat in depth with each of these to the
point that students would be able to briefly compare and contrast the causes of each group's
migration, the conditions that each lived in following migration to California, and the cultures
and contributions that each group brought with it. Also, either at the beginning or the end of the
unit, I would like students to explore how migration and immigration have affected their family
histories. This unit will address some of the California State Standards for Social Studies,
including those directly related to immigration (4.4.3; 4.4.4), and touch on other standards
related to California's development economic, political, and cultural development. Tracing the
routes of some immigrant groups, or discussing where in California they settled, may also allow
me to address some of the standards related to geography.
My focus of the unit is not so much for students to memorize every aspect of each group's
immigration, but for students to get a sense of the ways that immigration has affected (and
currently affects) California, and the huge range of diversity present here. I also want students to
get a glimpse of the many different reasons one might migrate and, through literature and
personal experiences, to understand the effects that relocation to a new country or state can have
on an individual. It is quite possible that at least one of my students will have immigrated to the
United States, perhaps from Mexico, and I want that student (or even a student who migrated

from another state) to understand that this is just as much his or her California as it is anyone
else's.
I hope to teach social studies 4-5 times per week (at least during this unit) and to spend
approximately 20-30 minutes on each lesson, if possible. The immigration unit would probably
come after a unit about how California became a part of the United States and give a quick
overview of how the state was built. The next unit might be more focused on governmental and
economic aspects of California, since this unit is mainly focused on people.
Part of my vision for social studies instruction is that students will see the relevance of
history today and the ways that it has personally affected them. Immigration is a perfect topic to
emphasize this, since every student's family would have immigrated to California at some point,
whether a century ago or last year. When students see personal connections to history, it makes
history more relevant to them. I also want my students to learn to empathize with others, and I
hope to address this in this unit by using literature to relate to them the stories of individual
immigrants. Finally, I believe that an important part of social studies instruction is developing
students' critical thinking skills, and I hope to accomplish this by having student compare and
contrast the experiences of immigrants from different groups and during different times.

2. Content
1. What were some of the CAUSES of immigration/migration to California in the past?
What were different groups of people leaving behind, and what did California offer
them?

2. What CONDITIONS did Chinese immigrants face when they got to California? How
did other miners and the government react to them?
3. What CONDITIONS did the Dust Bowl migrants face when they arrived in California?
How did Californians react to them?
4. What CONDITIONS do modern immigrants to California face?
5. What are some of the CULTURES that have entered America through immigration?
6. How do we see the influences of these cultures in contemporary California?

3. Values Outcome
Through this unit, I hope that students will continue to develop a sense of perspective and
empathy, as well as a pride in the multiculturalism of their country, community, and families. I
can help students develop empathy through reading literature (Esperanza Rising, Children of the
Dustbowl, etc.). Reading literature from the point of view of children close to their age can help
them develop perspective and understand the feelings of others. In order to help students develop
pride in multiculturalism, I will have them learn individually about how immigration and
migration have affected their families. This will hopefully give them a greater awareness of their
own cultures and a greater appreciation for multiculturalism in their classroom and community
as well.

4. Key Academic Vocabulary

1. Immigrants
2. Migrants
3. Gold Rush

4. Dust Bowl
5. Foreign Miner's Tax
6. Chinese Exclusion Act
7. China
8. Transcontinental Railroad
9. Chinatown
10. Depression
11. "Okies"
12. Anti-Okie Law
13. Oklahoma
14. Mexico-California Border
15. Passport
16. Citizen
17. Compare
18. Contrast
I will have these terms up on a word wall at the back of the room and will give students
opportunities to review pertinent words with their elbow partners at the beginning of each lesson.
The terms will be embedded in the unit test, and I will have each group of students use at least
five of the vocabulary words in their skit.

