Teach Fairness, Freedom, and Equality to Commemorate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

With Martin Luther King, Jr. Day a week away, we wanted to provide you with resources that underscore the power of youth voice in addressing equity and justice. 

In "The Purpose of Education" (1947), Dr. King wrote, "The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education." Dr. King helped people understand that youth have to be equipped with knowledge to make critical decisions that improve our society and possess passion.  

 

Dr. King addressing students at the University of Minnesota, St. Paul 1967 (Photo Credit: Minnesota Historical Society)

With social media and technology at times taking the place of marches and protests and augmenting others, today’s young activists have the power to amplify the issues heard and seen in their communities globally. It is the responsibility of all who teach and mentor them to be sure they know how to get correct information and know how to critically analyze it. 

In this light, immigration is one of many topics where the need for factual information, dialogue, and youth voice are integral for understanding our past and present as a diverse nation. We developed an immigration and civic engagement lesson plan for high school students where they wrestle with the essential and “American” question: how deep is our commitment to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? Using our nation’s founding documents and Dr. King’s words as a launching point, students will learn about five historical examples of restrictive immigration law and policy and also about the value of young people’s voices in movements to secure rights. This Common-Core and C3 Framework aligned lesson plan has an adaptable Prezi presentation, Cornell Notes handout, and opportunities for student writing. It would make a great extension to a close read of Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream Speech.”

To access our “Teaching Freedom, Fairness, and Equality” lesson plan, please click here.

Additional Resources

• Turning Current Events into Social Justice Teaching (Jinnie Spiegler, Edutopia) – This brief blog post offers tips for teaching social justice through current events including considering who your students are, exploring opinions and perspectives, clarifying social justice themes, using interactive technology, and encouraging activism.

• 10 Ways Youth Can Engage in Activism (Anti-Defamation League) – As the title suggests, this article provides ten strategies that can be acted upon individually, or organized as a group where young people can join with a larger effort that is taking place locally or nationally.

• Event Analysis (HSTRY) – Sign up for a free account and have access to a suite of current and historical event graphic organizers (among other templates) that get students not only thinking, but creating cause-effect relationships in a multimedia, easily shareable format.

Stay Connected!

We offers free lesson plans, resources, book/film reviews, and grants to teach immigration. We also welcome teacher and student book reviews and contributions to our blog. Email us at teacher@immcouncil.org and follow us on twitter @ThnkImmigration #teachimmigration

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Our Teacher and Community Grants Recipients Inspire Us

The American Immigration Council is pleased to present the outcomes of our 2014-2015 Teacher and Community Grants. The 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 June 29, 2015, so it’s not too late to apply by clicking here.

This year’s grant recipients epitomize both facets of our program in that they offer an easily reproducible Common Core aligned curriculum for teaching about immigration in the classroom as well as fulfilling a civic need for immigrants in the local community through the completion of a student-driven, student-led service project. The awardees are teachers Kerri Fenton and Debra Moreau from Joseph A. DePaolo Middle School, Southington, CT and Delia Lancaster from Saint Joseph Catholic School, Palm Bay, FL. We want to share their work with you to inspire similarly creative, engaging, and rigorous learning on immigration in your own classrooms and communities.

Educate, Celebrate, and Empower: This one-week immigration community outreach project and lesson plan developed by Kerri Fenton and Debra Moreau meets three objectives: 1) to educate students on the experiences of the immigrant population; 2) to celebrate and welcome immigrant students; and 3) to empower all students to implement a social justice project.   

Through research, interviews, reflection, and project-based learning, students wrestle with these essential questions over the course of the project: How do immigrants contribute to our school community? How can we create a welcoming school climate for individuals and their families of diverse backgrounds? What are commonalities and distinctions of immigration experiences?

One student wrote empathetically in response to what she learned that “the guest speakers [featured in this project] opened my mind to how hard it is for immigrants to come to a new country (learning the language, adapting to new culture and ways of life).”  

To view the lesson plan, please click here. Schools are encouraged throughout the year to discuss the diverse contributions of immigrants within their own communities. Some ideas are provided at the end of the lesson plan. Adaptations and extensions are encouraged.  

To read the students’ book review of Shaun Tan’s The Arrival we published, please click here.

Students creating "Welcoming Brochures" using Google Docs

Health First, Protections for Migrant Workers: This video and service-project created by Delia Lancaster brings awareness and assistance to those persons who perform the “unseen” and risky jobs of bringing fresh fruits and vegetables to our tables. As teacher Delia Lancaster says, “What began as a grant funding a simple video project, turned into a significant fundraising and service project, after our students learned of the extreme conditions faced by farm workers who live and work within twenty miles from our own comfortable homes.”  As the students researched, learned, and questioned the community that served them just 20 miles away, they became more invested and engaged to “do something.”  

Projects like these can happen organically, when students, teachers, and community members recognize an unmet need and feel compelled to act. This is the heart of social justice and service-learning in action. Take a cue from these students, Ms. Lancaster, and the Saint Joseph Catholic School community for a model of an immigrant-based, service-learning project by learning more about what ended up being a year-long project here.

To watch a short video of their first semester where students interviewed community members and created a news broadcast, please click here.

To watch a follow-up video of their second semester where students initiated and completed a fundraising drive for badly-needed toiletry items, please click here. 

As a result of their health care drive, students collected 258 hair care products, 507 dental care products, 475 body care products, 22 bottles of sunscreen 146 sticks of deodorant, 20 wide-brimmed hats, 30 pairs of sunglasses, and an assortment of baby products.

Top Photo Adults Pictured from Left to Right: Delia Lancaster, Art Teacher & Enrichment Facilitator, Saint Joseph Catholic School; Colette Heid, Communications Director, Treasure Coast Community Health; Moses Santos, Outreach Director, Treasure Coast Community Health; Claudia Stokes, Principal, Saint Joseph Catholic School

Treasure Coast Community Health Center is a non-profit organization that provides medical, dental and mental health services for people who could otherwise not afford those services. You can visit their website at www.tcchinc.org

Our lesson, Interpreting the Impact of Cesar Chavez’s Early Years, is primary-source, Common-Core aligned lesson that asks students to analyze how Chavez’s own words and early life experiences led to his later achievements that features the news broadcast produced by Saint Joseph Academy students and is an excellent model for social justice in action today.

We invite book reviews written by teachers or students and we offer free lesson plans, resources, and grants to #teachimmigration. Stay connected! Follow us on twitter @ThnkImmigration