Illustation from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale
IMMIGRANTS
The Irish Experience in Boston 1840-1870
and The Immigrants' Experience Today
Teacher’s Guide
Teacher’s Guide originally prepared by ·
Last modified 8/11/97
Richard Levine, Tefft Middle School, Streamwood IL, School District U-46
BACKGROUND
Teaching American History Through a Different Mirror by By Ronald Takaki
This version of IMMIGRANTS is a social studies, English math and science unit for middle school students that makes use of the computer applications of word processing, spreadsheet and presentation. The subject of the unit is the Irish immigration into the city of Boston during the period 1840 - 1850. In working through the unit, students "adopt" an immigrant family, make such decisions about living and working as that family might have made them and narrate their stories. In a large part, these decisions are based on actual data for the period 1840 - 1850. For example, lists of immigrant families are taken from city records made as passengers disembarked in America. Information about food, clothing and housing costs, and jobs is also based on historical record.
GOALS
SCHOOL DISTRICT U-46
MIDDLE SCHOOL SCIENCE
LOCAL GOALS AND CURRICULUM STANDARDS ADDRESSED
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| 1. All students will master and apply effective skills of communication. | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 |
| 2. All students will acquire problem solving skills and apply them to life long learning by demonstrating a variety of problem solving techniques. | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 |
| 3. All students will discover and cultivate their creative talents by demonstrating creative self-expression through the various media of art, music, writing and drama. | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 |
| 4. All students will be prepared for the responsibility of work, leisure and financial independence. | 3, 5 |
| 5. All students will acquire an understanding of the rights, responsibilities, and obligations of participation in the family, the community, the nation, and the world. | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 |
| 6. All students will demonstrate awareness of various cultural and ethnic groups. | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, Quiet Man Lesson, Multicultural Panel |
| 7. All students will acquire and apply the knowledge and skills of scientific literacy | Energy Pyramid Lesson, Genetic Lessons ca, |
Students will be able to communicate information, concepts, prose, symbols, reports, audio and video recordings, speeches, graphic displays, and computer-based programs.
Students will be able to use creative thinking skills to generate new ideas, make the best decisions, recognize and solve problems through reasoning, interpreting symbolic data, and developing efficient techniques for lifelong learning.
LOCAL CONNECTIONS TO CONNECTIONS TO GLOBAL ISSUES
Students are given the opportunity to study and analyze issues of immigration. During the process, they will grapple with some of the same problems that faced earlier Americans and struggle to find the answers. Students will compare present-day immigration trends and policies to those of the past. Among the issues addressed are:
DOWNLOADING INFORMATION
This site contains links to spreadsheet worksheets representing
This unit can be done as a whole class project, or with smaller groups using the computer in turns, or in a computer lab environment.
OVERVIEW OF THE UNIT
Learning Environment
Multiple Stations
There are five learning sections. Typically students will work through the sections in groups of two or three (three being the optimal number). It is strongly suggested that the following group structure be implemented. For each section, there are three roles for each group.
Single Station
The first option is to have students access the computer in groups throughout the school day. This works best in "elementary school" settings in which the teacher has the students for a large block of time.
The second option is a last resort in using this unit since the use of the computer is one of the goals. Also, this means that the entire class has to go lock-step through this unit, instead of progressing at their own speed. Viewing the monitor will be the biggest concern. If no adequate projection device is available, then the printed materials will have to be reproduced and handed out for each section. The class can make decisions as a whole group, and then the class can still work in smaller groups to produce a product for the section.
STUDENT SECTION ONE
In the second section, students will read background information about Ireland and a story about a boy named Patt. They will study a
Evaluation Considerations
Some of the points that students should consider in their research are
Rubric to evaluate
EVALUATION OF : ______________________________________________________________________________________
PERIOD: ________________________________ Section __________
DATE: ________________________________ Part __________
EVALUATOR: Self Group Peer(s) Teacher
NAMES: _____________________________________________________________________________________
UNACCEPTABLE (U); INCOMPLETE (I); GOOD (G); EXCELLENT (E)
PREPARATION 10 points
From Illinois State Board Of Education Social Studies Learning Standards. Applicable sections are in bold type.
