Immigration in the 1890’s in New York City

8th Grade Social Studies

Ms de Bellegarde

Introduction

You are a New Yorker in the 1890’s and immigrants are arriving in New York City.  In the late 1900’s immigrants from European arrived daily United States through New York and arrived at Ellis Island.  As they arrived in New York, they saw the Statue of Liberty. Her sign says New York is for the  “huddled masses yearning to breathe free” but  was that true?   Immigrants posed major social problems. They were taken advantage of in jobs, housing and faced discrimination.

 

You can choose to become a reporter or the editor of a daily newspaper.  You can decide if your newspaper writes for or against the immigrants coming into New York.   Are the policies set up for immigrants working for or against what your newspaper believes?

 

Task

You will be set up in groups as members of a newspaper.   In each group there will be reporters and one editor.     The government has established many policies to address the problems of immigration.  As a group you will be reporting to New York what you have discovered by writing a five paragraph article to be printed in your newspaper.

 

Process

You will first learn about public policy.  Click the link below and follow the Graphics Version.

http://www2.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/ppae/ppae3.html

Ø First you are going to determine the problem immigration is posing for New York.

Ø You will gather evidence about this problem

Ø You will identify the causes of this problem

Ø Next evaluate an existing policy   (does it work?  Why or why not?)

Ø Develop a solution or solutions you think will solve this problem

Ø Pick the best solution that is feasible and effective

 

When you come to the worksheet, download it to your computer.  All six worksheets need to be completed as part of your webquest.

·        Worksheet 1        

·        Worksheet 2        

·        Worksheet 3

·        Worksheet 4

·        Worksheet 5

·        Worksheet 6

 

Now you should have enough information to write a five paragraph essay.  You need to determine your audience.  

If you are a reporter

ü Report about the facts

ü What is the problem and public policy the government used to try to solve that problem?

ü Do you see any other solutions?

ü Assign a name to your newspaper article

If you are an editor

ü Report about the facts

ü What is the problem and public policy the government used to try to solve that problem?

ü What is your opinion about the policy and it’s attempt to solve the problem

ü Assign your name as the editor opinion page

In your group – evaluate each other’s article.  Does this article represent your newspaper?

Newspaper Publishing

v Pick a name for your newspaper

v What is the date of the issue?

v You will need the name of your article

v Go to the following website-

 

http://www.fodey.com/generators/newspaper/snippet.asp

 

v Fill out the template

v Print the issue of your newspaper

Resources

SEARCH ENGINES

·       www.google.com

·        www.bing.com

·         www.ask.com

 

Immigration Websites

 

·        IMMGRATION TO THE UNITED STATES—A HISTORY

·         ELLIS ISLAND

·        Child Labor-immigrants

·        AN INTERACTIVE ELLIS ISLAND-THE IMMIGRANT EXPERIENCE

·        IMMIGRATION POLICY

·        ELLIS ISLAND POLICIES

·        A COMPLETE HISTORY

 

 

Evaluation

Each group will be graded according to the following rubric:

 

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 Newspaper article

Full completion of 5 paragraph newspaper article with pictures, graphics and meaningful text

Professional looking newspaper article presentation, with 5 paragraphs plus some pictures, graphics, and meaningful text

Completed newspaper article with some pictures, graphics and meaningful text.

Partially completed newspaper article.  Absence of sufficient pictures, graphics, and text.

 

Organization

Group worked together on all projects and handed in signed group summary (or spoke to the teacher regarding any group issues).

Group worked together on most projects and handed in signed group summary (or spoke to the teacher regarding any group issues).

Group worked together on most projects but failed to hand in group summary (or spoke to the teacher regarding any group issues).

Group did not work well together (and did not speak to the teacher regarding any group issues).

 

A= 20-17

B= 16-14

C= 13-11

F= 10-1

 

 

Conclusion

Congratulations you have increased your reader’s knowledge about the immigrations issues of the 1890’s and discovered how policies affect their lives as well as our lives!    

 

 

Standards

Standard 1:   History of the United States and New York

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 the United States and New York.

Standard 4:   Economics

Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of how the United States and other societies develop economic systems and associated institutions to allocate scarce resources, how major decision-making units function in the United States and other national economies, and how an economy solves the scarcity problem through market and nonmarket mechanisms.

Standard 5:   Civics, Citizenship, and Government

Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of the necessity for establishing governments; the governmental system of the United States and other nations; the United States Constitution; the basic civic values of American constitutional democracy; and the roles, rights, and responsibilities of citizenship, including avenues of participation.

 

Standard 1:   Language for Information and Understanding

Students will listen, speak, read, and write for information and understanding. As listeners and readers, students will collect data, facts, and ideas; discover relationships, concepts, and generalizations; and use knowledge generated from oral, written, and electronically produced texts. As speakers and writers, they will use oral and written language that follows the accepted conventions of the English language to acquire, interpret, apply, and transmit information.

Standard 2:   Language for Literary Response and Expression

Students will read and listen to oral, written, and electronically produced texts and performances from American and world literature; relate texts and performances to their own lives; and develop an understanding of the diverse social, historical, and cultural dimensions the texts and performances represent. As speakers and writers, students will use oral and written language that follows the accepted conventions of the English language for self-expression and artistic creation.