PROJECT OVERVIEW
Name of Project:
Duration: 6 weeks
The Immigrant Experience
Subject/Course: ELA, Social Studies
Teacher(s): Morgan, Cizenski
Grade Level: 7/8
Other subject areas to
be included, if any:
Project Idea
Summary of the issue,
challenge, investigation,
scenario, or problem:
Students will analyze informational texts and narratives to identify with and understand the hardships of immigrating to
a new country. They will then create an Immigration Writing Portfolio in ELA and a DBQ’s and a DBQ essay in Social
Studies to examine what it is like to be a new face in a strange place, specifically as a foreigner in a new country.
Driving Question
What is it like to be a new face in a strange place?
CCSS to be taught and
assessed:
ELA: 7.RL.6a, 8.RL.6a, 7.RL.11, 8.RL.11, 7.RI.1, 8.RI.1, 7.RI.10, 8.RI.10, 7.W.4,8.W.4, 7.W.6, 8.W.6,
7.W.9, 8.W.9, 7.W.10, 8.W.10, 7.W.11, 8.W.11
Social Studies: 8.RH1, 2, 5, and 7, WHST 7 and 8
Additional Standards to
be taught and
assessed:
21st Century
Competencies to be
taught and assessed:
Collaboration
Creativity & Innovation
Communication (Oral Presentations)
×
Critical Thinking
×
×
Other
Presentation Audience:
Group:
Class:
Major Products
& Performances
School:
×
×
Community:
Individual:
Creative Writing, Informational Text Summary, Compare/Contrast Essay, Writing Portfolio, DBQ’s,
Experts:
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Web:
DBQ Essay, Interactive Web Tour of Ellis Island
×
Other:
PROJECT OVERVIEW
Entry event to
launch inquiry,
engage students:
A documentary film entitled Island of Hope-Island of Tears narrated by Robert Redford served as the entry event for the project.
The film focused on the processing of the wave of immigrants that entered the country at Ellis Island in the early 20th Century
and the trials and tribulations they endured in immigrating to a new country.
Assessments
Formative
Assessments
(During
Project)
Quizzes/Tests
×
Practice Presentations
Journal/Learning Log
×
Notes
Preliminary Plans/Outlines/Prototypes
×
Checklists
Rough Drafts
×
Concept Maps
Online Tests/Exams
Other:
×
Written Product(s), with rubric:
Summative
Assessments
(End of Project)
________Poems with a visual representation of the concept of
the poem__________________________________________
__________________________________________________
×
Oral Presentation, with rubric
Other Product(s) or Performance(s), with rubric:
×
Peer Evaluation
Multiple Choice/Short Answer Test
Self-Evaluation
Essay Test
Other:
.
Resources
Needed
On-site people, facilities:
ELA, SS
Equipment:
Materials:
Computers, REACH Facebook page, Pre-writing and Organizational
Handouts, Narratives and Articles on the Immigrant Experience, DBQ’s and
DBQ Essay Prompt, Ellis Island Interactive Web Tour with summary
analysis guide questions
Community resources:
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Reflection
Methods
(Individual,
Group, and/or
Whole Class)
Journal/Learning Log
×
Focus Group
Whole-Class Discussion
×
Fishbowl Discussion
Survey
Other:
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PROJECT TEACHING AND LEARNING GUIDE
Project: The Immigrant Experience
Course/Semester: 3rd-4th Quarter
Knowledge and Skills Needed by Students
to successfully complete culminating products and
performances, and do well on summative assessments
Knowledge of Memoir and Informational Text
Scaffolding / Materials / Lessons to be Provided
by the project teacher, other teachers, experts,
mentors, community members

History of US Immigration

Informational texts addressing early 20th Century and
modern Immigration issues; Memoirs from immigrants;
Independent Reading Logs; Prewriting and
organizational handouts for Informational Text
Summaries, Compare/Contrast Essays, and Creative
Writing Prompts; Allegory on the Immigrant Experience
(An American Tail); foreword reflecting on the learning
experience from the project; presentation of learning
experience and portfolios to younger students in other
BOCES programs
Interactive Web Tour of Ellis Island with guide for
summary analysis, DBQ’s on Immigration Statistics and
the Nativist perspective of immigration, DBQ Essay
Prompt-Why did people immigrate to America? What
hardships were endured during the voyage?


