Telling Family Immigration Stories

Telling family immigration stories is a powerful way to build community within and outside of the classroom. Whether the story comes from a student, parent, or a school professional, giving voice and an audience to the story opens channels for empathy and understanding on what can be a divisive topic.

Our latest lesson plan, created by English Language Learner (ELL) teacher Ms. Angeline Sturgis from Eldridge Park School in Lawrence, NJ, demonstrates how to record, illustrate, and share family immigration stories from individuals in your school and community. Ms. Sturgis implemented this project as the result of our Community Grants program.

The finished product of this lesson is an illustrated book and an opportunity to read the story aloud to others. Although this project can be done digitally, the physical book makes an important gift. A culminating public reading with a focus on celebrating, acknowledging, and supporting the immigrant author's triumphs, struggles, and continued efforts to build a new life in the U.S. transforms a lesson into a truly special and unforgettable event. 

Reflecting on the project, Ms. Sturgis wrote, “I've always believed that everyone has a story to tell. Encourage your families to share their stories, whether orally or written and illustrated, like I was able to do. One of the authors, a mother who came to this country as an impoverished child, said to me at the end of our event, ‘I actually feel different. My story needed to be told. All those years, it was living inside me, and I needed my children to hear it. Not only have they heard it---they illustrated it! Now my story is a part of all of us.’ To read the full article, please click here (and scroll down).

Students illustrate a story.

Teacher Ms. Angeline Sturgis records Eldridge Park School staff member William Perez's immigration story from Cuba.

Books wrapped for presentation on the night of the event.

Illustrations are presented on a large screen as the audience listens and watches.

The American Immigration Council grant program is an initiative to provide educators and community organizers with the resources they need to implement a successful immigration curriculum or an immigration-themed project. Grants are awarded on a bi-annual basis. The deadline for the next grant is July 1, 2016, so it’s not too late to think of an idea and apply by clicking here.

Explore Immigration with Edwidge Danticat

We have long been admirers of award-winning author, Ms. Edwidge Danticat, who emigrated from Haiti when she was twelve-years-old.  On the occasion of Women’s History Month (March) and International Women’s Day (March 8) we bring you a new interview with the author, book reviews and lesson plans that highlight Ms. Danticat’s life and literature.

Throughout her prolific career, she has offered moving and engaging portrayals of the immigrant experience often with highly memorably female characters. Ms. Danticat published two books last year: Untwine, a young adult novel of identity, loss, and grief where Haitian-American twin girls are irrevocably separated (in our review, we suggest it’s fitting for readers of all ages) and a brave children’s book, Mama’s Nightingale: A Story of Immigration and Separation, where a young girl must learn new ways to communicate with her mother while she is detained in an immigrant detention center. Please click here for a review by The New York Times.

Recently, we interviewed Ms. Danticat and asked her to revisit one of our favorite novels, Behind the Mountains, published by Scholastic in 2002. In Behind the Mountains, Celiane Esperance, a young girl living in Haiti is forced to flee political violence to the U.S. with her mother and brother and reunite with her father in Brooklyn, NY. Along the journey, Celiane captures her thoughts and feelings in a journal she affectionately names her “sweet little book.” 

We asked Ms. Danticat about her personal immigration story, changes she’s observed in immigration since 2002, what Celiane might be doing now, and what advice she has for young writers.  The video interview encourages youth voice in writing and underscores the challenges facing immigrants today.

Please click here to watch our interview. 

This video resource is replete with images of Haitian and Haitian-American art. It is a terrific companion to our comprehensive unit plan on Behind the Mountains designed for high school students. The plan includes activities for students to: keep a dialectical journal while reading, decipher the meaning of figurative language in Haitian proverbs and art, apply the “push-pull” factors of immigration, understand how a “duality of cultures” and “stages of adaptation” function in the lives of immigrants, as well as write an argumentative essay.

Please click here to read our Behind the Mountains Unit Plan.

Ms. Danticat also volunteers her time to judge our Celebrate America Fifth Grade Creative Writing Contest where students write on the theme “Why I’m Glad America is a Nation of Immigrants.” To learn more about the contest, please click here.

We seek to connect teachers and students with the most relevant, fact-based information to teach immigration critically and creatively–-at no cost. If you like our work, please share this email, tell a friend and give them this link http://bit.ly/1KdE5Zz to receive updates and free resources such as lesson plans, books reviews, and community grants. Follow us on twitter @ThnkImmigration #teachimmigration.

Discover the “Celebrate America” Effect

The American Immigration Council’s “Celebrate America” fifth grade Creative Writing Contest began 19 years ago with just a couple dozen entries. Today, it has grown to over 5,000 entries annually! Since 1997, close to 75,000 students, from nearly 750 schools across the nation have participated. Each year, students write around the theme “Why I’m Glad America is a Nation of Immigrants.”

What continues to surprise us about the contest are the multiple and unforeseen ways the contest affects communities, schools, and individuals.

Click here to read about the evolution of the contest and its impact.

Lasting Relationships

From this contest, we have been able to forge lasting relationships focused on a shared commitment to raising awareness and understanding about immigration and the important role of youth voices. Two immediate examples with extensions for the classroom include:

1) Last year, we had the privilege of meeting the local winner of the Washington, D.C. metro area contest, Marlyse Ngouabe. She read her winning entry at a naturalization oath ceremony along with the national winner, Anya Frazer. Since then, Marlyse, now a sixth-grader continues to write young adult literature reviews on immigration-themed books that her peers might also find appealing to read. To read her latest book review on The Color of My Words, please click here.

