Timothy A. Nolan, RJ Grey Junior High School, Acton, Massachusetts 

Note: For the purpose of this workshop and the later selection of lesson plan topics participants should work in pairs to search, bookmark and critique three WWW sites related to: immigration, revolution, government, agriculture, industry, commerce, community/settlement, religion, education, the arts, or gender. 

Description of the Project or the Essential Questions: 

This activity will familiarize students with immigrants to Massachusetts in the 1990s and enable students to better understand the nature of the current immigration experience. It is organized around the following essential questions: 

1. From what countries did most immigrants to Massachusetts in the 1990s come? 

2. What have been the experiences of specific immigrants and/or immigrant groups coming to Massachusetts in the 1990s? 

3. What, in general, has been common to the experiences of these immigrants? 

4. What obstacles have these immigrants faced, and how have some of these obstacles been overcome? 

5. Which immigrants/immigrant groups have had the most successful transitional experience, and why? Which have had the most difficulty, and why? 

Grade Level: Grade 7 or 8 

State Curriculum Frameworks Learning Standards Addressed: 

History/Social Science: 

1. History Strand, Learning Standard 4 (Society, Diversity, Commonality, and the Individual), Grades 5-8: 

a. Students will learn about the nature of stereotyping as it applies to perceptions of specific immigrant groups and the immigrants' perception of the US and Massachusetts. 

b. Students will learn of individual and group achievements despite adversity and the individual and group search for liberty and equality through the experiences of recent immigrants to Massachusetts. 

2. Geography Strand, Learning Standard 8 (Places and Regions of the World), Grades 5-8: 

a. Students will map the countries of origin of several major immigrant groups to Massachusetts in the 1990's on a world map, and draw lines connecting these countries to Massachusetts (historical migrations - general pattern). 

3. Geography Strand, Learning Standard 9 (The Effects of Geography), Grades 5-8: 

a. Through gathering specific information from newspaper articles about the experiences of specific immigrants to Massachusetts, students will learn about settlement patterns, migration routes, and cultural influences of different ethnic groups and religious groups in 1990's Massachusetts. 

Local District or School Curriculum Objectives: 

The project helps to meet the following Grey Junior High Grade 7 curriculum objectives: 

Unit I: "We Are All In This Together" 
Objective #6: To introduce the thinking skill: forming generalizations. (The activity will reinforce this.) 

Unit II: "Starting the American Dream" 
Objective #5: Introduce the thinking skills: forming inferences and using supporting evidence. (Activity will reinforce these.) 

Unit IV: "America Fever" 
Objective #9: Define the concept of the "melting pot" as the idea that through the years immigrants would become "Americanized" - immigrants' differences would be "melted" into one dominant American culture. (Reinforced.) 

Objective #11: Define the concept of the "salad bowl" as a pluralistic idea that like a big salad bowl, people with all of their differences would live together in one society, like all of the vegetables mixed together in one salad, where we can still clearly see and taste different parts of the salad. 

Unit V: "Protecting the American Dream" 
Objective #2: Identify three major reasons under US immigration law today that people from other countries come to live in the US as: a. to unite families b. to bring job skills that are needed to the US c. to escape political or religious persecution 

Objective #3: From readings, compare and contrast the immigrant experiences of two Laotian immigrants to infer reasons why one immigrant's experience was easier than another. (The activity is a Massachusetts-centered adaptation of this objective, using several different immigrant groups.) 

Objective #4: From oral histories, identify problems and conflicts immigrant teens encountered upon entering the US. 

Enabling Activities 
This activity may be implemented in either small group jigsaw or individual form. The following seven* Boston Globe articles about the experiences of immigrants to Massachusetts in the 1990s are needed; the ones actually used depend on teacher's preference. 

