Inquiry Lesson
Unit: Immigration
Lesson 1 of 1
Subject/Course: US History 1877 to
Present
Designer: Rachel Warrick
Topic: Immigration Policy
Teaching Date: N/A
Grade Level: 7th
Time Frame: 60 minutes
Context and Rationale: In this lesson students are asked to practice historical investigation to answer the
question, “Why did the United States impose quotas on immigration in the early 1900s?”, to which there are
multiple and competing answers. This lesson will be taught in the middle of the unit on immigration as an
enrichment exercise to supplement the curriculum. The topic is not something my CT usually spends much time
on, but it is something that lends itself easily to inquiry based instruction. The lesson will allow students to
explore topics of immigration more deeply and put their prior knowledge in a different context. Students should
understand that there were multiple interpretations of US immigration policy in the early 1900s. They will
examine evidence (concentrating on the debate surrounding the Immigration Act of 1924) from different
perspectives and analyze the information to form their own conclusions about this policy. Most importantly, they
will be using critical thinking skills to further their own understanding and construct their own meaning from the
material. As they are seventh graders and are not practiced in this method of learning about history, the
documents will be short and there will be appropriate class discussion and teacher intervention. They will be
taken through the process step-by-step so they will be appropriately challenged and engaged.








SOL and NCSS Objectives
NCSS II.d. …the learner can identify and use
processes important to reconstructing the past,
such as using a variety of sources, providing,
validating, and weighing evidence for claims,
checking credibility of sources, and searching for
causality.
NCSS II.e. … the learner can develop critical
sensitivities such as empathy and skepticism
regarding attitudes, values, and behaviors of
people in different historical contexts.
NCSS III.i. …the learner can describe ways that
historical events have been influenced by, and
have influenced, physical and human geographic
factors in local, regional, national, and global
settings.
NCSS IV.h. ...the learner can work independently
and cooperatively to accomplish goals.
NCSS V.b. … the learner can analyze group and
institutional influences on people, events, and
elements of culture.
NCSS VI.d. … the learner can describe the ways
nations and organizations respond to forces of
unity and diversity affecting order and security.
USII.1.a. The student will demonstrate skills for
historical and geographical analysis, including the
ability to analyze and interpret primary and
secondary source documents to increase
understanding of events and life in United States
history from 1877 to the present.
USII.3b. The student will demonstrate knowledge
of how life changed after the Civil War by
explaining the reasons for the increase in
immigration, growth of cities, new inventions, and
challenges arising from this expansion.

1
Outcome Objectives
Students will be able to:
o analyze primary source documents, including
maps, political cartoons, editorials, speeches,
and photographs.
o compare and contrast characteristics of “old”
immigration and “new” immigration.
o make valid hypotheses based on their analysis
of the primary source documents and support
their hypotheses with evidence from the data
sets.
o identify (at least) the four basic reasons for
immigration quotas including fear of American
job loss, depletion of resources, racial
discrimination, and a need to keep out
“undesirables”.
o identify major pieces of legislation involving US
immigration policy, including the details and
purposed of the Immigration Act of 1924.
o articulate their conclusion in a paragraph,
describing reasons for immigration quotas in
the 1920s. Their paragraphs will include an
introduction, three supporting details from the
data sets, and a conclusion.
Inquiry Lesson
Assessment
(Formative)
(Summative)
 Students will be assessed for their understanding
 After completion of the lesson, students will write a
of the documents and themes of the lesson
written summary explaining their conclusions and
through class discussion.
answer to the question. They will be assessed
based on the quality of their response. They will
 I will modify instruction if needed, based on my
be expected to summarize the broad themes of
perception of their understanding.
the lesson and support their conclusions with
 They will be given a participation grade for the
details from the data sets.
lesson and will be assessed based on the quality
of their written and oral responses to the data sets.  They will receive feedback from me after
completing the assignment.
 I will look at the worksheets after the lesson to
gauge the students’ understanding of the material.
Materials and Resources
Homework
 Projector, computer, speakers, and screen
 Students will complete the summary assignment
for homework.
 Teacher made powerpoint, including the
embedded video or a link to the online version
 Copies of the textbook, American Journey, for
each student
 Copies of the worksheet for each student
 Computer lab
 Writing utensils (pencils for the students and
markers for the dry erase board)
Instructional Procedures:
I.
II.