5. Room Environment
One bulletin board in my classroom will contain a large world map. On the map, we will
use string and tacks or staples to trace the routes of the groups of people whom we study, the

characters in our literature, and, eventually, the students' own families, from their original
locations to California. This bulletin board will allow the class to see how many different places
are represented in California, and even just in our small community.
Another way that I will use the room environment to further learning is by putting a
timeline on the walls, around the room. The timeline will go from the foundation of California to
the present and illustrate major periods of immigration throughout California's history. Similar to
the bulletin board, we will add to the timeline both when our fictional characters from literature
came to California, and (eventually) when each of the students' families or ancestors came to
California. This will help students to visualize where their own stories fit in history. Finally, we
will have a "language wall" in which "hello" will be written in several different languages. We
will begin with the original languages of the people groups we are studying (including English
for the Dust Bowl migrants) and add on languages that students' families speak or that students'
ancestors likely spoke, if their family moved to California many years ago. This will help
students to visualize California's diversity in a new way.

6. Collection of Realia
Realia that would be useful for this unit include:

1. A Chinese sun hat, as a preview for the Gold Rush portion of the unit;
2. A piece of fake "gold," also as a preview for the Gold Rush portion;
3. A makeshift Dust Bowl mask as a preview for the Dust Bowl portion of the unit;
4. Some peso bills and coins, along with other currencies, as a preview to the "Modern
Immigration" portion of the unit;
5. At least one piece of realia from each student representing his or her family's culture;
these will be set up in a "museum" in the back of the room during our last class on
modern immigration and displayed during the Open House described in section 20.
7. Introductory Activities
I will begin our unit with an experiential activity. I will tell them that, as great as it is
having them all here, I remember when it was just my classroom and I had plenty of room to do
whatever I wanted. I will then tell students that, really, since I was here first, it's not so much
their classroom as it is mine. I put up the bulletin boards and arranged the desks and did all of
this work that my students now get to take advantage of. I will ask students to leave their desks
and sit on the floor, since the desks are not really theirs. I will also tell them that I am thinking of
making them each pay $5 per day to be in my class. Then, I will have students write about and
then discuss with each other what they think and how they feel about this. During the wholegroup discussion that follows, I will explain to them that we are starting a unit on immigration
and that what they just experienced was, on a small scale, similar to some of the challenges that
immigrants to California have faced in the past. This will help students to be emotionally
connected to and interested in what they are about to learn.

8. Related Literature

1. Coolies, by Yin, is a short story that follows two brothers who immigrate to California
from China in 1865. This book would be a good introduction to the Chinese immigration starting
during the Gold Rush and running through the 1880s. The book is from a child's perspective and
therefore may make this experience more relatable for students.
2. Children of the Dustbowl, by Jerry Stanley, relates the true story of a group of children
of migrant workers who, with help from an adult, built their own school. This nonfiction text is
filled with real photographic images of children who lived during the Dust Bowl and relates the
reasons their families moved, as well as some of the difficulties they faced and a legacy they left
behind. I will use this book in the middle of the Dust Bowl portion of the unit to help students
see how people their age may have been affected by migration at this time, and how they were
able to change their own circumstances.
3. Esperanza Rising, by Pam Muoz Ryan, is the story of a girl whose family was forced
to move from Mexico to California, in secrecy, due to the death of her father and the
vindictiveness of her evil uncle. Though set in the 1930s, this book will be a good bridge to
talking about modern immigration and the many different reasons why someone would move to
a new place, as well as the ways that a person may change due to new circumstances.
4. Grandfather's Journey, by Allen Say, is a story about the author's grandfather and how
he journeyed from Japan to the United States and back again. This book would be a great way of
introducing the effects of immigration on one's family down the line. I could use this to introduce
the activity in which students learn about their family's immigration history.

9. Developing Skills in Geography/Economics/Government

The map bulletin board activity will help students in their awareness of geography, both
in locating countries and states, and in recognizing land forms, as they trace the routes of
immigrants through deserts, over mountains, and across oceans. Students will learn a little about
government through our studies of laws like the Chinese Exclusion Act, the Anti-Okie Law, and
current immigration laws.

