Coming to America: Angel Island Stories
American Immigration in the 19 th Century
From: Footprints of Freedom Teaching American History , Lisa Hutton (adapted by Nicole Gilbertson),
2013
History Standards: 4.4
3.
Discuss immigration and migration to California between 1850 and 1900, including the diverse composition of those who came; the countries of origin and their relative locations; and conflicts and accords among the diverse groups (e.g., the 1882 Chinese
Exclusion Act).
4.
Describe rapid American immigration, internal migration, settlement, and the growth of towns and cities (e.g., Los Angeles).
CCSS Standards: Reading for Literature, Grade 4
1 Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when and when drawing inferences from the text.
2: Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text; summarize the text.
3: Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text(e.g., a character’s thoughts, words, or actions).
Reading for Informational Text, Grade 4
1 Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when and when drawing inferences from the text.
2: Determine the main idea of a text and explain how it is supported by key details; summarize the text.
9: Integrate information from two texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the subject knowledgeably.
10: By the end of year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, in the grades 4–5 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.
Writing, Grade 4
7 Conduct short research projects that build knowledge through investigation of different aspects of a topic.
8. Recall relevant information from experiences or gather relevant information from print and digital sources; take notes, paraphrase, and categorize information, and provide a list of sources.
Speaking and Listening, Grade 4
Speaking and Listening
1: Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher led) with diverse partners on grade 4 topics and texts, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.
2: Paraphrase portions of a text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and

formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally
SL4. 4: Report on a topic or text, tell a story, or recount an experience in an organized manner, using appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details to support main ideas or themes; speak clearly at an understandable pace.
Guiding Question:
What does Kai’s Journey to Gold Mountain demonstrate about historical fiction? About the immigration experience of those on Angel Island?
Overview of Lesson:
Lesson 1: Kai’s Journey to Gold Mountain
Objective: The students will build background knowledge of the Chinese immigration through
Angel Island and learn about the characteristics of historical fiction.
Materials:
 A copy of Kai’s Journey to Gold Mountain by Katrina Saltonstall Currier
( http://www.amazon.com/Journey-Mountain-Katrina-Saltonstall-
Currier/dp/0966735277/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=&qid =)
 Historical Fiction Chart or overhead transparency
Directions:
Into (pre-reading) o Hold up the book and read the title and name of the author. Ask the students to predict what the story will be about based on the title and cover. Make sure they explain their reasoning. o Show a few pages and ask for more predictions. If it doesn’t come up, ask the students if they think the story is fiction or non-fiction. Also, ask whether the story takes place now or in the past. o Write “historical fiction” on the board or on the overhead transparency. Tell the students that Kai’s Journey to Gold Mountain is an example of a genre or kind of fiction called historical fiction. You may want to refer to How do Historians Do History Chart and tell students that historical fiction is a specific type or genre of fiction. o Go through the historical fiction chart and discuss the characteristics of historical fiction.
Through (reading) o Read through Kai’s Journey to Gold Mountain (first read) stopping to predict, summarize, and clarify. Stop every few pages and ask the student to retell (or summarize) the story.
Beyond
1.
Begin to chart the responses to the following questions: a.
What is the setting of the book?

b.
Who are the main characters in Kai’s Journey to Gold Mountain? Are these real historical people or fictional characters?
2.
Analyzing setting: Reread Kai’s Journey to Gold Mountain as a class or you may assign a few pages to partners analyze. Ask the students to pay close attention to the text and the images that the author uses to create the setting of Angel Island.
Sample Setting Chart for Kai’s Journey to Gold Mountain
Words in the story that help me understand the setting
Images in the story that help me understand the setting
Feeling or Mood the Author and Illustrator Create
Description of the Setting
3.
Going Deeper: Discuss the following questions with the students a.
Based on Kai’s Journey to Gold Mountain, what was life on Angel Island like? b.
How does reading a piece of historical fiction like Kai’s Journey to Gold Mountain help us understand history? c.
What are the problems with only using Kai’s Journey to Gold Mountain to understand life for Chinese immigrants on Angel Island?
Let the students know that they will be returning to the last question after examining some additional sources about Angel Island.

