American Immigration: Teacher Notes

http://score.rims.k12.ca.us/activity/immigration/
This is a website which provides teachers with activities to help their students learn more about immigration within America. The website provides students with the history of immigration within the USA, and how it led to America becoming a multi-cultural country, as well as the impact of societal issues, such as the World Wars and the Great Depression which affected both the increase and decrease of immigration. As a result, the website offers a balanced view toward the topic of immigration, recognising the way in which the topic has developed in both positive and negative ways.

Although immigration provides one of the most colorful chapters in our country's history, it has also brought a host of problems which have not been so easily resolved.

The website also offers student activities, such as creating a ‘Commission Hearing’ whereby the students attempt to arrive at an immigration policy. The commission encourages students to role play; to take on the roles of individual immigrants from various countries, while other students serve as lobbyists. The use of role play really engages the students within the topic which as a result encourages them to think for themselves, placing them in specific situations which enables them express their opinions freely.

This project does not force, or present any kind of biased view toward the issue of immigration within the United States. The website and activities present students with a balanced view toward the topic of immigration within the USA, addressing both the positive and negative views and issues that surround it. The activity also encourages students to think abut how the history of immigration can be applied to America today by asking questions such as, 'Should we maintain our traditional policy of openness to new migrants, or must we reevaluate this tradition in light of current circumstances?'. The students are encouraged to use their knowledge of the history of America to address these issues and to try and reach a conclusion for themselves.

In general, the students are not mislead in anyway, nor are their views shaped by the website and activities. It is the personal view of the students toward the topic of immigration that is important, welcoming their individual views without the risk of their opinions being swayed in anyway.