WEBQUEST

PROBLEMS FACING

NEWLY ARRIVED IMMIGRANTS

IN AMERICA

by Rosarine Vajeeprasee

CIS 166

INTRODUCTION

You are a writer for a popular magazine. You need to write an article about immigration in the New York City public school system. You reflect back on the past to the year that you and your family had arrived in the United States from another country. You were nine years old and were placed in a middle school fifth grade class even though you had a limited knowledge of English and of American customs. For example, you were still wearing your native country’s clothing, which looked completely different from the American style. You were barely able to understand what the teacher or your new classmates were saying, and, worse, they couldn’t understand you. You felt left out, lost, and alone.

Thousands of kids enter the public school system every year without any basic skills. Special classes must sometimes be created. After two years, an immigrant child must take a standardized test and most of the time do poorly, bringing down the overall test scores in the public school system and further harming the self-esteem of these children. In your article, you want to express to American readers how painful it was to be a new immigrant from another country and to be thrown into a new environment. In trying to get American readers to place themselves into the shoes of a newly arrived immigrant, you will research the problems immigrants face in assimilating into American society, as well as the public policies in place to help immigrants live better lives. Finally, you will develop original public policies designed to make the immigrant experience an easier one.

TASK

Your task is to research the problems and public policies associated with immigration, especially those dealing with immigrants in the New York City public school system. You will use the TIPS six-step Public Policy Analyst as well as the websites provided below to help you in your research. You will use the information you gather, and the conclusions you draw, to write a three-page magazine article (typewritten, double-spaced) on the problems facing immigrants and the public policies in place to help them. You will also create a collage illustrating your knowledge of a culture of your choice.

PROCESS

1. Use the websites below to help you research the problems and public policies associated with immigration, especially relating to the New York City public school system. Summarize your findings on the TIPS six-step Public Policy Analyst worksheets hyperlinked below:

a. Define the problem.

b. Gather evidence for the problem.

c. Identify causes of the problem.

d. Evaluate existing public policies.

e. Develop solutions for the problem.

f. Select the best solution.

2. Produce a three-page magazine article (typewritten, double-spaced) based on your findings and your conclusions.

3. Create a collage showing your knowledge and appreciation of the culture of your choice (not American culture).

RESOURCES

Use the following websites to help you in your research:

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2001/oct2001/nyc-o23.shtml (problems facing new immigrants)

http://www.npg.org/factsheets/imm_americans_spoken.html (American attitudes towards immigrants and immigration)

http://www.elpasodiocese.org/DMRS/News/Bishop%201-13-02.htm (more problems facing immigrants)

http://www.rockfound.org/Documents/444/Laurie_Olsen_paper.pdf (more problems)

http://www.ncsl.org/programs/immig/ (gives a lot of statistics on immigration)

http://www.ericfacility.net/databases/ERIC_Digests/ed402399.html (for NYC public schools)

http://www.ffcd.org/ourwork/n-public.html (policies to help new immigrants)

http://www.pencil.org/publicschools/otherlinks.htm (more policies and policy proposals to help immigrants)

EVALUATION

Level 1	Level 2	Level 3	Level 4
- Minimal effort in work - Major errors - Non functioning group - Oral and written report incomplete	- Important points enunciated - Report and oral presentation haphazardly done	- Ideas clearly spelled out - Reports both oral and written well done - Very good group cooperation among group members	- Use of many sources of information evident - Oral and written reports exceptional - Excellent group participation

STANDARDS

ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS:

E2 – Writing

E3 – Speaking, listening and viewing

E4 – Conventions, grammar and usage of the English language

SOCIAL STUDIES STANDARDS

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.

CONCLUSION

Having completed this WebQuest, you have gained a better understanding of what it feels like to be a newly arrived immigrant in the United States. You have seen life through an immigrant child’s eyes as he or she enters an American school for the first time. You have researched the problems facing immigrants as well as the public policies on immigration. You have developed original public policies of your own that are designed to help immigrants better assimilate into American society.