Lesson Overview:

Students will recognize the various contributions of immigrants to the United States by exploring why various people came to the United States, and how their contributions have affected the political, medical, scientific, and social aspects of our nation.

Length of Lesson:

Six 45-minute periods

Notes:

This lesson is particularly suitable for grades 3-4.

Instructional Objectives:

Students will:

• use research to demonstrate an understanding of how immigrants affected American society.
• understand the challenges immigrants faced assimilating into life in America.
• know how diversity encourages cultural creativity.
• use a variety of resource material to gather information for research topics.
• organize information and ideas from sources in an orderly fashion (e.g., timelines, notes, outline).

Supplies:

• Chart paper
• Markers, crayons, or colored pencils
• Nameplates
• Large sheet of paper for timeline
• Notebooks
• Pencils

Instructional Plan:

Part 1: Meet Some Immigrants

Begin this lesson by writing the following quote, by John F. Kennedy, on chart paper:

"Everywhere immigrants have enriched and strengthened the fabric of American life."

Ask the class what they think this quote means. Make sure that the students understand the meaning of "immigrant," "enriched and strenghthened," and the "fabric of American life" (refer to the Vocabulary handout if appropriate). Tell the students that almost all of the people who now live in the United States are immigrants or had ancestors who were immigrants.

Explain that the class will be exploring a diverse group of people who came to the United States and have contributed in some way to the betterment of society. Show the students pictures of some well-known immigrants who have contributed to U.S. society. Have a prepared list of people on a chart with their country of origin. The following suggestions of well-known immigrants may be useful:

• Frank McCourt, Author (Ireland)
• Edwidge Danticat, Author (Haiti)
• Jaime Escalante, Educator (Bolivia)
• I.M. Pei, Architect (China)
• Edward Teller, Scientist (Hungary)
• Isabel Allende, Author (Chile)
• Isaac Stern, Concert Violinist (Russia)
• Zubin Mehta, Conductor (India)
• Enrico Fermi, Scientist (Italy)
• Itzhak Perlman, Violinist (Israel)
• Max Frankel, Editor, The New York Times (Germany)
• Kahlil Gibron, Poet/Philosopher (Lebanon)
• Farouk El-Baz, Geologist (Egypt)

(Note: Additional famous immigrants are listed on the American Immigration Law Foundation Web site.)

Guide your class in a discussion about the contributions of the above-named (or other) immigrants.

Part 2: Exploring Immigrant Contributions

Revisit the discussion outlined in Part 1 and extend prior knowledge onto immigrant contributions today. Tell the students that they will start to think about choosing a known immigrant about whom they may be interested in learning. The person they choose can be living or deceased and must have made a meaningful contribution to society. Discuss with the class what a "meaningful contribution to society" means. Tell the students "When someone contributes money to a charity or volunteers his or her time, he or she is making a meaningful contribution." Ask students: What kind of meaningful contribution can people do to help out our school? What kind of meaningful contributions can help out our city or town? What kinds of meaningful contributions can help our country? Finally, what kind of meaningful contributions can help our world? Write down the ideas that the students come up with on chart paper.

Use the list of well-known immigrants from Part 1 to illustrate to the class the many ways that achievements, or meaningful contributions, help all people. Students may need some guidance about what exactly constitutes meaningful contribution to society. Guide the discussion with questions like, "What makes our society special? What elements of American culture make it unique? How could we make our society better?" Brainstorm with the class and come up with questions that students can use when researching their subject. List them on chart paper.

Students will also be given a handout to use as a planning guide in researching their subject. Have them go to the AILF Web site to find a large list of living notable immigrants. They may also view AILF's list of historical immigrants and the list available at the American Park Networks' Web site. Students should be given ample time to research and explore their chosen subject. Distribute the Meeting of the Minds Planning Guide so that students can organize their research for the next activity (see below).

Part 3: A Meeting of the Minds

Ask students to turn in their Meeting of the Minds Planning Guides. Tell the students that as a final project they will be invited to a television show called "A Meeting of the Minds," in homage to a popular PBS television series hosted by Steve Allen in the 1970s. This is an interview-format TV program in which great immigrant contributors come together to discuss their accomplishments. Tell students they will take on the identity of the person they have researched. You will direct the discussion. Talk to the "guests" as if they really were the person researched by the student. Use the students' answers on their Meeting of the Minds Planning Guides to prepare several questions specific to each subject as well as general questions open to all participants.

A small grouping of 4-5 personalities should be on the television program at one time. There should be only one television show airing per day. Each student is responsible for wearing at least one item of clothing that his or her researched personality would wear—or they may use another prop that identifies that personality. It would be a good idea to model the procedure for the television show so that the students know what to expect. Have a dependable student ask questions of the teacher/immigrant and the teacher/immigrant can answer as the subject would.

Part 4: Show Time!

On the day of the television airing, the interview area can be set up with 4-5 desks lined up in a row. Nameplates with each subject's name and occupation should be on desks. The moderator (the teacher) can be sitting facing the interview panel along with the rest of the class or to the side. You can use the following prepared script so that all the students will be aware of the course of events each time a program "airs."

Introduce the show by stating: "Welcome to 'A Meeting of the Minds,' the interview program in which immigrants to the United States come together to discuss their great contributions to society. I will ask each participant to state their name and their accomplishment."

Have each each student state their name and accomplishment. At the end of the introduction, the teacher should say, "Welcome everyone!"

At this point, direct questions to individual students in a random order using the prepared questions and/or handout as a guide. The conversation should be focused and direct. Address the student as their research subject; they should answer as the actual subject would answer. Use individual answers as an assessment of how well the student knows his or her subject. You can now open up the discussion so that the audience can address the subjects with additional questions.

Assessment:

Refer to the Assessment Rubric to assess student performance.

Extensions:

Extension 1

An alternative to the interview format can be a written report or individual interviews with the teacher. Some students may have great difficulty performing in front of the class and should not be penalized for this limitation.

Extension 2

Each student will create a timeline detailing the accomplishments of his/her subject and the birthdate of his/her subject as a point of reference.

Sources:

Print:

• Freedman, Russell. Immigrant Kids. New York: Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers, 1995.
• Lasky, Kathryn. Dreams in the Golden Country: The Diary of Zipporah Feldman, a Jewish Immigrant Girl, New York City 1903. Dear America Series. New York: Scholastic, 1998.
• Maestro, Betsy. Coming to America: The Story of Immigration. New York: Scholastic Inc, 1996.
  

Authors:

• Scholastic Inc.
  New York, NY