"Up and Down the Scale" (Nicolai Lomov - Russian) - 2/11/92 

"On Boston's Fringe" (Irish immigrants) - 10/27/93 

"Helping the Forgotten Ones" (Flor Alba Rivera -Colombian) - 12/19/93 

"Cambodians Make a Fresh Start in New Land" - 1/9/94 

"Cuban Minors Brave New World" - 4/10/95 

"Bosnian Family Takes Malden, US to Heart" 12/31/95 

"From Haiti to Boston, Haitian Immigrants Have Come Here In Three Great Waves, For Different Reasons and With Different Skills," Part 2 (Suggestion: use last 8 paragraphs) 12/15/96 

(*An eighth article about Vietnamese immigrants will be added later.)

For jigsaw group implementation - Time frame: 3-4 days 

Each student should receive a "Immigration to Massachusetts: 1990s" packet, which will include the following handouts: 

Massachusetts Immigration Facts (separate file on disc) 

Graph paper and/or Pie graph chart (to be provided by teacher) 

Blank World Map-political (to be provided by teacher) 

Massachusetts Immigrant Comparison Chart (separate file on disc) 

Interpreting the Immigrant Comparison Chart (separate file on disc) 

Assessment and Point Scale Chart (separate file on disc)

1. Individually, students read information on handout "Massachusetts Immigration Facts", make graphs of six most numerous Massachusetts immigrant groups 1991-1994, and answer follow-up questions on the sheet, and label world map (indicating countries of origin mentioned on graph). 

2. Teacher reviews info with whole group, then divides class into jigsaw Home groups, distributes one Boston Globe immigrant article to each group, and explains that groups will read their assigned article aloud together, then complete one section of the comparison chart for the particular immigrant or immigrant group represented in their article. Countries of origin not mentioned on the graph completed in Step 1 should be located, shaded, and labeled on World Map, with connecting line to Massachusetts drawn as before. 

3. Home groups read articles and complete comparison charts and mapwork. 

4. Teacher redivides class into Info Sharing Groups, in which one person from each Home group joins representatives from the other Home groups. 

5. Members of each Home group read the info about the particular immigrant/immigrant group from their assigned article to the other members of the Info Sharing Group, who add this info to their comparison charts and World Maps (as needed). 

6. Students rejoin their home groups and review/double-check info on the comparison charts. 

7. Individually, students complete the follow-up questions on handout "Interpreting the Immigrant Comparison Chart (includes generalizations and inferences). This could also be done as a separate open-notes evaluation "quiz." 

8. Teacher collects and assesses completed individual packets. 

Option: For individual implementation, teacher may select three or more of the articles, give these to each student, and have students complete the comparison charts and maps for these articles. 

Products or Performances 

Each student will complete the packet "Immigration to Massachusetts: 1990s", which includes: 

- reading of raw immigration data and graphing of this data in one of two graph forms 

- interpreting this data through thinking skills: generalization and inference 

- mapping of country locations 

- reading of articles and discussing/recording notes to complete comparison chart 

- orally transmitting chart info through jigsaw group format 

- reviewing of comparison chart info in small group 

- interpreting completed comparison charts through thinking skills: forming generalizations, forming inferences, providing supporting evidence 

- demonstrating cooperative group skills: active listening, supportive participation, clear speaking, questioning as needed 

Criteria for Assessment Based on Standards 

(SEE HANDOUT: "ASSESSMENT AND POINT SCALE FOR 'IMMIGRANTS TO MASSACHUSETTS: 1990's'") 

1. Accuracy, neatness, and visual appeal of Massachusetts immigration graphs (15 pts) 

2. Accuracy of follow-up answers: appropriate generalization and inference format (Generalization = complete sentence summary or conclusion based on facts; Inference = educated guess or prediction based on limited facts or knowledge) (10 pts.) 

3. Accuracy, neatness, and visual appeal of World Maps, showing immigrant countries of origin (10 pts.) 

4. Accuracy, neatness, and completion of Massachusetts Immigrant 

Comparison Charts (20 pts) 

5. Thoughtfulness, thoroughness, and accuracy of follow-up generalizations, inferences, and supporting evidence from Comparison Charts (40 pts.) 