Apply the skills of historical analysis and interpretation.
| Learning Standards | Middle/Junior High School | Early High School | Late High School |
| A. Apply the skills of historical analysis and interpretation. | 16.A.3a Describe how historians use models for organizing historical
interpretation (e.g., biographies, political events, issues and conflicts).
6.A.3b Make inferences about historical events and eras using historical maps and other historical sources. 16.A.3c Identify the differences between historical fact and interpretation. |
16.A.4a Analyze and report historical events to determine cause-and-effect
relationships.
16.A.4b Compare competing historical interpretations of an event. |
16.A.5a Analyze historical and contemporary developments using methods
of historical inquiry.
16.A.5b Explain the tentative nature of historical interpretations. |
| B. Understand the development of economic systems. | Strand B.3 (US): Local, State and United States History
16.B.3a (US) Describe the economic motivations that attracted Europeans and others to the Americas. 16.B.3b (US) Explain the relationship between the economic system and slavery, immigration, industrialization, labor and urbanization, 1700 - 1900. 16.B.3c (US) Describe the contributions of key individuals and groups to significant turning points in United States economic history since 1900 (e.g., Great Depression, New Deal, and Great Society). |
Strand B.4 (US): Local, State and United States History
16.B.4a (US) Explain how trade patterns developed between the Americas and the rest of the global economy, 1500-1840. 16.B.4b (US) Analyze the impact of westward expansion on United States economy. 16.B.4c (US) Describe how the economic boom after 1865 affected the country's economic institutions (e.g., corporations, banks, government policies, organized labor). |
Strand B.5 (US): Local, State and United States History
16.B.5a (US) Describe the changing economic role of the United States in the world economy since World War II. 16.B.5b (US) Analyze significant trends of U.S. economic growth over time (e.g., wages, inflation/deflation, other economic indicators). 16.B.5c (US) Analyze the relationship between United States' economic history and the nation's environmental, social, technological and political history. |
| Strand B.3 (W): World History
16.B.3a (W) Describe major economic trends including long distance trade, commercialization, urbanization, technological and scientific progress from c.1000 to 1500 CE. 16.B.3b (W) Describe the economic systems and trade patterns of North America, South America, and Mesoamerica before the encounter with the Europeans. 16.B.3c (W) Describe the contributions of key individuals and significant turning points in world economic history, 1500 -present. |
Strand B.4 (W): World History
16.B.4a (W) Analyze the emergence and development of American and European capitalism and its institutions after 1500. 16.B.4b (W) Compare socialism and communism in Europe, America, Asia and Africa after 1815. 16.B.4c (W) Describe the impact of key individuals and groups, and the turning points of world economic history, 1500 - present. |
Strand B.5 (W): World History
16.B.5a (W) Explain how industrial capitalism became the dominant economic model in the world. 16.B.5b (W) Analyze how historical trends in population, urbanization, economic development and technological advancements have affected change in world economic systems. 16.B.5c (W) Describe the relationship between the significant turning points in economic history and world political, environmental and social history. |
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| C. Understand the development of environmental history. | Strand 16.C.3 (US): Local, State and United States History
16.C.3a (US) Describe how early settlers in North America adapted to, utilized and changed the environment prior to 1818. 16.C.3b (US) Describe how the largely rural population of the United States adapted, used and changed the environment after 1818. 16.C.3c (US) Analyze the impact of the rise of urbanization, c.1750-1945, on the environment. |
Strand 16.C.4 (US): Local, State and United States History
16.C.4a (US) Describe the causes and effects of conservation and environmental movements in the United States, c. 1900 - present. 16.C.4b (US) Identify key individuals and groups and the significant turning points in United States environmental history (e.g., T. Roosevelt/conservation movement, F. Roosevelt/TVA). |
Strand 16.C.5 (US): Local, State and United States History
16.C.5a (US) Analyze positive and negative impacts of environmental changes in the United States since 1900. 16.C.5b (US) Analyze long-term trends in United States environmental history (e.g., change from exploitation to conservation). 16.C.5c (US) Compare the United States' environmental history with the nation's economic, social, technological and political history. |
| 16.C.3a (W) Describe how the people of the Huang He, Tigris-Euphrates,
Nile, and Indus river valleys shaped their environments during the agricultural
revolution, c.4000-1000 BCE.
