Immigration in New York City Today

A WebQuest by: Ms.Gibbs

Fourth Grade

P.S. 175

Henry Highland Garnet School For Success

 

 

 

Introduction:

America is a nation of immigrants and that is especially true in New York City. This is the most multi-cultured city in the world besides San Francisco. Through the study of immigration you will appreciate that all immigrants face the same hopes and challenges that you and your family face.  You will research immigration policies and how they affect families.  You will also create new policies that help immigrant families reunite faster.  The Immigration and Nationality Act allows for the immigration of foreigners to the United States.  Family-based immigration falls under two basic categories: unlimited and limited.  Many times families are separated for years and years. 

 

 

Task:

The mayor has asked your class to help him formulate new immigration policy that will help immigrant families in New York City reunite more quickly.  You will work in teams of four.  Your teacher will assign you to your group and will give you a role to play.  As a member of the group you will use the internet resources (see Resource section below) to research problem that immigrant families in New York City face.  You will write a speech that you will deliver to the Mayor and others at your school during an open school meeting.  Then you will express your proposal for new immigration policy that helps families reunite more quickly.

 

Roles:

Each person in the group will have a role:

Coordinator – Organize the group so your speech is ready by the due date.

Technology – Start working on the speech using Microsoft Word.  Be sure to use correct grammar and spelling in the speech.

Researcher – Will make sure that the research information is included in the speech.

Oral Speaker/Presenter-Will give the speech to the Mayor at the open school meeting.  You will need to make sure you have good eye contact with the audience and will know the facts about the problems immigrants face.

 

 

Process:

Your group will complete all worksheets in the 6-step Public Policy Analyst below. Complete the handouts given to collect information for each step.

 

Step One – As a group, you will determine what are some of the problems modern day immigrants face.  As a group, you need to complete Worksheet 1: Defining the Problem.

 

Step Two- There are resources in the resource section below that will help you with your speech preparation.  Each person in the group  needs to browse the websites and then you need to complete Worksheet 2: Gathering Evidence of the Problem and Worksheet 3: Identifying the Causes of the Problem as a group.

 

Step Three – Your group will complete Worksheet 4: Evaluating Existing Public Policies AS A GROUP.  This worksheet will help your group brainstorm ideas that can be molded into your final public policy.

 

Step  Four – Complete the following two worksheets.  This will help you prepare the words for your speech.

Worksheet 5: Developing Public Policy Solutions

Worksheet 6: Selecting the Best Public Policy Solution.

 

 

Resources:

http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/immigration/recent/virpal.htm

http://www.iwfr.org/reunification.asp

http://www.iwfr.org/legdems.asp

http://www.gothamgazette.com/citizen/jul03/chinese_policy.shtml

 

 

Evaluation:

GRADE:

1

2

3

4

Oral Presentation

The speech is not well read.  The presenter does not look at the audience at all and does not know any facts without looking at the paper.

The speech is not well read.  The presenter does not maintain eye contact with the audience and doesn’t know many facts without having to look at the paper.

The speech is somewhat well spoken.  The presenter has eye contact with the audience and knows some of the facts without having to look at the paper.

The speech is well spoken.  The presenter makes eye contact with the audience and knows most of the facts without having to look at the paper.

Research

Not relevant to support a new policy

Enough information to support a new policy

Many resources used that support a new policy

Very good resources used to support a new policy

Worksheets

 

Incomplete - does not use the conventions of standard written English.  Has few facts and a few suggestions for new policy.

Complete- weak usage of the conventions of standard written English.  Has very little information and makes  very little suggestions for new policy.

Complete with  acceptable usage of he conventions of standard written English.  Somewhat informative and makes good suggestions for new policy.

Complete with superior use of the conventions of standard written English.  Very informative and makes very good suggestions for new policy.

 

 

STANDARDS:

ELA Standards:

1. Students will read and write for information and understanding

2. Students will read and write for literary response and expression

3.     Students will read and write for critical analysis and evaluation

4.     Student will speak and listen for social interaction

 

Social Studies Standards:

1.  Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of major ideas, eras, themes, developments and turning points in the History of New York.

 

 

 

Conclusion:

By completing this Public Policy Analyst WebQuest you now have a better understanding of the difficulties faced by modern day immigrants in New York City and the problems they face reuniting as a family.  As Public Policy Analysts you will have identified the issues, researched the current policies, and created a new policy for family immigration in the United States.  As a result of this project you will have learned to identify and improve public policies that effect immigrant families in New York City.