Unit of lesson Plans on Immigration and Greek Culture

Lesson 1

Standards: 6.19 Identity and Interdependence

Lesson Topic: The movement of people from one country to another

Teaching strategies:Connection to prior knowledge, Vocabulary building, cooperative learning

Materials: world map, post it pad, Elmo, or overhead projector

Key vocabulary:Political, religious, economic, immigration, voluntary, forced

Motivation: (building background)Word Scramble guess the meaning of each word and write down your answer. Ask the person to your right what their guess is. Then, check with the person on your left. You may change your guess if you have more information. Review each word with the whole class having students clarify definitions until they understand the meaning. (10 min.)

Presentation:

Review the posted language and content objectives for the unit point out the ones which apply to lesson one and tell students each day they will give feedback on how they met the objectives the day before.

Question: Why do people leave all that is familiar and enter a new country and culture?

Practice Application:

Using a world map students will pin point and mark the country and city where their parents were born.(Important to understand the decision to immigrate is not one the young person makes.)

In groups of three they will discuss the reasons their parents came to the United States. Each reason will be written on a post it and put in the center of the table. Each student must give at least one reason.

Once this is done ask the students if their parents came to the United States, because they had to or wanted to come. (This answer is not simple as it lies not only in fact, but more often in perception) Discuss this and the questions that arise from the discussion.

Have students divide their reasons into two rows one for forced migration and one for voluntary. They will need to give a reason for where they placed their post it. (25 min.)

Assessment:Formative assessmentWrite a paragraph stating three reasons people immigrate to a new country. Using the statements on their table about reasons for immigrating to a new country, have each student write an accordion paragraph. The paragraph must have a topic sentence, three reasons, and a conclusion sentence. (20 min.)

Students will read their paragraphs three times, once to themselves, once to their partner and once time to the teacher who will grade it and return it for corrections .(10 min.)

Extension:A few papers will be chosen for common grammatical errors being made in the group. These will be put on the overhead without names. Students will work together to find the errors and explain how to correct them. They will also review the paragraph for organization and make suggestions about how to improve it. (15 min.)

Lesson two

Standard: 4.6 Understanding Place

Lesson Topic: Learning to conduct an interview Teaching strategies: cooperative learning, transference of knowledge, activator

Materials: writing journals

Vocabulary: who, what, where ,when, how, why, details, expand, repeat

Review of needed vocabulary have students take turns explaining when they would use each word (5 min.)

Question: Although immigrants must leave behind many parts of their former lives, what do you feel is most important for them to keep in retaining identity?

Motivation:Warm Up- activatorHave students write a response to this question in their journals. This journal is collected once a week for teacher responses and comments, but no corrections. (10 min)

Presentation: Students review posted objectives and decide if all parts of the lesson one language and content have been met

Practice Application:Activity

Introduction to writing interview questionsPose this question to the class.If you wanted to write a story about someone, what questions would you want to ask them?

In groups of three, students will brainstorm ten questions they would like to ask someone who has made a new life in the United States. They will make a list of these to share with the class.Students will work on clarity and grammatical structure for writing questions. Teacher will circulate and assist students who do not have this skill, or need help to ask clear questions. (20 min.)

Each group will share several questions with the class. Teacher will make a list on the Smart Board/ board of the questions given. Everyone will share in correcting or clarifying questions. Once the list is corrected students will work with a partner to practice asking questions and checking to hear a rise in tone at the end of a question. (20 min.)

Students will draw names and interview a classmate using questions practiced in class plus the addition of the question they answered in their journal at the start of class. (15 min)

Review with students the process of their interviewsWhat was easy? What was hard? Would it be different if it was a stranger?

Assessment:Formative assessment: homework assignment - write the questions you created for your interview and the answers your classmate gave you.

Exit ticket: What did you learn about how to interview someone?

Extension:Students will interview a community member who was not born in the USA.

Lesson ThreeStandard: 4.1 Human Diversity

Lesson topic: Writing a first person narrative

Teaching strategies: individual student response, compare and contrast , creating personal project time lines

Materials: Book- Kids Like Me Voices of the Immigrant Experience, i-pads, Graphic organizers

Vocabulary: students will use their word journals to record new vocabulary from their narratives and record meaningful definitions

Motivation: Students will watch the introduction of My Big , Fat Greek Wedding (20)What catches your attention when you watch this movie?

The book, Kids Like Me Voices of the Immigrant Experience, by Judith M. Blohm and Terri Lapinsky, allows students to see other young people who have made a new life in the United States. This book has short stories (5 through 10 pages) of first person narratives The narratives are written by teens about their experiences. There are twenty-six countries represented.

This is a project designed to be taught during three weeks, and will vary with the writing proficiency of the group members. There will be a variety of graphic organizers provided for those who need them.

