8th Grade Social Studies
Immigration Day Project
Task: Your group is to develop a presentation about the life of different immigrants that arrived in the
United States during the 1800s. Presentations should be in the form of a poster, presentation board, or
tri-fold brochure.
Group members should take on the persona of an immigrant coming to America for the first time. All of
the information must be historically accurate. Immigrant characters should have:



A name
Period-accurate clothing
A history for the character
o Where they are from in the homeland
o Why they came to America
o How they got to America
o Who they came to America with
Presentations should include information about the immigrant’s culture. That should include but is not
limited to:




Traditional food
Traditional music
Customs/traditions
Language
Presentations should also have information about the homeland itself. That should include but is not
limited to:




Government of the country
Major industry/economy
Conditions in the country
Why immigrants were leaving that country to come to America
Some countries used in previous years include: Belgium, Mexico, China, Germany, Ireland, Scotland,
England, France, Japan, Columbia, Italy, Ukraine, Poland, Russia, Hungary, and Greece.

Culture of the homeland is appropriately described and presented.
50 points
All aspects of the
immigrant’s
culture is
presented in an
organized and
complete way.

30 points
Some aspects of
the immigrant’s
culture are
missing from the
presentation.
20 points
Some aspects of
the immigrant’s
culture are
missing from the
presentation and
those that are
present are not
shown
completely.
10 points
Most of the
aspects of the
immigrant’s
culture is missing
from the
presentation.
Information about the homeland is appropriately described and presented.
50 points
All required
information
about the
homeland is
presented in an
organized and
complete way.

40 points
All aspects of the
immigrant’s
culture are
present, but are
not presented
completely.
40 points
All required
information
about the
homeland are
present, but are
not presented
completely.
30 points
Some
information
about the
homeland is
missing from the
presentation.
20 points
Some of the
information
about the
homeland is
missing from the
presentation and
those that are
present are not
shown
completely.
10 points
Most of the
required
information
about the
homeland is
missing from the
presentation.
The group members have developed their immigrant characters and are knowledgeable of
them.
50 points
Student is
knowledgeable of
their character
and is able to
appropriately
present all of the
information
required.
40 points
Student is
knowledgeable
of their
character, but
struggles to
present it clearly
and concisely.
30 points
Some
information
about the
character is
missing from the
presentation.
20 points
Some of the
information
about the
character is
missing from the
presentation and
those that are
present are not
presented
clearly.
10 points
Most of the
required
information
about the
character is
missing from the
presentation.

The presentation materials are eye-catching and present the information is an organized
manner.
30 points
Presentation
materials are
very well
organized and
visually
appealing.

24 points
Presentation
materials are
well organized
but not distinctly
eye-catching.
18 points
Presentation
materials are
eye-catching, but
not organized
well.
12 points
Presentation
materials are
very poorly
organized and
not eye-catching
at all.
6 points
Presentations
materials are
missing key
pieces of
information and
are poorly
construction.
The presentation materials are neat and clean, with correct spelling and grammar.
20 points
Presentation
materials are
very neat and
there are no
spelling/grammar
mistakes.
16 points
Presentation
materials are
very neat, but
there are a few
spelling/grammar
mistakes.
12 points
Presentation
materials are not
very neat, and
there are a few
spelling/grammar
mistakes.
8 points
Presentation
materials are
very sloppy
and/or have
many
spelling/grammar
mistakes
4 points
Presentations
materials are not
neat at all and are
made up of
mostly poor
spelling/grammar.