Lesson 2: Angel Island: Comparing Primary and Secondary Sources to Kai’s
Journey to Gold Mountain
Objective: Given several primary and secondary sources, students will learn about Chinese immigration to Angel Island
Directions/Input:
Tell the students that they will be working like historians with primary and secondary sources to research life on Angel Island. They will also consider if the author of Kai’s Journey to Gold
Mountain created a complete picture of life on Angel Island.
1.
Post the following questions:
 What was life like on Angel Island?
 Did Katrina Saltonstall Currier, the author of Kai’s Journey to Gold Mountain, create a complete picture of life on Angel Island?
2.
Pass out the Using Discussion to Enhance Historical Thinking and Writing handouts to all students.
3.
Pass out a set of primary sources to each group and distribute one source per student.
4.
Ask students to write the discussion question: How do these sources support, expand, or contest what you know about life on Angel Island from Kai’s Journey to Gold Mountain?
Ask students to write this in the appropriate spot in the Sharing out Charts.
5.
Students read and respond to their sources in the Sharing Out Chart and share their responses with their fellow students. Students then discuss a possible claim to respond to the question based on all the evidence.

Lesson 3:
1.
Return to the last question from the Kai’s Journey to Gold Mountain Lesson: What are the problems with only using Kai’s Journey to Gold Mountain to understand life on Angel Island? Ask students to respond to the question using evidence from the book and the primary sources.

What is Historical Fiction?
 It is a genre of fiction that is set in the past.
 The author researches the past and attempts to create an accurate picture of the time period including the sights and sounds of the past.
 Historical fiction may have real events and real historical figures or it may blend real events and historical figures with imaginary characters and plot events.
 Historical fiction may have no real events or characters but may be based on real events and people who lived in a particular time period.
How are Historical Fiction and History Different?
 Historical fiction may help people understand history but it is still fiction and
 it is partly based on the author’s imagination.
 When a historian writes history, it must be shared with other scholars to verify the interpretation the historian is making. Historical fiction can be well

researched but it doesn’t have to follow these same rules of scholarship.

Setting Name: ______________________
Write quotes from the story (sentences, words and phrases) that help you understand the setting. Give the page number if provided in story.
Sketch the images that help you understand the setting.
Based on the words and images from the book, describe the setting using details
Inference: What mood does the author (and illustrator) create with the setting?

Angel Island Sources
Source 1: Angel Island Interrogation
Image and quote from Erica Lee and Judy Yung, Angel Island: Immigrant Gateway to
America, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010), p. 86-87.
Source 2: Angel Island Poem from Him Mark Lai, Genny Lim, and Judy Young,
Island: Poetry and History of Chinese Immigrants on Angel Island, 1910-1940, (Seattle:
University of Washington Press, 1980), p.54.
Image courtesy of Nicole Gilbertson, September 2012.
Source 3: Daily Life on Angel Island oral history from Him Mark Lai, Genny Lim, and Judy Young, Island: Poetry and History of Chinese Immigrants on Angel Island, 1910-
1940, (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1980), p.74.
Image courtesy of Nicole Gilbertson, September 2012.
Source 4: Angel Island Immigration data
Image and quote from Erica Lee and Judy Yung, Angel Island: Immigrant Gateway to
America, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010), p. 328-9.

Source 1: Angel Island Interrogation
A Chinese applicant being interrogated at Angel Island in 1923.
The following excerpt is from an interrogation with Fong Hoy Kun in 1918, who applied for admission as a son of a U.S. citizen.
Q: Which direction does the front of your house face?
A: Face west.
Q: Your alleged father has indicated that his house in How Chong Village faces east. How do you explain that?
A: I know the sun rises in the front of our house and sets in the back of our house. My mother told me that our house and also the How Chong Village faces west.
Q: Cannot you figure this matter out for yourself?
A: I really don’t know directions…
Q: How many rooms in all are there on the ground floor of your house?
A: Three; (changes) I mean there is a parlor, two bedrooms and a kitchen. There are five rooms in all downstairs. The two bedrooms are together, side by side, and are between the parlor and the kitchen.
Q; Do you wish us to understand you would forget how many bedrooms are ina house where you claim to have lived seventeen years?
A: Yes, I forgot about it.