Introduction (10 minutes)
a. While You Wait: As the students enter, project on the screen the While You Wait activity and
objectives for the day, using the teacher made power point. They will answer the question
while they are waiting for class to begin. (Plan B: Write the WYW on the board.)
i. WYW: Open your textbooks to pg 582-583. Read the sections “Flood of Immigrants”
and “New Immigration”. List three differences between “old” immigrants and “new”
immigrants. (Read Text)
b. After they have completed the assignment, discuss the questions with them. Ask for
volunteers to share what they wrote. Possible answers include:
i. Country of origin: Old immigrants were from northern and western Europe and new
immigrants were from eastern and southern Europe.
ii. Religion: Old immigrants were Protestant and new immigrants were Catholic or Jewish
iii. Language: Old immigrants spoke English and few new immigrants did
iv. Old immigrant blended easily into American society and new immigrants felt like
outsiders and lived in ethnic neighborhoods
c. Ask the students if they think the differences in the “old” immigrants and the “new” immigrants
affected how immigration was viewed in the US.
Video and Background Information (10 minutes)
a. Show the five minute video on immigration (embedded in the powerpoint). Introduce it to the
students by explaining that it was made in 1946 as an educational tool for schools. Have them
pay attention to how immigration was taught in the 1940s. When it is over, consider these
questions for discussion: (Plan B: Give the students the information through a lecture,
rather than showing the video.)
i. How does the film compare to your textbook in describing the change in immigration
patterns?
ii. What effect did the Immigration Act of 1924 have on immigration?
iii. What images does the film use at the end of the film? Why?
iv. Does it leave you with a positive or negative feeling about immigration? About America?
b. After discussing the video, give the students a mini lecture describing the trends in
immigration policy in the United States. Use the teacher made powerpoint. (View
Presentation) Be sure to include:
2
Inquiry Lesson
III.
IV.
i. Few Restrictions Before 1882: There were no restrictions on immigration before this
time and people just walked off the boats and into the city. There were no sorting areas
like Ellis Island. However, in the 1850s, the Know-Nothing Party gained greater
influence and the nativist movement grew.
ii. Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882: First major restriction on immigration—prohibited
Chinese immigration
iii. Literacy Test in 1917: Nativist movement increased. In an effort to stop immigration,
they said that everyone had to pass a literacy test to be admitted. It didn’t do much to
limit immigration though.
iv. Quota Act of 1921: Set quotas for immigration—Asian countries had quotas of zero
v. Immigration Act of 1924: Lowered the quotas for immigration and changed how quotas
were determined so it further limited those from southern and eastern Europe.
Question and Hypothesizing (10 minutes)
a. Take the students to a computer lab. Working in pairs, they will complete the following activities
using the teacher made glog: http://rwarrick.glogster.com/inquiry-Lesson/ (Plan B: Print out
the data sets for them to use.)
b. After the students have the background information necessary to continue, pose the inquiry
question to them, “Why did the US impose quotas on immigration in the 1900s?”
c. Give them the worksheet they will use to write their hypotheses and revise them after each data
set.
d. In the appropriate space, give them a few minutes to jot down possible answers to the
question. Remind them that they should list everything that comes to mind—including
nonsense answers like “Americans thought Europeans were aliens from outer space”. This will
allow them to open their minds and not be restricted in their answers.
e. Then have the students turn to someone near them to share their answers. They should make
a list of the top 4 or 5 answers they have for the group. (Group Discussion)
f. When they have finished discussing, have each group share a possible answer and write those
hypotheses on the board. Give each group an opportunity to share, and then go around to each
group again to make sure all possible answers are written on the board.
g. By the end of the lesson the students should arrive at these four reasons: (There may be other
valid answers, but these are the four basic ones.)
i. Americans feared immigrants would take their jobs and drive wages down by working
for low wages.
ii. Americans felt overcrowded and that immigrants were taking valuable resources that
“native” Americans needed.
iii. Immigrants were discriminated against based on their race, nationality, and religion.
iv. Americans wanted to reduce the number of “undesirables”—unskilled, criminals, etc—
from entering the country.
Data Set Analysis (25 minutes)
a. Tell the students that they will now become social “scientists” to find the answers. Just like in
science class, they will test their hypotheses. They will have to analyze data to arrive at a
conclusion. (Historical Weaving/Data Based Inquiry)
b. Tell them that they are to use the glog to find the data sets which will give them evidence to help
them answer the question. As they analyze each data set, they should think about how it
supports or refutes the hypotheses.
c. Tell them to go through the data sets one at a time. For the first couple sets, model how the
students should read, interpret, and analyze the information.
d. Give the students a few minutes to look at it and write down whether it supports or revises one
of the hypotheses.
e. Then have them turn to their partner to discuss.
f. After they have had enough time to think for themselves, discuss as a class what they learned
from each set. Refer back to the hypotheses on the board and add or revise where necessary.
Put stars next to the ones that were supported and question marks next to the ones the
evidence disputes.
g. Go through each of the data sets the same way. (If there is not enough time, skip data set #4
and #6)
3
Inquiry Lesson
V.