10. Use of Technology

We will use the document camera in order to view pictures for our Visual Discovery see-thinkwonder activities. During the Dust Bowl portion of the unit, students will also explore the PBS
Ken Burns Interactive Dust Bowl experience, where they are set on a farm in the dust bowl and
may make choices about what to do next and whether to move west. This can help students
understand, to some degree, the difficult decisions that the migrants had to make, and how
difficult it was for them to leave homes that they had invested so much in already.

11. Guest Speakers and/or Fieldtrips

I will encourage parents and other family members of students to come talk about their
family's immigration experience if possible (though, of course, I would have to look over their
points first to make sure what they had to say was appropriate for our grade level, etc.). This will
be a great way for students to see and understand how immigration affects them and their
classmates, as well as their own parents. It will also be a great way to get parents involved and
invested in our social studies unit, inviting them to have some input in what the children are
learning.

12. Support for English Learners

English Learners in my class will benefit from visuals, including the large map bulletin
board and the around-the-room timeline. The realia will also help them to understand certain
aspects of the different people groups that came to California. The language wall will make the
classroom comfortable and inviting for students, as they see "hello" written in their own home
languages, as well as many others.

13. Interdisciplinary Learning

This social studies unit does not have to stand on its own; I can use other subjects to
reinforce and stretch students' learning. Some ways that I can use these other subjects include:
a) Language Arts/Reading The literature that we read in our class (see section 8) may
reinforce both students' reading skills and their understanding of our unit. We will
analyze setting and characterization, especially how characters may change due to their
circumstances and how immigration affects them. We will get to examine both fiction
and non-fiction texts and pull out pertinent information about the immigration
experiences we encounter.
b) Math We may use math to calculate the numbers of miles that different people have
traveled to get to California. Aligning with fourth grade math standards, we can practice
rounding these numbers and comparing (i.e. Who traveled farther?).
c) Visual/Performing Arts One way that I will integrate the visual arts into my social
studies unit is through the "make and take" project that we will do. Although the project
will be highly scripted, it will allow students to visualize what it is like to be an
immigrant. One way that I can integrate the performing arts into my social studies unit is

by having groups of students perform short skits describing the lives of immigrants (or
migrants) from particular people-groups, including where they came from, the reasons
they moved, what they faced when they arrived, and some of the contributions they
brought with them.
14. "Make and Take"
The "Make and Take" craft for this unit will be related to the portion of the unit about
Chinese immigrants in the 19th century. The project will be a triorama showing what the Chinese
immigrants hoped for and expected when they came to California, and the difficulties that they
actually faced when they got to California. On the left side of the triorama will be symbols for
what the immigrants hoped for and expected: a mining pick for work, but also gold and a flag,
because they expected to strike it rich and return home with money. On the right side will be the
challenges they faced, including hard work on the railroad, the Foreign Miner's Tax, and the
Chinese Exclusion Act. In the very center of the triorama will be California, since both
expectations and reality make up what California was for these people.

15. Independent, Small-Group, or Whole-Class Project

One small-group project that will take place at the end of the unit will consist of students
writing and performing skits describing the lives of immigrants (or migrants) from particular
people-groups we have studied, including where they came from, the reasons they moved, what
they faced when they arrived, and some of the contributions they brought with them. I will divide
the students into at least three groups and give each group one of the people-groups we have
studied. I will give students approximately thirty minutes of class time, spread across three class
periods, to work on their scripts together with their groups. In order for this to work most

effectively, I may need students, parents, and possibly other teachers to help me provide props
for students to use.

16. Finished Product for Permanent Classroom or School Display

My two finished products will be the bulletin board described in Section 5 and the filmed
skits described in section 15. The bulletin board, which each of the students will have
contributed to, will display not only what the students have learned from our history books, but
also what they have learned about themselves and their own families. The skits will display what
students have learned relating to their specific learning objectives: the causes, conditions, and
cultures/contributions involved in migrating or immigrating to California. From both of these
displays, students will be able to review what they have learned, and they and their parents may
experience pride in the work they have accomplished.