16.C.3b (W) Explain how expanded European and Asian contacts affected the environment of both continents, c.1000 BCE - 1500 CE. 16.C.3c (W) Identify the impact of contributions by key groups and the significant turning points in world environmental history (e.g., Green Peace, Sierra Club). |
Strand 16.C.4 (W): World History
16.C.4a (W) Analyze how cultural encounters among peoples of the earth affected the environment, c. 1500 - present. 16.C.4b (W) Describe how major technological and scientific innovations affected the environment. |
Strand 16.C.5 (W): World History
16.C.5a (W) Describe ways in which the world's environmental systems have become more closely linked since 1500. 16.C.5b (W) Analyze how technological and scientific developments have impacted human comfort and the environment. 16.C.5c (W) Describe how significant turning points in world environmental history relate to the political, economic and social aspects of history. |
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| D. Understand the development of significant political events. | Strand 16.D.3 (US): Local, State and United States History
16.D.3a (US) Describe political life in the colonies. 16.D.3b (US) Explain why the colonies fought for their freedom and how political institutions developed during the early national period. 16.D.3c (US) Describe the impact of contributions by key individuals and groups at significant turning points in United States political history (e.g., constitutional reforms, Supreme Court decisions, social reforms). |
Strand 16.D.4 (US): Local, State and United States History
16.D.4a (US) Identify the major political ideas from the major periods in U.S. history (e.g., Federalism, New Deal, Jacksonian). 16.D.4b (US) Describe how both major and minor events interacted at significant turning points in United States political history (e.g., civil rights/student unrest). |
Strand 16.D.5 (US): Local, State and United States History
16.D.5a (US) Analyze how the consequences of the actions that people took in the past continue to affect contemporary life (e.g., Martin Luther King). 16.D.5b (US) Describe how modern political tensions are affected by historic differences in ideologies and viewpoints. 16.D.5c (US) Compare the United States' political history to the nation's economic, environmental and social history. |
| Strand 16.D.3 (W): World History
16.D.3a (W) Compare the political characteristics of Western and non-Western civilizations between 500 BCE - 500 CE. 16.D.3b (W) Identify causes and effects of major world political events between 500 CE and 1500 CE (e.g., decline of ancient empires, rise of Islamic empire, rise of African empires, feudalism, emergence of nation-states). 16.D.3c (W) Describe the political effects of western expansion in the Americas, Asia, and Africa after 1500. |
Strand 16.D.4 (W): World History
16.D.4a (W) Identify major ideas and periods in political history (e.g., independence/Kenyatta, nationalism/Sun Yat-sen). 16.D.4b (W) Describe the impact of contributions by key groups at significant turning points in world political history. |
Strand 16.D.5 (W): World History
16.D.5a (W) Analyze how the political consequences of actions affect other people and groups around the world. 16.D.5b (W) Describe how tensions in the modern world are affected by different political ideologies (e.g., communism, totalitarianism, fascism, democracy). 16.D.5c (W) Compare world political history with world economic, environmental and social history. |
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| E. Understand the development of social history. | 16.E.3 (US) Describe the social characteristics in periods of American social history (e.g., colonial, frontier, 19th century immigration, 19th and 20th century urbanization). | 16.E.4 (US) Describe the impact of contributions of individuals and groups at significant turning points in social history (e.g., abolitionist/Frederick Douglass, labor movement/John L. Lewis). | 16.E.5 (US) Analyze the relationship between U.S. social history and the nation's economic, environmental and political history. |
| 16.E.3 (W) Identify the origins and analyze consequences of major events in world social history (e.g., Irish famine/migration, rise of Nazism/Holocaust). | 16.E.4 (W) Describe how significant events since c.1500 have affected world social history (e.g., Protestant Reformation, Industrial Revolution). | 16.E.5 (W) Compare significant turning points in world social history with economic, political and environmental aspects of world history. |