Immigration

Ms. Evelyn

Wadleigh High School

Eighth Grade Social Studies

Introduction:

As immigration to the United States increased in the late 1800’s, the need for housing also increased. Overcrowding exists, leading to the rapid spread of disease and the increased danger of fire. As the squalid conditions of the poor threatened the health and welfare of the rich and affluent, a committee was created to investigate ways of improving the living conditions of the poor.

Task:

Your group is charged with the task of advising the committee on ways of improving the living conditions of newly arrived immigrants to the United States, who are living in the slums of New York City.

1. Research the existing living conditions of immigrants

Document your findings with pictures, stories, essays and other historical document

2. Who were the historic leaders who lead the housing

reform movement?

3. What changes would you propose to be made in the

housing laws to make living conditions better?

4. How would you implement those changes?

5. What effect should those changes have on the way

newly arrived immigrants lived?

6. Create a PowerPoint that shows:

a. The causes of the existing problems

b. Evidence of the existing problems (pictures, diaries,

and other primary source documents)

c. Propose policy or legislature to fix the problems

d. State what effect the proposed legislature will have

Process:

Step 1: The class will be divided into eight groups of four. Each group member will be assigned one of the following roles by the teacher:

Researcher

Technical Advisor

Spokesperson

Lawmaker

Step 2: Your group will complete the four-step American History Public Policy Analyst (AHPPA) using the PPA website. You will also complete the worksheets below to develop you policy recommendations on changing housing for newly arrived immigrants.

Identify the Problem:

Identify the nature of a social problem

Gather Evidence of the Problem:

Gather evidence to support the existence of the problem

Determine the causes of the Problem:

Determine the causes and factors contributing to the problem

Evaluate the Policy to correct the Problem:

Evaluating existing public policies

Step 3: Use the listed Resources (below) to gather evidence of poor living conditions and how they affect the city at large

Step 4: You will work together to prepare the PowerPoint presentation. Make sure to present your findings in the presentation based on the evidence you have gathered. The spokesperson will present the findings and policy recommendations to the class.

Resources:

http://www.people.virginia.edu/~eas5e/Sadlier/Life.html

http://www.suffolk.lib.ny.us/youth/jcssimmigration.html

http://www.courierpostonline.com/columnists/cxmi110603a.htm

http://www.herbertasbury.com/gangsofnewyork/

http://www.nyc.gov/html/nyc100/html/imm_stories/museum/page2.html

http://www.cis.yale.edu/amstud/inforev/riis/title.html

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/papr/nyc.html

http://www.mcny.org/Exhibitions/5points/fivepoints.htm

Evaluation:

Each group will be graded according to the following simple table:

Performance	Excellent 5	Good 4	Satisfactory 3	Needs Improvement 2
Completion of Worksheets	Fully understand the social problem, its causes and public policy that arose from it, and fully completes worksheets	Good understanding of social problem, causes, and public policy. Completion of worksheets	Satisfactory understanding of social problem, causes, and public policy. Substantially completes worksheets.	Minimal understanding of social problem, causes, and public policy. Failure to complete worksheets
Completion of Power Point Presentation	Full completion of 10 power point slides with pictures, graphics and meaningful text	Professional looking power point presentation, with 10 slides, plus some pictures, graphics, and meaningful text	Completed power point presentation with some pictures, graphics and meaningful text.	Partially completed power point presentation. Absence of sufficient pictures, graphics, and text.
Oral Presentation (power point)	Full presentation of power point slides. Each group member presents one or more slides.	Good presentation of power point slides. Two out of 3 group members present slides.	Satisfactory presentation of power point slides. 1 of 3 group members present slides.	Presentation of power point slides. 1 of 3 group members present slides.
Organization	Group worked together on all projects and handed in signed group summary (or spoke to Ms. Evelyn regarding any group issues).	Group worked together on most projects and handed in signed group summary (or spoke to Ms. Evelyn regarding any group issues).	Group worked together on most projects but failed to hand in group summary (or spoke to Ms. Evelyn regarding any group issues).	Group did not work well together (and did not speak to Ms. Evelyn regarding any group issues).

A= 20-17

B= 16-14

C= 13-11

F= 10-1

Standards:

This Web quest addresses to the followings Social Studies and ELA curriculum standards:

SOCIAL STUDIES STANDARDS:

Standard 1 : History of the United States and New YorkHiHHHHHHH

Standard 2 : World History

Standard 5: Civics, Citizenship and Government

ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS STANDARDS:

1: Students will read, write, listen, and speak for information and understanding.

3: Students will read, write, listen, and speak for critical analysis and evaluation.

Conclusion:

By having completed this WebQuest you have successfully worked through the four-steps of the PPA and have advised the committee on improving the living conditions of newly arrived immigrants to the United States, who are living in the slums of New York City.

You have research the existing living conditions of immigrants and documented your findings with pictures, stories, essays and other historical document You have listed the historic leaders who lead the housing reform movement. You have also created a PowerPoint presenting your research findings and you proposal for new policy to fix the problems.