Coming to America:
Angel Island Stories
Written by Lisa Hutton
Adapted by Nicole Gilbertson
Developed for the Footprints of Freedom Teaching American History grant program. A
partnership between the UCI History Project Lake Elsinore Unified School District.
History Social Science Content Standards:
4.4 Students explain how California became an agricultural and industrial power, tracing
the transformation of the California economy and its political and cultural development
since the 1850s.
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).
History and Social Sciences Analysis Skills
Research, Evidence, and Point of View
Students differentiate between primary and secondary sources.
2. Students pose relevant questions about events they encounter in historical documents, eyewitness
accounts, oral histories, letters, diaries, artifacts, photographs, maps, artworks, and architecture.
3. Students distinguish fact from fiction by comparing documentary sources on historical figures and
events with fictionalized characters and events.
1.
Historical Interpretation

Students summarize the key events of the era they are studying and explain the historical contexts
of those events.
Selected Common Core ELA Standards
Reading Standards for Literature
RL.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.
RL4.2: Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text; summarize the text.
RL 4.3: 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 Standards for Informational Text
RI.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.
RI.4.2: Determine the main idea of a text and explain how it is supported by key details; summarize the
text.
RI.4.9: Integrate information from two texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the
subject knowledgeably.
RI.4.10: 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
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W.4.7 Conduct short research projects that build knowledge through investigation of different aspects of a
topic.
W.4.8. 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
SL4.1: 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.
SL4.2: 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.
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
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?
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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
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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.
Pass out a set of primary sources to each group and distribute one source per student.
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.
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.
3.
4.
5.
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.
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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
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researched but it doesn’t have to follow these same
rules of scholarship.
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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?
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Source 4: Angel Island Immigration Data
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