Presentation:Students will review the language and content objectives posted for this unit and decide if the objectives for lesson two were met.

Practice Application:Students will read two stories as a class and discuss the components of a first person narrative.They will continue to read these stories both in class and for homework for eight days. Discussions will continue to point out the literary features of a narrative.

Practice Application:Students will chose from this list of questions for a daily journal entry for home work

Question for students about the narratives to use in their journals.Was this immigrant forced to leave their country or was it voluntary?Do you think people who are forced to leave their country feel different about immigrating to another place?Is everyone who is forced to immigrate given a choice about where to live?What did the writer of this narrative keep from their culture?How do you know that the writer has regrets about the lost aspects of their life?Do you share any of the feelings of these writers?

Students will review their favorite story for the class and share why it was their favorite.

Review/ Assessment

Students will be a given a week to write their own narrative about their immigration story. They will turn in a time line for their writing project, including check in date for: introduction, outline for the body and conclusion . Their timeline will include first draft date, and two follow up rewrites.

Extension Students who are done with the writing and have had it approved will film each other telling their stories.

Lesson Four

Standard: 6.1 History, 4.1 Human Diversity

Lesson Topic: Overview of Greek History and Culture

Teaching strategies: Jigsaw for research and presentation, cooperative learning,

Materials: internet access, books from library on topic, videos from chosen Sites, teacher files of photos from Greece, journals

Vocabulary: students will gather new words in their word journals with definitions as they occurs in their work

Question:What do immigrants bring to their communities in Vermont?Students will give a response in their journals and then discuss as a class

MotivationStudents will watch and discuss a video about Greece from You Tube EDU to acquire background knowledge and identify unknown vocabulary

PresentationStudents will review content and language objectives posted for the unit

Practice ApplicationStudents will do a research jigsaw in pairs or groups of three depending on the number of students. Each group will become experts on one aspect of Greek culture, or history. They will research their component and create a power point to teach the class. As part of their presentation they will create a hands on experience for the class on their component.

Topics for presentations 1. Language 5.Religion2. Traditions and customs 6. Food3. Geography4. History ( overview)

AssessmentEach group of students will write five multiple choice questions on their component choosing most important points of their presentation. This will be combined in a Proof Prof assessment for them on line.

Extension: Students may choose a topic that has caught their interest while researching and receive extra credit for a one page summary on the topic.

Lesson five

Standard 6.6 Conflict Lesson Topic: Diversity can cause conflict

Teaching Strategies: Compare and contrast thinking, how to disagree in an acceptable manner, cooperating on a team

Materials: Slides from student presentation on religion in Greece compared to the USA

Vocabulary: I disagree with youWhy do you think that? Can you tell me where you found that information? I agree with you except…. We will have to agree to disagree.

QUESTION: Is it easier to have a culture where the norms are the same or is diversity worth the conflicts that arise from different ideas and beliefs?

This debate and preparation will require two full blocks.

MotivationStudents will use their journals to compare the Greek Culture with their own Culture. Then, they will compare it to American culture. The will answer the question, Which culture is closer to your native culture Greek or American? Why?

Students will discuss their answers in small groups.

Presentation Students will review language and content objectives from the unit. We will review objectives for lessons 1-4 and decide if we have met them.

Practice/ Application

Students will have a mock debate at an entry level. In some cultures to disagree is offensive, and rude. In others the louder you scream the more correct you are considered. ELLs need to practice how to debate a topic in an acceptable manner. Students will discuss the different ways cultures view disagreement. They will practice the vocabulary in pairs using a conflict they may have had with a sibling or a friend. We will discuss how conflict over an issue in the USA can be express using certain phrases and tones of voice.

Students will draw strips of paper from a pile. Some will be blank and other will have a number from 1-5. There will be two sets of 1-5 some will be marked, diversity is worth working out the conflicts that arise. The other will state it is better when all members of a culture have the same beliefs.

If there is a larger group, there can be several teams set up in the same way.

Teams will divide and work in different areas to practice their arguments and the language that goes with them. They will work for one hour to prepare to debate. A checklist will be used to record correct strategies and those that need improvement. The team with the most correctly phrased statements will win the debate.

Assessment:

Students will write a reflection on their experience with learning how to debate a point using appropriate language.

Reflection

Trying to isolate experiences from my trip to Greece equates to isolating a note in a symphony. My passion for travel is life long, and I have been fortunate to be able to do it extensively. Yet, this trip was different. The only word I can use is spiritual.

Twice I had been to Greece, but spent my time on the Islands. No one was interested in my hunger to do a classical tour. When I first saw the itinerary for Greece, I knew I had to go. It might be my last chance.