The Immigration: Stories, Struggles and Debates curriculum is the companion curriculum for Immigration: The Ultimate Teen Guide by Tatyana Kleyn. This curriculum unit is designed for high school students and offers lesson plans on various topics related to immigration issues, including current policy debates, the role of the media in shaping perceptions on immigration, and diverse immigrant experiences within the United States.
The unit is divided into five lessons of varying duration and concludes with a culminating project that integrates knowledge and skills covered throughout the unit. The lessons have been broken down into 45-minute class periods; however, these can be adapted to best fit your timeframe and students’ interests and needs.
The curriculum promotes reflection on the value of diverse perspectives about immigrant experiences. The underlying goal is for students to understand that the United States is a nation of immigrants with a variety of backgrounds. These immigrants have different reasons for coming to the United States and have unique stories about their journeys.
Since Immigration: The Ultimate Teen Guide is a tool for high school teachers across the nation, when applicable, we have included the related national Common Core Standards for each lesson. The standards were drawn from the Reading and Writing Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies 6–12 sections of the Common Core Standards. However, you may also want to consult district, city and state standards in your area.
Our hope is that the Immigration: Stories, Struggles and Debates unit will encourage you to explore the topic of immigration with your students in new ways and to push them to reflect critically on the role of immigration and the experiences of immigrants in the United States context.
We appreciate your interest and hope that this will be a useful resource to you and your students!
Maria, Tiago and KatyAnna