17. Culminating Experience

The culminating experience for this unit will be the skits described in section 15. The
skits will allow students to re-experience the material we have covered, both by applying
knowledge and creating a skit about one group of immigrants, and by watching other students'
performances. They will also allow students to demonstrate to others what they have learned
because each student will need to have a mastery of the learning objectives related to his peoplegroup in order to help create a skit about that group. In order to make this a celebratory
experience, I will devote most of the last session of the unit to the skits, describing it as a "theatre
experience" and giving students invitations for themselves and (if possible) for their parents. I
may ask parents to help me provide snacks in order to make the experience more exciting for

students and to make it feel more like a real movie theater. When all of the skits are over (and the
parents have left), if there is time, we will have a brief discussion comparing and contrasting the
experiences and contributions of the groups we have studied.

18. Assessment
The skits will be one form of assessment; however, from that, I will be able to assess
each student on what he has learned about only one group we have studied. Another form of
assessment will be a Learning Journal that I will have students keep. In this journal, at the end of
each social studies session, students will have two minutes to write at least two important things
they learned from our lesson that day. I will remind students of the learning goal for the day,
which will be on the board, and ask them to write about things that relate to that goal (rather than
more peripheral facts). I will check the journals each day to make sure that each student has two
new facts and that the information they give is both accurate and relevant.
Finally, students will be formally tested on their understanding of the material. Some of
the questions may include:

1) On the map below, trace the general route that Dust Bowl migrants followed to get to
California. What direction did they come from? (North? South? East? West?)

2) What is one reason that many men immigrated from China to the United States in the 1850s?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

3) Briefly, compare and contrast the reactions of most Californians to the Chinese immigrants in
the 1840s-1880s, and the Dust Bowl migrants in the 1930s.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

4) Which of the following laws imposed a $20 monthly tax on immigrant miners during the Gold
Rush?
A. Foreign Miner's Tax
B. Chinese Exclusion Act
C. Migrant Miner's Tax
D. Anti-Okie Law
5) Describe one piece of California's culture (that we have discussed) which was brought to
California through immigration or migration. Where did this part of California culture come
from? When did it enter California?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

19. Parent Letter

Dear Parents,
I am so excited to enter into a new social studies unit with your students! Next week, we
will be beginning our unit on Immigration and Migration to California. In this unit, students will
learn that California was built on immigration and migration, and that our diversity is something

to celebrate. I want our students to understand that California is theirs, regardless of when they
or their family arrived here.
In our unit, we will focus on three particular instances of immigration and migration: the
Chinese immigration to California, beginning during the Gold Rush and reaching into the 1880s;
the Dust Bowl migration during the Depression of the 1930s; and modern immigration to
California, especially from Mexico. Students will learn about many of the CAUSES of
immigration, the CONDITIONS that different groups of immigrants have faced at different
times, and some of the CULTURES and CONTRIBUTIONS that have come to California
through immigration/migration.
Immigration and migration have affected each and every one of our students in some
way, whether directly or indirectly, and whether recently or generations ago. Part of our unit will
ask students to dive into their family histories and learn about when and from where their
families came to California. I would encourage you, even now, to begin talking to your child
about your family history and how immigration has affected your family. This will help students
understand both what they are learning at school, and how their own live fit into the context of
history. Also, please let me know if you are interested in coming in and telling students a little
bit about how immigration has affected your family.
Finally, at the end of our unit, students, in small groups, will be performing creative skits
demonstrating their knowledge of the material we have covered in class. I invite you to come see
your child perform on this exciting day, and I will send home a follow-up invitation in a few
weeks when the event is nearer.
Thank you for partnering with me in your child's education.

Sincerely,
Miss Macdonald

20. Public Relations

One way that I will help parents and our community learn about the work we are doing in
our classroom is by inviting them to the culminating experience described in section 17. This
will allow students to "show off" what they have learned to each other, their parents, and school
staff or other classes that may attend. Another way that I can help parents and the community
learn about our work is by inviting them to an open-house once we finish the map bulletin board
and the timeline, both described in section 5. This way, parents and community members will be
able to see what students have been learning about how the history of their family's migration
and immigration fits into the larger California history. Students will be able to proudly point out
their family's routes on the map, as well as their contribution to the timeline.

