Why Do We Need to Know About Immigration?

Teacher:Rachel Vos and Hannah Hougen Date: March 16, 2017 Big Idea: imMIgration Thread: Civics

I. Objectives
What is the main focus of this lesson?
In this lesson, we want students to consider what it means to be a good citizen. Being informed about what is happening in our
country is one way to practice good citizenship. We will guide students through several articles on one of the most confusing and
controversial issues in the United States, immigration.
How does this lesson tie in to your units Big Idea?
We are focusing in this lesson on what it means to be an informed citizen, specifically related to the public issue of immigration. We
want students to learn about immigration as a public issue and learn about how to talk about it in an educated, respectful way.
What are your objectives for this lesson? (As many as needed.) I ndicate connections to applicable national or state standards.
Include any themes or major concepts from the thread (themes of geography, Core Principles of Economics, etc)
- 4 - C5.0.1: Explain responsibilities of citizenship
- Objective: Students will be able to explain what it means to be an informed citizen and why it is important to be
informed.
- 4 - C5.0.3: Describe ways citizens can work together to promote the values and principles of American democracy.
- Objective: Students will be able to explain why it is important to be an informed citizen.
- 4 - P3.1.1: Identify public issues in the United States that influence the daily lives of its citizens.
- Objective: Students will be able to identify immigration as a public issue.
- Objective: Students will be able to describe why immigration is a public issue.
- RI.4.2: Determine the main idea of a text and explain how it is supported by key details; summarize the text
- Objective: Students will be able to summarize the main ideas of articles on immigration.
- RI.4.9: Integrate information from two texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the subject
knowledgeably.
- Objective: Students will be able to compare and contrast the articles they read on immigration.
- SL.4.1: Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions with diverse partners on grade 4 topics and texts, building
on others ideas and expressing their own clearly.
- Objective: Students will be able to present on what they learned through reading the immigration articles.

II. Before you start

Prerequisite knowledge and skills.
Assessment
(formative and summative)
Universal Design for Learning Networks/Domains (see UDL Guidelines)
RECOGNITION
Multiple Means of Representation
Options for Perception
Options for Language/Symbols
We are clarifying what it means to be a
good citizen by giving the students a
definition after asking them what they
think it means.
Options for Comprehension
Students need to have a general understanding of what immigration is and how it affects
people.
Pre-assessment: Students will talk with a partner about what they have learned about
immigration so far.
Formative (as): Students will discuss citizenship and what it means to be a good/informed
citizen.
Formative (for): Students will present on their findings from the different immigration articles
they read.
Summative: Students will complete an exit ticket answering the question: What is one new
thing you learned about immigration from your articles, and what is one way you can practice
being a good citizen this week?
STRATEGIC AFFECTIVE
Multiple Means of Expression (Action) Multiple Means of Engagement
Options for action/interaction Options for recruiting interest
We are optimizing relevance by discussing
immigration through a current events
lens.
Options for Expression Options for Sustaining Effort & Persistence
We are encouraging collaboration by
having our students present their
summaries to a partner in the class.
Options for Executive Function Options for Self Regulation
We are activating background knowledge
on immigration that we have helped the
students with previously.
We will support students as they write
summaries of the articles they read. We
will be there to help students identify
what the key facts are and help them
construct their summary.
We are encouraging students to reflect on
what they have learned about
immigration throughout the lesson, and
we are asking them to reflect on ways
they can practice being good citizens.

3 articles on immigration: All students will read the same overview article, the students will
Materials-what materials (books,
also read one of two other articles on immigration and its policy.
handouts, etc) do you need for this
lesson and do you have them?

Students should be able to gather with the others who read the same article as them, and
Do you need to set up your they should be next to a partner who reads a different article than they do.
classroom in any special way for
this lesson? If so, describe it.