Source 2: Angel Island Poem
My belly is so full of discontent it is really difficult to relax.
I can only worry silently to myself.
At times I gaze at the cloud- and fog-enshrouded mountain front.
It only deepens my sadness.
Image of poem carved on wall at Angel Island.

Source 3: Daily Life on Angel Island
From Mr. Ng, age 15 in 1931
“We stayed in the dormitory most of the time. There wasn’t much recreation. At most, there were one or two ping pong tables at the end of the room. There were over 100 people living there and all of us were young and wanted to play, so I never did get a chance to play. Some gambled at mah jong and tossing coins, someone would roll a half dollar on the floor. The next person would try to hit it with another half dollar. If he hits it, he keeps it. If he misses, he loses a half dollar. There was also a basketball court outside open certain hours during the day, but most people read for recreation. There were at least five different newspapers from San
Francisco. Day or night, there was always someone playing the phonograph at least until 12 midnight.”
Living quarters at Angel Island.

Source 4: Angel Island Immigration Data

Discussion Format
Teacher’s Guide
1.
Divide students into groups of 3 or 4.
2. Each student individually reads 1 documents looking for possible answers to
the discussion question. They fill out the Sharing Out Chart as they are reading.
3.
Students then share out the information on their charts. Students should focus on summarizing the content in their document, explaining what they believe the document says in relation to the discussion question, and providing supporting evidence for their teammates.
4.
After all group members have shared, the group should have a discussion on possible claim given what they believe the documents say.
Possible discussion starters:
Document xx does not seem to fit with the other documents, because….
Document xx seems to support the ideas in document xxx…..
Document xx seems more credible than document…
I agree/disagree with what Carmen said, because…..
Why do you think that?
How did you come to that conclusion?
Could you summarize your main point again….
Where is the evidence to support this idea…..
5.
Individually each student should write out his/her claim as well as the key pieces of evidence that he/she believes support it. Students should also write out any questions that they may have in preparation for a whole group discussion.
6. Whole class discussion---below are some possible questions that a teacher could
ask.
What is your claim?
What evidence supports this claim?
What evidence contradicts that claim?
How do we know that is true?
Who are the authors of some of these documents? What do we know about them?

Sharing Out Chart
Name: _____________________________________Date: ________________________
Discussion Question: _________________________________________________________________________
Document #1:
Summary:
Based on this document, how would you answer the discussion question?
Evidence
What questions do you have about the source?

What other sources do you need to answer the question?
Document #2:
Summary:
Based on this document, how would you answer the discussion question?
Evidence
What questions do you have about the source?
What other sources do you need to answer the question?

Evidence
Document #3:
Summary:
Based on this document, how would you answer the discussion question?

What questions do you have about the source?
What other sources do you need to answer the question?
Document #4:
Summary:
Based on this document, how would you answer the discussion question?
Evidence
What questions do you have about the source?
What other sources do you need to answer the question?

Based on my discussion with my classmates about all of documents, my tentative answer to the discussion question is
___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Questions I have:
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

Discussion Directions
1.
Read your document(s) to find information related to the discussion question.
Fill out the Sharing Out Chart as you read.
2.
Take turns sharing out the information on your chart. Summarize the content in your document, explaining what you believe the document says in relation to the discussion question. Provide supporting evidence.
Person Sharing:
My document is about…
The evidence that supports my idea is…
After a group member shares, take a few moments to fill out the information on your chart. Then go on to the next group member. You will need to have information on each document that your group received on your Sharing Out
Chart by the end of the group time.
Group Members Response:
Tell me more about…
What evidence do you have?
How did you come to that conclusion?

3.
After all your group members have shared, discuss if the documents agree or contradict one another. If they contradict each other, are certain documents more credible? Through your discussion, you should answer the discussion question and be able to support your answer with evidence from the documents.
 Document xx does not seem to fit with the other documents, because….
 Document xx seems to support the ideas in document xxx…..
 Document xx seems more credible than document…
 I agree/disagree with what Carmen said, because…..
 Why do you think that?
 How did you come to that conclusion?
 Could you summarize your main point again….
 Where is the evidence to support this idea…..
4.
Write out your hypothesis as well as the key pieces of evidence that you believe support your hypothesis. Write out any questions you have about the discussion question.