*History Lesson Plan was completed for a Kindergarten classroom.

(Early
Childhood Major)

Teacher: Callie Fefopoulos

Grade: 4
th


Subject: Geography

Lesson: Immigration

Time: Two days. 40 minutes each day

Objectives/Standards: 4- G4.0.1 Use a case study or story about migration within
or to the United States to identify push and pull factors (why they left, why they
came) that influenced the migration. 4- G4.0.2 Describe the impact of immigration to
the United States on the cultural development of different places or regions of the
United Stats (e.g., forms of shelter, language, food).

Materials:
Dandelions by Eve Bunting
Computer Lab
The Urban Log Cabin worksheet
Handout of passage from Arriving at Ellis Island by Dale Anderson
Passage about child experiences
Paper and rulers to create charts
Paper and colored pencils to illustrate scenes from the passage
Index Cards

Prior Knowledge Needed: Review the concept of regions and being able to identify
the United States and other countries on a map.

Teacher Planning:

Summary/Target: Students will learn the reasons people immigrated to the United
States. They will be able to identify the similarities and differences between
different immigration stories. They will be able to explore how they would have felt
if they were immigrating. They will develop an idea of how immigration has
impacted American culture.

Focus: What it means to be an American and an immigrant.

Key Vocabulary: Emigrant, Immigrant, Famine, Political, Economic, Social,
Exclusion, Alien, Naturalization, Foreigner, Refugee, Visa, Mandate, Abolish,
Process, Screen, Selection, Boarder, Citizen, Crockery, Tenement, Urban, Steerage,
movement, push and pull factors, Migration

Learning/Teaching Experiences:

Introduction: Write, What is an Immigrant? on the board. Discuss as a class what
they think it means to be an immigrant. Start introducing key vocabulary and
completing the Immigration Glossary.

Activities:

(Day one)
Read Dandelions by Dale Anderson aloud.
As a class, discuss the following questions:
o Who was migrating in the story?
o Where were they leaving?
o Where were they going?
o When were they moving?
o Why were they moving?
o What push factors were described?
o What pull factors were described?
In the computer lab, direct students to partner up and explore The Urban Log
Cabin website (History).
After clicking on the windows and reviewing all of the different families,
instruct students to complete the worksheet identifying what they believe to
be the hardest part of an immigrants life and the best part.
Students will then create a chart to sort the similarities and differences of 3
families they researched. They must include statements about the journey,
arrival, settlement, jobs, and obstacles those families faced.
(Day Two)
Post the question, Why did millions of people leave their homes to come to
America? on the board.
As a class, read the first two paragraphs of the handout Arriving at Ellis Island
by Dale Anderson.
Proceed to define additional vocabulary words such as immigrate and
emigrate. Also, Political, Economic, and Religious. Have students add these
terms to their glossaries.
Have class create a 3-column chart (political, economic, and religious). Model
this chart on the board (to also be used later).
After completing the first two paragraphs of the reading as a class, direct the
students to fill out their charts of different political, economic, and religious
reasons why people immigrated. The text includes very specific reasons for
immigration. They must circle three reasons they believe to be the most
important, and they may work in groups of 3.
Once completed, each group must share their three most important reasons
for immigration that they settled on. Add each groups contribution to the
class chart and tally each reason that is repeated.
In order to help students relate to immigration, we will read the aloud the
passage from The Cat Who Escaped from Steerage by Evelyn Wilde.
Add new terms to Glossary.
Think-Pair-Share. Have students think about what life in steerage may have
looked and felt like and what types of things they would have done to help
time pass by. Then, instruct students to turn to a partner to share their ideas.
Have students illustrate scenes from the passage using phrases from the
handout as captions (Art).

Monitoring: Read book and two passages aloud to class. Model the charts on the
board. Introduce new vocabulary terms. Float around classroom during activities
and work time in order to appear available for questions.

Assessment: Use the Urban Log Cabin worksheet responses and charts to evaluate
students ability to gather information about immigration from a website. Each
student must have a completed Why People Immigrated chart with 5 reasons
under each political, economic, and religious column. Illustrations from the Childs
view reading must show creativity and effort. Students must create 3 scenes that
they imagine in their minds. The exit ticket must show adequate knowledge and
thought about how immigration has impacted American Culture. In addition to their
answer, students must include one question they would ask an immigrant their age.
Glossaries must be completely filled out.

Cognitive Demand of Lesson Sequence:

Evaluation- What do you feel is the hardest part about being an immigrant? What is
the best part of being an immigrant?

Application- What question would you ask an immigrant of your age?

Analysis- How has immigration impacted American culture?

Evaluation- How would it look to be an immigrant in steerage? How would you feel?

Reflection/Closure:
As an exit ticket, ask students to record how they feel immigration has
impacted American culture on an index card. How would things be different
if immigration was different?
Students illustrations will be posted on the bulletin board.
Glossaries will be added to vocab binders.