III. The Plan

Time The description of (script for) the lesson, wherein you describe teacher activities and student
Parts
activities (indicate in parenthesis where you are addressing standards and themes)
- Turn and talk with your partner: What kinds of things have you learned about immigration so
Motivation
far?
(Opening/
- Give students time to talk with their partners. When they finish, call on students to share what
Introduction/
theyve learned. Possible responses include: push and pull factors, where immigrants settle, the
Engagement)
impact of immigration on the economy, and the history of immigration in Michigan and the
United States.
10 - What do you think it would be like if there were no rules in school? Talk with your partner
again.
- Give students time to talk with their partner. When they finish, call on students to share what
they think. Possible responses could include: it would be crazy, people might get hurt, we
wouldnt know what to do, etc.
- What do you think our world would be like if there were no laws? Talk with our partner.
- Give students time to talk with their partner. When they finish, call on students to share what
they think. Responses should be similar to those from the previous question.
Development - Write the word citizenship on the board. Does anyone know what this word is? Hopefully a
student will say the word. What does this word mean?
- Call on students to share what they think citizenship might mean. Some students might not
know what the word means at all. Possible responses could include: knowing how to act, being
a good person, etc.
- Citizenship is all about being a good citizen. We are all citizens of our class, our community,
our state, and our country. What do you think it means to be a good citizen?
- Give students time to share what they think it might mean to be a good citizen. Possible
answers could include: participating in things, following the rules, caring for the community,
10 etc. After a student shares their thoughts, ask them why they think this is an important part of
being a good citizen.
- We are going to talk about five really important parts of citizenship. The first one is valuing
education. Write this on the board or on an anchor chart that can be used for reference
throughout the lesson. Valuing education is important because we want to be informed. Why
do you think it would be important to be informed?
- Call on students to share what they think. Possible responses include: so we know what is going
on, to follow the rules, to be able to talk about things going on.
- Introduce the other four aspects of citizenship (using political power, having a strong
commitment to their country, being responsible, and obeying laws) in the same way: write
them on the anchor chart, ask students why they think it is important, and let students share.
- 4 - C5.0.1: Explain responsibilities of citizenship
- Objective: Students will be able to explain what it means to be an informed
citizen and why it is important to be informed.
- 4 - C5.0.3: Describe ways citizens can work together to promote the values and
principles of American democracy.
- Objective: Students will be able to explain why it is important to be an
 informed citizen.
- We are going to apply these parts of citizenship to our discussion on immigration. First, we are
going to become more informed and educated on the topic. Before we can really talk about the
issue, we have to know as much about it as we can. To learn more, I have some articles for you
to read. All of you are going to read the articles Issue Overview: Immigration Reform. There
are two other articles as well, and some of you will read one of them, and some will read the
other. Well share what we learned after reading so we can all be more informed.
- 4 - P3.1.1: Identify public issues in the United States that influence the daily lives of its
citizens.
- Objective: Students will be able to identify immigration as a public issue.
- Objective: Students will be able to describe why immigration is a public issue.
10 - Give students time to read the article. After the students have finished, have them write a 2-3
sentence summary of the article in their own words.
- RI.4.2: Determine the main idea of a text and explain how it is supported by key
details; summarize the text
- Objective: Students will be able to summarize the main ideas of articles on
immigration.
- Pass out the other two articles, one to half the students, and the second to the other half of the
students. Give them time to read the article and summarize it when they finish.
- If you read the article Undocumented immigrants are welcome in sanctuary cities, go stand
on this side of the room. If you read the article Explaining the immigration ban, go stand on
the other side of the room. Match the students up in partnerships. With your partner, I want
you each to read your summaries of the articles you read, so your partner will learn that
information too.
10 - Give students time to give their summaries to their partners.
- Now that youve gotten some background knowledge on the topic, I want to hear from you
what you learned as you read your article. These two articles presented different viewpoints on
immigration in America, and I want to hear what you learned from each of them.
- Have all the students who read Undocumented immigrants are welcome in sanctuary cities
give their summaries/present facts they learned through reading their article. Then, switch, and
have the other side present the things they learned.
- RI.4.9: Integrate information from two texts on the same topic in order to write or
speak about the subject knowledgeably.
- Objective: Students will be able to compare and contrast the articles they
read on immigration.
- SL.4.1: Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions with diverse partners
on grade 4 topics and texts, building on others ideas and expressing their own clearly.
- Objective: Students will be able to present on what they learned through
reading the immigration articles.
10 - Immigration is a very current issue, and its one that many people in America have been taking
sides on. This issue is being debated a lot. As we read these articles, what parts of good
citizenship did you notice?
- Give students time to answer. Hopefully they say education and maybe using political power.
- How do you think this represented that part of being a good citizen?
- Let students respond. Possible answers include: we had to learn about immigration, we talked
to each other about it, we taught each other, etc.
- Before talking about issues like this with people, it is really important for us to know the facts
from both perspectives. Reading reliable sources like the ones we read today is a great way to
learn those facts before you form an opinion.
5 - For your exit ticket today, I want you to write down one new thing you learned about
Closure immigration through reading these articles and hearing from your neighbor, and one way you
can practice being a good citizen in your community or school.
- Give students time to answer.
Explain how this lesson supports your Big Idea. What is the takeaway?

At the heart of immigration is people. This lesson examines the legislation that has been in recent news and shows how it affects
the people we share our country with. As citizens of the United States, students should understand and care about these issues. It
exposes students to what is currently happening in our country regarding immigration and helps them to see two sides.