Immigration Lesson

Due to the fact that this is a class on having students in the class learning the English language I felt that this lesson could be interesting for students and the teacher to learn from. I did this when I was in fifth grade in a social studies class. First each student has to find a country to immigrate from into the United States. It was their job to learn about the country and culture and really become a native, we were given journals to write in daily based on the life of a child from that country. I remember keeping a journal and some daily chores would have been to help out after school in the potato farm. Since Ireland is known for potatoes I figured that my family would be potato farmers. I researched farmers and was able to truly get an realization of what it was like to live on a farm. Most of the Irish are religious so I went to church on Sundays. Along with keeping a journal we were required to find what the native language and customs were and asked to try and learn a few saying in that language. After this we were given a State to immigrate to. We again had to learn about the state and what life was like to live in that particular state. For example I was from Ireland and immigrated to Maine. After the immigration to America we were asked to describe the changes asked on us in order to live here. I remember we were given green card and everyday that was our entrance into the classroom. She wanted us to get a realization of what people go through when immigrating to America. I think this would help students get an idea of how different cultures work as well as the idea that language barriers exist from country to country.I feel that a lesson such as this could make ELLs fell more comfortable about not being native to America and give other students a realization of what life is like outside of America. At the end of this lesson were had a festival for student s to bring in food from their country, dress in clothing native to that country, and teach saying in other languages. It was a learning experience for everyone.