Teacher's Guide

Procedure

Activity One: Making the Literary Connection to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

As a lead-in activity, read portions of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, which promote discussions related to immigration.

Activity Two: Discovering the Common Themes of the Immigrant Experience - Connecting to Personal Experience

Students brainstorm the common threads of the immigrant experience and relate this experience to their own experiences with relocation and adjustment to new surroundings.

Activity Three: Analyzing Primary Source Texts to Identify Common Themes of the Immigrant Experience

Students use teacher-selected primary sources to identify the common themes of the immigrant experience.

Activity Four: Introduction to Photographic Analysis

Students combine observations with background knowledge to make deductions about photographs related to the theme of immigration.

(Note: This activity can use any theme that fits into the curriculum.)

Activity Five: Curating a Photo Exhibit of "The Immigrant Experience"

Students become curators of a photo exhibit entitled "The Immigrant Experience."

Activity Six: Grand Opening of "The Immigrant Experience"

Students combine their posters to create a poster display for parents and community members.

Evaluation

The Immigrant Experience - A Photographic Exhibit Five-Point Assessment Rubric.

Extension

An excellent way to establish the concept of a primary source is to ask the students to explore their homes for artifacts that tell a story about their own families. We invite you to link to our "My Family Artifact" unit within the Units of Practice Database found in The Missing Piece grant site. ("The Missing Piece" is a three-year technology staff development grant funded for Academy School District #20 in Colorado Springs, Colorado.)

Based on our American Memory experiences, this unit, as well as any lesson that uses primary source materials, can be used with multiple grade levels as an introduction to the "Down the Rabbit Hole" lesson.

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