Conclusion (5 minutes)
a. After the students are finished with all the data sets, refer back to the board. Ask the students
to share their observations.
i. Which hypotheses have the most evidence to support them?
ii. Which are most valid?
iii. Which can be discarded?
b. While the students should arrive at their own conclusions, guide the discussion to elicit the four
reasons stated above.
c. Conclude the lesson by summarizing what they learned today. Review the method of inquiry
that they participated in. Maybe have a brief discussion about how they felt about the way
they learned and how it effected their understanding of the topic.
d. Assign their homework and give them a chance to work on it in class if there is extra time.
i. For homework they will write their response to the question. They should do this in
paragraph form, with a basic thesis and details to support their conclusions. Remind
them to refer back to the data sets to write their conclusions.
Differentiation: The lesson includes a variety of source materials, including photos, maps, and political
cartoons. This gives the students at varying levels the ability to assess and describe these materials. The data
sets that are longer and involve more reading will be more challenging for struggling readers. In order to make
the material more accessible to everyone, it might be a good idea to read the documents to the students and go
through them to explain some of the vocabulary and wording. The documents can also be modified to meet the
needs of the students in the class.
Accommodations / Modifications: There are no IEPs in the classes I am working with. A few students have
504 plans, but they would not affect the implementation of the lesson.
Reflection:
The main sources of technology in this lesson are the video and the use of the glog for the
inquiry lesson. As we have learned, students learn well from the use of video in class. The video has
the benefits of being able to show maps, animation, and pictures while explaining the information.
The students would not get as much out of it if I were to lecture about the same information. It also
puts the information that they may have already learned in t a different format, which reinforces the
information and reaches students who learn particularly well from video.
The use of the glog provides many advantages. It is visually stimulating so students are more
likely to be interested and engaged. It also organizes the information clearly so that all the information
they need is in one location. The glog also saves paper so that I do not have to print out all the
information for the students. Finally, they are able to review the information at home so that they can
complete the homework assignment.
Both of the goals I am trying to accomplish my using the technology could be met without the
video and glog. However, the technology allows students to increase their digital literacy and makes
them more engaged in the material.
Attachments:
-Copy of PowerPoint Presentation
-Worksheet
-Homework assignment
-Data Set #1: Purposes of the Immigration Bill
-Data Set #2: Political Cartoon “The Only Way to Handle It”
-Data Set #3: Editorial “Keep on Guarding the Gates”
-Data Set #4: Map of Europe showing proposed changes to quotas
-Data Set #5: Senator’s speech to Congress in support of the Immigration Bill
-Data Set #6: Political Cartoon and Photo showing the Literacy Test requirement
4
Inquiry Lesson
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (LZW) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
5
Inquiry Lesson
Worksheet: Why did the US impose quotas on immigration?
Initial Hypotheses:
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
Data Set #1: What evidence does this provide? How does it support/dispute/change your hypotheses?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
Data Set #2: What evidence does this provide? How does it support/dispute/change your hypotheses?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
Data Set #3: What evidence does this provide? How does it support/dispute/change your hypotheses?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
Data Set #4: What evidence does this provide? How does it support/dispute/change your hypotheses?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
Data Set #5: What evidence does this provide? How does it support/dispute/change your hypotheses?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
Data Set #6: What evidence does this provide? How does it support/dispute/change your hypotheses?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
6
Inquiry Lesson
Homework:
Write a paragraph explaining your answer to “Why did the US impose quotas on immigration?” You
must include:
-A statement introducing what you think is the most important reason or reasons
-3 details from the data sets to support your statement
-A conclusion statement, summarizing your argument
You will be graded on the quality of your work so work carefully and think about your answers!
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
7
Inquiry Lesson
Data Set #1:1
[Teacher’s Note: The following passage features the reasoning of Senator Reed (R-Pa), one of the
authors of the Immigration Act of 1924. The current law restricted the flow of immigrants to 3% of the
number of immigrants of any particular country that had been living in the United States in 1910. Reed
wanted to stem the flow to only 2%. Excerpted from "Our New Nordic Immigration Policy," Literary
Digest 10 May 1924: 12-13.]
The purposes of the new law, we read in a New York Times article by Senator Reed (Rep., Pa.), author
of The Senate Bill, are:
"1. America realizes that she is no longer an empty country in need of more people. She realizes that
her the people living here now are enough to use the natural resources at a reasonable rate of progress.
