Angel Island

Summary

Students will learn about the importance and impact of immigration to the building of the United States of America.

Materials

Intended Learning Outcomes

Students will understand the significance of Angel Island on immigration to the United States?

Instructional Procedures

Read some of, or parts of the books listed on the Children's Book attachment.

Discuss what is immigration? Who are these people coming here? Where do they come from?

Discuss why did these people come to the US? How did they get here? Where did they live?

Talk about the negative and positive aspects of becoming a citizen. (Child Labor Laws, Immigration Laws, freedoms, jobs, etc)

Distribute the 'Angel Island Vocabulary Sheet' to discuss in class. Explain each term to the students in words with definitions that are age appropriate or have them look up the words in a dictionary.

Distribute the 'Student Video Worksheet' before showing the video (http://www.kqed.org to stream video Discovering Angel Island: The Story Behind the Poems). Preview the questions before starting the video.

Students will read poem from the wall of Angel Island. They will then answer the questions on the worksheet.

Students will discuss how the Chinese immigrants were treated while on the island and how this was similar and different to Ellis Island. Students will fill in a Venn diagram with the information.

Students will create a poem of their own using experiences taken from Ellis and Angel Islands.

Assessment Plan

Students will keep a journal during the time we study Angel Island.

Students will write original poetry using information learned during the unit.

Bibliography

Discovering Angel Island: The Story Behind the Poems (PDF)