 6. Appropriate cooperative group behavior, based on teacher observation of active listening, recording when required, clear and accurate oral transmission of info in jigsaw group, and supportiveness to other group members (5 pts) 

Each of the criteria will be assessed through the following four achievement levels, as used in the Grey Junior High Social Studies department. (Point totals in parentheses above represent Outstanding level achievement): 

Minimal: Key components missing or not clearly shown; some content represented accurately/clearly 

Emerging: One or two key components missing or not clearly shown; most requirements met 

Consistent: All requirements met; work is accurate, neat, complete 

Outstanding: All requirements met; work shows extra thought and depth in making connections and/or applying artistic standards 

Possible generalizations 

*Many religious groups help immigrants make the transition to Massachusetts/America. 

*Recent immigrants to Massachusetts actively assist the immigrants from their group who arrive after them. 

*Reuniting families is an important reason many immigrants come to Massachusetts. 

*Immigrants with special skills and qualifications do not always succeed and prosper right away when coming to America. 

*Immigrants to Massachusetts in the 1990's make special efforts to retain special aspects of their cultures. 

*Many Spanish-speaking immigrants are coming to Massachusetts in the 1990's. 

*Many immigrants to Massachusetts in the 1990's have had to escape persecution in their countries of origin. 

*Many immigrants to Massachusetts in the 1990's face the same obstacles as immigrants throughout US history (language barrier, low-wage work to start, stereotyping/prejudice). 

*Many immigrants to Massachusetts view the state as a place of ample opportunities. 

Skills 

forming sound generalizations 

forming inferences 

providing supporting evidence 

speaking and writing clearly and accurately 

gathering, interpreting, and assessing evidence from written text (newspaper) 

note-taking 

graphing 

Culminating Activity 

Each student will complete the exercises in the "Immigration to Massachusetts: 1990's" packets, partially through individual work and partially through participation in the small-group jigsaw segment. The individual interpreting of the data will count the most in the final assessment (see above). 

Possible extensions: 

*Generalizations and evidence on handout "Interpreting the Immigrant Comparison Chart" could be used as basis for an essay. 

*Info gathered in this activity could be used to compare contemporary immigration in Massachusetts with contemporary national immigration patterns or earlier Massachusetts or national patternsResources 

"History/Social Studies Website for K-12 Teachers". [Online] 

Available http://www.execpc.com/~dboals/boals.html 

Learning Standards and Enabaling Activities Products or performance 

Local Objectives 

Sample Scoring Guide or Rubric Based on the Learning Standards Used: 

Level Description of Performance 

WHAT ARE STANDARDS BASED UNITS OF STUDY? 

1. The Topic or Essential Question 

2. The Standards (select from National Standards/State Framework) 

3. Tasks and Activities (designed to teach and demonstrate knowledge and skills - what to know or be able to do) 

4. Products and Performances (the basis for assessment - how do you know students know what you ask of them) 

5. Criteria for Assessment (based on standards) 

6. Scoring Guides (used to assess and communicate student learning - how good is good enough?) 

7. Exemplars (collected over time to clarify expectations for student learning and aid in evaluating and revising the unit) 

Boston Globe immigrant article to each group, and explains that groups will read their assigned article aloud together, then complete one section of the comparison chart for the particular immigrant or immigrant group represented in their article. Countries of origin not mentioned on the graph completed in Step 1 should be located, shaded, and labeled on World Map, with connecting line to Massachusetts drawn as before. 

3. Home groups read articles and complete comparison charts and mapwork. 

4. Teacher redivides class into Info Sharing Groups, in which one person from each Home group joins representatives from the other Home groups. 

5. Members of each Home group read the info about the particular immigrant/immigrant group from their assigned article to the other members of the Info Sharing Group, who add this info to their comparison charts and World Maps (as needed). 

6. Students rejoin their home groups and review/double-check info on the comparison charts. 

7. Individually, students complete the follow-up questions on handout "Interpreting the Immigrant Comparison Chart (includes generalizations and inferences). This could also be done as a separate open-notes evaluation "quiz." 

8. Teacher collects and assesses completed individual packets. 

Option: For individual implementation, teacher may select three or more of the articles, give these to each student, and have students complete the comparison charts and maps for these articles.