“Celebrate America” fifth grade student winners read their entries at a naturalization oath ceremony at the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services Field Office in Fairfax, VA on June 18, 2015. Pictured Left to Right: 2015 National Winner Anya Frazer, Washington, D.C. winner Marlyse Ngouabe, and Senior Manager of Education at the American Immigration Council, Claire Tesh.

2) Another perk of the contest is that we are extremely fortunate to have an accomplished list of celebrity judges who donate their time to read student entries. This year our judges are: Gerda Weissman-Klein, Founder of Citizenship Counts, Edwidge Danticat, award-winning author, Valentino Achak-Deng, Minister of Education in South Sudan, Arun Toke, founder of Skipping Stones Multicultural Magazine, and Anya Frazer, the 2015 Grand Prize Winner.

Many of our judges volunteer for subsequent years. Author Edwidge Danticat is a returning judge and her novels continue to engage a wide audience on immigration issues. To read our latest book review of her recently released novel, Untwine, please click here. 

Want to Get Involved?

There are many ways to get involved in our work to teach about immigration.

• Celebrate America Creative Writing Contest - If you want to participate in next year’s contest, please click here. If you’ve previously participated in the contest and would like to be included in our 20^th anniversary celebration by offering testimonials, please email us.

• Book Reviews – Do you know an avid young writer or reader interested in the topic of immigration? Or have you read an immigration-themed book you’d like to review? We accept unsolicited reviews. Please email us for more information. 

•  Lesson Plans – If you’ve used our lesson plans, we’d love to know how it went so we can continue to improve it or let us know about a resource or lesson plan you would like us to develop on immigration. Please use this feedback form or email us.  

• Community Grants – We offer community grants to teach about immigration. Click here to learn more and apply.

•  Social Media – Stay connected with us! Follow us on Twitter @ThnkImmigration 

If you like what we do, please forward this email to a friend or colleague, tell them about us, and share with them this link http://bit.ly/1KdE5Zz to sign up for updates and resources to teach immigration at no cost. Follow us on twitter @ThnkImmigration #teachimmigration.

Spotlight on the Teach Immigration Classroom: An Inspiring Teacher, a Motivated Attorney, and 26 Engaged Middle School Students

Every so often we hear back from educators who are interested in teaching about immigration but are unsure how to integrate it into their curriculum. Is it too controversial? Will it align to the Common Core? How will students respond? Will they be absorbed and want to learn more? How can I support student understanding of current immigration issues?

While we provide critical resources and guidance, we know that real learning takes place in the classroom. 

Ms. April Francis is a Social Studies teacher at Lawrence Road Middle School in Uniondale, NY and is one of the educators selected to be a part of our Teach Immigration Project on Long Island. The project is an educational initiative designed to increase and improve teaching and learning about U.S. immigration law and policy at schools on Long Island. Paired with immigration attorney, Ms. Rachel Baskin, they have team-taught two lessons. What follows is a description provided by Ms. Francis of her seventh grade class’s experience using our lesson plan, “Freedom, Fairness, & Equality.”

A Teacher’s Account of Teaching Freedom, Fairness, & Equality

Submitted by Ms. April Francis

 

On Friday, Feb. 12th, Ms. Francis and Mrs. Baskin combined their love of history, policy, and law together to teach an astounding group of seventh graders. We began the lesson by presenting the inquiry questions via a Prezi presentation: (1) How deep is our commitment to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness, and (2) How can young people enact change?

Seventh-grade students introduced to the lesson's essential questions by Ms. Francis.

After students were introduced to these questions via the lesson’s Prezi, Ms. Baskin discussed current immigration issues, the preamble of the Declaration of Independence, and the 5th amendment, drawing on students’ prior knowledge. She highlighted that all people, regardless of immigration status, were protected under the 5th amendment.

After the overview, Ms. Francis connected the idea of "pursuit of happiness" to MLK Jr.'s actions during the Civil Rights Movement. Students participated in a robust discussion of MLK Jr.'s quote "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." Using their class set of iPads, students shared their opinions of this famous quote on the virtual blackboard tool, Padlet. Students were informed that MLK Jr. and other civil rights activists were largely successful due to the support of school-aged students, like them!

  

A student uses Padlet to respond to MLK Jr.’s quote "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

Next, students were placed into cooperative learning groups to analyze a specific U.S. immigration policy that excluded certain groups. They had a reading on the policy, and utilized their iPads for further research. Ms. Baskin and Ms. Francis each worked with various teams to assist them with the task. After this activity, each team reported out, while the other teams jotted notes down. Many were shocked to see that various groups had been excluded by U.S. Immigration policy at different time periods in history. They questioned whether our nation upheld the idea of "all" being allowed to pursue happiness.

 

Students research historical examples of U.S. immigration law and policy on iPads.

Ms. Baskin assists students and reviews their work.

Finally, primary source readings of present day immigrant struggles were read and students were asked to answer a series of critical thinking questions. The lesson concluded with the inquiry question from the beginning "How can young people enact change?" Some responses included "by educating others about immigration policy and helping them be a voice for their community." This was a fun, interactive, and engaging lesson!

Providing Classroom Supports

The lesson plan, presentations, Padlet, and primary source readings can all be found online. What it takes to implement, however, is a teacher who holds students to high expectations and provides the necessary supportive framework.  We think this work is invaluable and we would love to hear back from you on how we can continue to support you in the classroom. Please let us know by emailing us or by filling out this short feedback form. 

If you like what we do, please forward this email to a friend or colleague, tell them about us, and share with them this link http://bit.ly/1KdE5Zz to sign up for updates and resources to teach immigration at no cost. Follow us on twitter @ThnkImmigration #teachimmigration.