21. Personal Passions Personal Recharging

One of the activities that will recharge me when I am feeling discouraged is a read-aloud.
I love literature, and Esperanza Rising is one of my favorite books. Reading aloud to my students
animatedly and helping them connect our reading to our social studies learning will help me to
remember how excited I am to teach this unit. Learning about students' family histories will also
be exciting for me.

PART II
A) Rough Outline for 16 Class Sessions

I will be teaching this unit four times per week over four weeks, for a total of sixteen class
sessions. We will use the sessions as follows:
1. Introduction I will begin with the introductory activity described in section 7. Then, we
will go on to discuss what it is like to move to a new place that does not yet feel like your
own, or where people do not recognize it as yours. Finally, we will go through a short
powerpoint explaining that California was built on immigration and mentioning some of
the major instances of immigration (including the ones we will be studying).
2. Chinese Immigration, 1850s-1880s We will begin by reading the book Coolies. Then,
we will discuss why the brothers in the book chose to come to California, what they
expected, and what actually happened. I will introduce our unit section on Chinese
Immigration in the mid-19th century and explain that many of the Chinese immigrants
came hoping to strike it rich and help their families.
3. Chinese Immigration, 1850s-1880s We will review what we learned the day before and
dive deeper into the causes of Chinese immigration to California during this time period.
I will talk about the Gold Rush and explain that many of the Chinese immigrants
expected to find lots of gold and then go back home to China as extremely wealthy men. I
will also talk about the transcontinental railroad, which came a few years later, and which
many Chinese immigrants saw as another opportunity to make money and benefit their
families.
4. Chinese Immigration, 1850s-1880s - I will teach students about two of the laws that were
put into place to discourage Chinese immigration or make the immigrants' lives more
difficult: the Foreign Miner's Tax and the Chinese Exclusion Act. We will also talk about
Californians' general reactions to the Chinese immigrants. If there is time, students will

explore the PBS Gold Rush American Experience activity, playing as the "Chinese Man
from Guangdong."
5. Chinese Immigration, 1850s-1880s We will review what we have been learning about
the past two days. Then, we will do the Make-and-Take craft described in section 14.
Finally, we will talk about the culture and contributions that the Chinese immigrants
brought to California, including what they contributed to the economy.
6. Dust Bowl Migration I will begin with a visual discovery, using a picture of people
looking at a dust storm during the Dust Bowl. Then, I will show them the makeshift
"Dust Bowl mask" (somewhat like a gas mask, but simpler) and explain what it was used
for. I will introduce the topic of the Dust Bowl and explain that many people moved from
the eastern states to the West in order to escape the dust storms.
7. Dust Bowl Migration We will review what we learned the day before. Then, we will do
a map activity: I will guide students in drawing a circle around the place where the Dust
Bowl occurred. Then, students will work in pairs, tracing some possible routes that Dust
Bowl migrants may have taken to get to California. We will talk about how many miles
they traveled, how they traveled, and how long it may have taken them to get here.
8. Dust Bowl Migration We will read Children of the Dust Bowl. Then, we will have a
discussion about why the children's families came to California, and what challenges they
faced here. I will teach students about the "anti-Okie" law and the general reactions of
Californians to the Dust Bowl migrants. Students will create sensory figures of migrant
children during the Dust Bowl.
9. Dust Bowl Migration Students will explore the PBS Ken Burns Interactive Dust Bowl
experience. We will talk about how difficult it was to make decisions in the game, and

how much more difficult it would be if the students were actually making decisions about
their real lives and leaving their homes behind. Then, we will talk about the cultures that
the Dust Bowl migrants brought to California and the contributions they made (ex.
country music).
10. Modern Immigration We will, at this point, be reading Esperanza Rising in Language
Arts. We will talk about why Esperanza's family immigrated to California and what she
found here. We will then talk about how each person has individual reasons for
immigration; it does not always have to be a phenomenon brought on by money or by
natural disasters. I will introduce the family history project and ask students to, over the
next week, gather as much information as they can about their families' immigration
histories.
11. Modern Immigration I will show students the Pesos (and other currencies) and see if
they recognize them. We will then discuss modern immigration from Mexico and how
much it directly affects our community today. We will talk about why someone might
want to move from Mexico to California. Some students may have more insight into this
than others, especially if they have experienced it firsthand. Students will begin putting
their family's routes to California up on the bulletin board and the timeline.
12. Modern Immigration We will continue talking about modern immigration from
Mexico, focusing on culture. We will talk about how Mexican culture has affected
Californian culture, using examples of food and language. Students will write short
reflections about their own home or family cultures and how these cultures interact with
California culture.

