Holly N. Hart

TITLE:

Where did we come from?

GRADE LEVEL:

4th or 5th

LENGTH:

-Interview-give one week outside of class to complete.

PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS:

The students will be able to

obtain information about immigration through interviewing the

student’s own family and at least one other family.

MATERIALS:

– list of questions to ask family

PROCEDURES:

Introduction: The students will be presented with the concept

of immigration by with a brief discussion of the history of our

families. Begin discussion with the statement that although we

are all Americans* now we (our families) did not originate in

the United States, but sometime ago our ancestors moved here from

far away. Ask them to brainstorm some questions that they might

want to know the answer to about their family’s traditions and

customs, the family’s origination and the family’s history. Write

down the questions on the chalkboard or overhead.

*If there are students from other countries in the classroom make

sure that you gear your discussion to include them. Many people

do immigrate into other countries besides the United States.

Development: The students will be given the task to interview

their own families and find out where they came from. They will

also have to interview one other family with the same questions.

Here is a list of questions that should be included in the list:

1. What is the family name?

2. From what other countries did they or their ancestors come?

3. Why did they come to America?

4. What special customs and traditions do they still observe?

The students will use the attached sheet to answer the questions

and create questions of their own to ask the interviewee.

Closure: After the students have completed their interviews they

will share with their class what they found. The students will

get in groups of 2 to 3 and share what they learned with each

other. The teacher will visit each group to help initiate discussion.

ASSESSMENT:

The assessment of the student’s performance

will be based on the completion of the attached sheet and their

input in the discussion of their findings.

ADAPTATION:

If time is a factor the students will only

interview their families. If the student is not receiving useful

information from their families have a few community volunteers

or other parents available to answer the questions.

REFERENCE:

none