She knows that her prosperity at this moment far exceeds that of any other land in the world. She
realizes that unless immigration is limited she will be overwhelmed by a vast migration of
peoples from the war-stricken countries of Europe. Such a migration could not fail to have a
negative effect upon American wages and standards of living, and it would make it harder to make
immigrants who are already here act like Americans. Therefore we need a limitation of the number of
immigrants who may enter this country.
1
http://ehistory.osu.edu/osu/mmh/clash/Imm_KKK/Immigration%20Pages/Documents/immigrationpolicy.htm
8
Inquiry Lesson
Data Set #2:2
1921 Political Cartoon
2
http://ehistory.osu.edu/osu/mmh/clash/Imm_KKK/IndexImages/htmlpages/onlywaytohandleit.htm
9
Inquiry Lesson
Data Set #3:3
“Keep on Guarding the Gates”
[Teacher’s Note: The following article illustrates a common contemporary view of immigration
restriction. Most Americans viewed immigrants from northern and western Europe in a much more
favorable light than those that came from southern and eastern Europe. Excerpted from "Keep on
Guarding the Gates" Current Opinion, June 1923, pp. 652-4.]
America has been letting in too many unskilled handworkers who belong to poor racial stocks and
whose steady infiltration not only fills our asylums and jails, but tends to deteriorate our native stock.
This has hurt our country.
Whether or not there is an actual labor shortage in the United States - or a labor surplus - there can be
no question that we want better immigrants, not merely more. The older type of immigration was
better than the sort that began to flood the country after 1890.
Immigrants from Holland, Scandinavia, and Scotland are honest, law-abiding, industrious characters.
But the ignorant, unskilled Pole, Sicilian, Hungarian, Romanian, and Bulgarian are ignorant, unskilled,
low-grade peoples from the south and East of Europe.
3
http://ehistory.osu.edu/osu/mmh/clash/Imm_KKK/Immigration%20Pages/Documents/guardingthegates.htm
10
Inquiry Lesson
Data Set #4:4
Maps of Europe showing the proposed changes to the quotas, from the Literary Digest, May 10, 1924
4
http://ehistory.osu.edu/osu/mmh/clash/Imm_KKK/IndexImages/htmlpages/Maps.htm
11
Inquiry Lesson
Data Set #5:5
“Shut the Door”: A Senator Speaks for Immigration Restriction
[Teacher’s Note: At the turn of the 20th century, unprecedented levels of immigration from Southern
and Eastern Europe to the United States aroused public support for restrictive immigration laws. After
World War I, which temporarily slowed immigration levels, anti-immigration sentiment rose again.
Congress passed the Quota Act of 1921, limiting entrants from each nation to 3 percent of that
nationality’s presence in the U.S. population as recorded by the 1910 census. As a result, immigration
from Southern and Eastern Europe dropped to less than one-quarter of pre-World War I levels. Even
more restrictive was the Immigration Act of 1924 (Johnson-Reed Act) that shaped American
immigration policy until the 1960s. During congressional debate over the 1924 Act, Senator Ellison
DuRant Smith of South Carolina drew on the racist theories of Madison Grant to argue that
immigration restriction was the only way to preserve existing American resources. Although blatant
racists like Smith were in the minority in the Senate, almost all senators supported restriction, and the
Johnson-Reed bill passed with only six dissenting votes.]
It seems to me the point as to this measure—and I have been so impressed for several years—is that
the time has arrived when we should shut the door…
I think that we have sufficient stock in America now for us to shut the door, Americanize what we
have, and save the resources of America for the natural increase of our population…
I think we now have sufficient population in our country for us to shut the door and to breed up a
pure, unadulterated American citizenship…Thank God we have in America perhaps the largest
percentage of any country in the world of the pure, unadulterated Anglo-Saxon stock; certainly the
greatest of any nation in the Nordic breed…
Let us shut the door and assimilate what we have, and let us breed pure American citizens and develop
our own American resources. And let us make pure Americans, with American aspirations, and
thoroughly familiar with the love of American institutions, rather than the importation of any number
of men from other countries. If we may not shut out everyone, then I am in favor of putting the quota
down to the lowest possible point, with every selective element in it that may be.
Source: Speech by Ellison DuRant Smith, April 9, 1924, Congressional Record, 68th Congress, 1st
Session (Washington DC: Government Printing Office, 1924), vol. 65, 5961–5962.
5
http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5080
12
Inquiry Lesson
Data Set #6:67
Political Cartoon and Photo depicting the Literacy Test Requirement
(Sources: National Archives and Library of Congress, date unknown)
6
7
http://ehistory.osu.edu/osu/mmh/clash/Imm_KKK/IndexImages/htmlpages/literacytestcartoon.htm
http://ehistory.osu.edu/osu/mmh/clash/Imm_KKK/IndexImages/htmlpages/literacytestphoto.htm
13