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
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P R O J E C T
Project: The Immigrant Experience
M O N D A Y
C A L E N D A R
Start Date: Tuesday, March 11, 2014
T U E S D A Y
W E D N E S D A Y
T H U R S D A Y
F R I D A Y
3/13/14-ELA-“Once
Around Manhattan”
analysis of a narrative
allegory on Immigration
3/14/14-ELAImmigration Vocabulary
PROJECT WEEK ONE
3/11/14-ELA-Entry
Event in
3/12/14-ELA-“Once
Around Manhattan”
analysis of a narrative
allegory on Immigration
PROJECT WEEK TWO
3/17/14-ELA-Common
Interim Assessments
3/18/14-ELAImmigration Writing
Portfolio Overview
3/19/14-ELAIndependent Reading
Choices-Read and
Respond to an
Informational Text of
your choosing
3/20/14-ELAIndependent Reading
Choices-Read and
Respond to an
Informational Text of
your choosing,
practicing in-text
citation
3/21/14-ELAImmigration Vocabulary
PROJECT WEEK THREE
3/24/14-3/28/14Students will use the
week to compose an
informational text
summary of one of
the texts they
selected and
responded to on their
3/31-4/4/14-NYS ELA
testing
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reading logs. Warm
ups will be using
examples from the
texts students have
been reading and will
be extended to teach
in-text citation rules
and best practices
prior to the ELA
exam.
PROJECT WEEK 4
4/7/14-ELA-The genre
of memoir is
introduced as
students will be
selecting memoirs
from immigrants to
read and respond to
in preparation for the
independent writing
choices for the unit.
4/8/14--ELAIndependent Reading
Choices-Read and
Respond to a memoir of
your choosing
4/9/14--ELAIndependent Reading
Choices-Read and
Respond to a memoir of
your choosing
4/10/14--ELAIndependent Reading
Choices-Read and
Respond to a memoir of
your choosing
SS-Students will use a
summary analysis
guide to track their
progress and learning
during the Interactive
Web Tour of Ellis Island
SS-Students will use a
summary analysis
guide to track their
progress and learning
during the Interactive
Web Tour of Ellis Island
SS-Students will use
DBQ’s focused on
immigration statistics
and the nativist
perspective of
immigration to analyze
the process of
immigration in the late
19th and early 20th
Centuries
4/11/14--ELAIndependent Writing
Choices-Select one of
the independent
creative writing choices
to assume the role of
an immigrant from one
of the memoirs selected
SS-Students will use
DBQ’s focused on
immigration statistics
and the nativist
perspective of
immigration to analyze
the process of
immigration in the late
19th and early 20th
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Centuries
PROJECT WEEK FIVE
4/14/14--ELAIndependent Writing
Choices-Select one of
the independent
creative writing choices
to assume the role of
an immigrant from one
of the memoirs selected
4/15/14--ELAIndependent Writing
Choices-Select one of
the independent
creative writing choices
to assume the role of
an immigrant from one
of the memoirs selected
4/16/14--ELAIndependent Writing
Choices-Select one of
the independent
creative writing choices
to assume the role of
an immigrant from one
of the memoirs selected
SS-Students will use
DBQ’s focused on
immigration statistics
and the nativist
perspective of
immigration to analyze
the process of
immigration in the late
19th and early 20th
Centuries
SS-Students will use
DBQ’s focused on
immigration statistics
and the nativist
perspective of
immigration to analyze
the process of
immigration in the late
19th and early 20th
Centuries
SS-Students will use
DBQ’s focused on
immigration statistics
and the nativist
perspective of
immigration to analyze
the process of
immigration in the late
19th and early 20th
Centuries
Ultimate Goal Field Trip
Spring Break 4/184/27/14
Pre-writing and
drafting for
Compare/Contrast
Essay in ELA Monday,
428-Tuesday, 4/29
NYS Math testing
4/30-5/2/14
PROJECT WEEK SIX
5/5/14--ELA-Peer
editing and revision of
compare/contrast
essays
SS-Students will use
DBQ essays answering
the questions of why
5/6/14--ELA-Final Draft
of Compare/Contrast
Essay
SS-Students will use
DBQ essays answering
the questions of why
people immigrated to
5/7/14--ELA-Foreword
and Table of Contents
SS-Students will use
DBQ essays answering
the questions of why
people immigrated to
the USA and what
5/8/14—ELA-Foreword ,
Table of Contents, and
Published writing piece
to the web
SS-Students will use
DBQ essays answering
the questions of why
Culminating EventStudents will select one of
their three required
compositions to post to
the REACH Facebook
page. Parents,
administrators, and other
teachers will be contacted
via email to view and post
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people immigrated to
the USA and what
hardships they endured
on the journey
the USA and what
hardships they endured
on the journey
hardships they endured
on the journey
people immigrated to
the USA and what
hardships they endured
on the journey
on the student writing
samples. Students will
also be offered an extra
credit option to present
their project work and
experience to students in
primary grade-level
programs within our
building.
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