13. Modern Immigration If parents volunteer to share their immigration family stories, this
would be the day for them to share. We will read Grandfather's Journey and talk about
how immigration, even a long time ago, can affect people in the present. Students will
finish putting their family's routes up on the map and their histories on the timeline.
14. Wrap-Up We will review the main points of what we have learned. I will divide
students into three groups and introduce the group activity described in part I, section 15.
I will give students time to read a little bit more from their textbook about the group they
were assigned, take a few notes, and begin planning a script.
15. Wrap-Up I will have students complete an acrostic poem about IMMIGRATION, using
what they have learned. Then, students will be given more time to work in their groups
and create their skits. They will begin planning for props to bring as well.
16. Wrap-Up Students will get a little bit more time to finalize their plans for the skit.
Then, we will put on a show, as described in part I, section 17. We will wrap up with a
short discussion about what they have learned.
B) Applying Social Studies Alive
a) Visual Discovery We will do a see-think-wonder activity with the attached image of
people during the Dust Bowl. I will put the picture up on the document camera and ask
students what they see (take volunteers), what they think might be happening (take
volunteers), and what they wonder about the picture (take volunteers).
b) Skill-Builder Students will be asked to do a map activity together in pairs. They will be
given the latitudes and longitudes of particular places within the Dust Bowl area, as well
as latitudes and longitudes of particular places in California, and be asked to trace routes

that would take a Dust Bowl migrant from one place to the other (basically drawing a line
between the two points).
c) Experiential Activity The introductory activity (described in Part I, section 7) will be
experiential. This activity will put students in the shoes of unwelcome immigrants as I
pretend that I do not want them in my classroom, ask them to vacate their desks, and
consider charging them for their attendance in the classroom.
d) Writing or Pre-Writing The writing activity will follow the experiential activity
described above. Students will write about the experience they just had and how they felt
and what they thought about it. Later, they will connect it to how the Chinese immigrants
and Dust Bowl migrants felt when the Californians refused to recognize them as
Californians.
e) Small-Group Project Students will work in small groups to complete the drama project
described in part I, section 15. Students will put their brains together to come up with
skits that display what they have learned, including the causes of their group's migration,
the conditions that they endured in California, and the cultures and contributions that they
brought with them.
f) Processing-of-Reading As students work together in their groups, they will have the
chance to read their books together and take some organized notes about their specific
people-group. Students will be able to process the reading together and put it to good use
in their skits.
g) Active-Processing Students will create a sensory figure of a child during the Dust Bowl
migration, processing what it was like to be a child during that time. Together, we will
create a class timeline which shows when all of our families moved to California (as well

as a map that shows where all of our families moved from). Finally, at the end of the unit,
students will complete an acrostic poem using the word IMMIGRATION, displaying
both what they have learned and impressions or feelings that they have acquired.

Acknowledgments

"Homestead History," Frontier Life, PBS.org.

"Interactive Dust Bowl," The Dust Bowl by Ken Burns, PBS.org.
"The Gold Rush: Strike it Rich!" American Experience, PBS.org.
American Exodus: The Dust Bowl Migration and Okie Culture in California, James Gregory,
cameronblevins.org, 1989.
Children of the Dust Bowl: The True Story of the School at Weedpatch Camp by Jerry Stanley,
Crown, 1992.
Coolies by Yin, Puffin, 2003.
Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan, Scholastic, 2000.
Grandfather's Journey by Allen Say, HMH Books for Young Readers, 2008.