Are you looking to engage middle school students in learning about immigration? Are you worried that students will not connect with your lessons in the way you want?
These 20 ideas can help bring your unit to life and get your students involved.
You can use each idea here either alone or in combination with the other ideas to spark your creativity!
1. Dollar Street
Students can see the lives of others in the world and their monthly earnings with this amazing tool. This tool can be used to help students compare and contrast the lives of different countries.
2. Google’s virtual exploration trips
You want to show students the same terrain as families all over the globe? Google is the best place to start. Google Treks allows students to explore the world’s geography without ever leaving their classroom. As you talk about why families may migrate, students can explore the world, including Jordan.
3. Big Paper Exercises
Large paper and group work by students to visualize content are still important. You might consider asking your students to work together on a map of the journey of immigrants. Students create a map to aid in understanding the journey of an individual or family. Fun way to teach middle-school map skills!
4. Teach using Picture Books
Stories are a great way of engaging students in a lesson about immigration. You can also use this time to address their fears and concerns about immigration history. Middle school students can feel nostalgic sitting around on the ground listening to a read-aloud.
5. Up-to-date Issues
Students can explore complicated topics such as immigration by letting them explore! Education Week has articles covering a range of topics. One of these is immigration. This link will allow you to show your students what’s currently being talked about, such as the fear of enforcement or trends in immigration. Next, ask them to give their opinion using evidence from the chosen article.
6. Audio series
Listen to some contemporary immigration stories with your students. This allows them to understand current issues as well the policies being implemented. This list includes a variety of free online resources that can be used to create podcasts. To make sure the podcast is appropriate for your class, you should preview it first. However, students may find that switching from text-to-audio can be very engaging.
7. Literature circles
You might consider asking your students to research stories about immigrants. Is it too much time? This tried-and-true strategy is available to you from English teachers. Divide your students into small groups and assign each group a young adult novel about an immigration story. Then, return to the classroom to discuss similarities in each story. This idea can be further extended by having students read and compare the stories to their knowledge about early immigrant families.
8. Examining a book in depth
Above, we saw the concept of literature circles. Are you not one to read so many stories at once? One novel might be enough. Refugee by Alan Gratz, a middle-school novel that is used to provide insight and information about migration and immigration in America’s middle schools, is a book that can be found in many classrooms. This is a complete unit plan that will help you incorporate the novel into your classroom. Enjoy your reading!
9. Please Share Your Stories
Your students might be asked to explore their families’ migration history and map their family heritage. To show the journeys of every family to America, students can create a visual bulletin board to trace their lineage.
10. Analyze Immigration Bans
A second option is for students to examine current immigration policies. Have students look at current immigration policies and then have them debate the issue. The New York Times has a comprehensive lesson plan.
If you are looking for some ideas to spark a deeper discussion with your middle-schoolers, this is an easy guideline that can be followed and implemented.
11. An analysis of a song
Perhaps you are looking to test your students’ communication and critical thinking skills. One option is to ask them to look at songs such as “My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean.” See this video to learn how a teacher challenges students to examine the fact that men often go first when looking for a new place to call home. Their families then wait in vain for any updates. Students can examine the emotions of migrants and how it feels to be part of such a journey.
12. Students take a walking tour of the gallery, moving from station to station to view artwork or other exhibits.
Gallery walks are easy to set up and allow students to create the content themselves as they move around the room. Post several pictures in the room and ask the students a few questions about the subject. Students will have a lot of fun discussing the topics as they work together in groups or pairs to examine the photos and then empathize with each other.
13. Food!
Immigration can seem heavy, but you can lighten the mood by including food in your lesson. Bring food that is connected to your ancestry or have students try out cooking from a particular culture.
14. Concept: Social Media
Definition: The use of various online platforms to share information and content with other users.
Characteristics:
– Allows users to post content, such as photos, videos, and text
– Accessible through computers, tablets, and mobile devices
– Can facilitate communication and collaboration
– Can be used to share opinions, news, and entertainment
Sometimes, it’s hard to find the right place to start teaching an area as complex as Immigration. Vocabulary may be a great way for students to connect. Many teachers use the Frayer Model to aid in understanding difficult or new words, such as “immigrant”. This resource will help you understand the Frayer Model and each box.
15. Interview at Ellis Island
Students can become enlightened by the topic of immigration. You can embrace this by asking students to participate in a role playing activity, such as the Ellis Island Immigration Interview. The questions can be answered individually by students, or they can sit together in groups to discuss their answers.
16. Notable foreign-born people (Body Biographies)
Many famous immigrants have contributed to the development of America and humanity. Students can research this by providing a list to famous immigrants, and asking them to collaborate in creating Body Biographies. Students can discover about different immigrant stories, how they arrived in America (or the country from which they immigrated), and what impact they had on the culture, society, country, and country.
17. Viewing a virtual bulletin board displaying renowned immigrants.
Interactive bulletin boards come in many forms. It is possible to extend the body biography lesson by asking students how they would map the immigrant’s journey. They will be able to trace their individual’s origins, where they arrived, and where they settled. Or, if they moved around.
18. Suitcases for Immigration
Are you a fan of the idea that immigration stories are possible? Students can be asked to design suitcases that are similar to what immigrants or their families packed for long trips. Students can learn about family keepsakes and what is most important to migrants.
19. A Warm Note
Is there a school with immigrants? Are there any immigrants in your school? Your students could make a sign that includes love notes and a big picture of your immigrant students. This is a great way to show your unit’s empathy. Even if there isn’t a lot of immigrant students in your school, it might be worth having them write letters and postcards to the new families.
20. Push the Limits
It would not be unusual for your students to feel frustrated or emotional while learning about the millions families affected by immigration and family separation policies. Show them how they can help families in crisis and help them become advocates. This is a great resource that can be used to extend your unit.
