Introduction:

Immigrants from every corner of the globe have come to America in search of new opportunities. In the process, they helped to make this country the rich and diverse place we know today. Students will learn the various reasons people come to America through oral histories of recent and historic immigrants. This assignment is designed to get students involved in an activity in which they can work closely with their family, identify their ancestors, appreciate their ethnic backgrounds, understand the concept of immigration, connect events in history with the movement of their ancestors, become more cognizant of their own unique individual makeup and its cultural origins, and develop a better understanding of the United States as a melting pot.

Task:

The overall purpose of this assignment is to develop in the students the understanding that America is politically, ethnically, culturally, and economically a “NATION OF IMMIGRANTS”. The emphasis of the assignment will be extensive research by the students and their families into the first Americas (immigrants) in their genealogy. The investigation should focus on the motivations for immigration, the perils of their journey to America, the problems involved in adapting to a new world, and the unique rich cultures they brought to this country. Interview his or her family. Gather documents and records about their immigrant ancestors. Research their country of countries or origin and write a brief history of the country. Lastly, they will write a written report on their family tree.

Process:

I. Family Tree:

Students are to trace their family tree as far back as their ancestors who were immigrants to America. The emphasis will be on these individuals.

II. Report Will Include:

A. Diagram of Family Tree

B. History of First Immigrants

1. Place of Birth

2. Pictures

3. What brought them to the United States of America

4. Summary of their life in their original country and in the United States of America

5. Examples of customs, dress, music, religion they brought to America

C. Short History of the Country They Came From (2 pages written)

D. Their Effect on Your Family

III. Use the following guidelines to prepare your presentations.

· Research information from websites, textbooks, class notes, and handouts given out to you in class

· Use the 5 step public policy approach to examine the gifts and sorrows caused by flooding to the ancient civilizations:

1. Identify the problem

2. Gather your evidence for the problem

3. Determine the cause for the problem

4. Evaluate the policy

5. Develop Solutions

6. Comparative analysis

Step 2: In preparing your power point and research papers, each member of your group will contribute information on the following worksheets:

1. Identify the problem

2. Gather evidence

3. Determine causes

4. Evaluate the policy

5. Develop Solutions

6. Comparative Analysis

IV.This Report Will be Written & Oral

E. Their Effect on Your Family

F. The written and oral are to be combined for a short presentation

G. The presentation will hopefully contain a lot of visual aids. (family pictures, items from the “old country”, music, posters, etc.)

H.This assignment is unique in that it can be a resource in itself throughout the school year. Immigration to America can actually be a history of the United States. The unseen benefit of this assignment is a genuine pride the student develops in his or her background and immigrant roots. This fact becomes very evident when the students present their oral report.

Resources:

1. This unit consists of four learning activities that you can use as a thematic unit or adapt separately to your curricular needs.

2. Review later mentioned hyperlinks, then download and duplicate any materials you will need. If desired, you may bookmark specific web pages that students can access relevant online materials directly. (See Selected Websites for a guide to locating online materials.)

· Immigrants in America

· American Immigration Center

· Other helpful links

3. For guidance on presenting and exploring lessons on family history refer to Learning Page at American Memory, which includes American Dreams are resources on immigration and ancestry in addition to many more topics.

Evaluation:

	Not Acceptable 1	Needs Improvement 2	Good Work 3	Exemplary Work 4	Score
Project Construction	Information is not displayed	Information is displayed in a confusing manner.	Information is displayed accurately	Information is displayed accurately and is easily interpreted.
Project Neatness	Project is messy looking.	Project is fairly neat	Project is neat.	Project is exceptionally neat and visually stimulating.
Project Organization	Project is missing two or more of the components	Project is missing two of the components.	Project is missing one of the components.	Project clearly shows all components listed in the activity prompt.
Individual Goal	You did not complete the project.	You were off task often.	You attempted to be on task, but needed to be more focused and less distracted.	You were on task and focused.
Punctuality: Submitting the Tree and Report on time	Tree and Report submitted more than 1 school day late	Tree and Report submitted 1 day late.	Tree and Report submitted after class, but before end of the day	Tree and Report submitted at beginning of class

You can receive a maximum of 120 points.

A 108 - 120 points D 70 – 81 points

B 95 – 107 points F 69 points or fewer

C 82 – 94 points

Total Score: __________________

Conclusion:

The activity hopes to enlighten and educate students about their native country and their family’s history. This WebQuest was compiled and aligned with the New York State Standards.

English as a Second Language (ESL) 1-5 and English Language Arts (ELA) 1-5