Social Studies 7Mini-Research Project: Immigration 1845-1945

Purpose:

Create a final immigration project with visual elements that

shows some of your factual and conceptual knowledge of immigration 1845-present
demonstrates your ability to locate sources, take notes and write about your research
uses at least one primary source and two secondary sources and
indicates your personal connection to that information
answers IN WRITING one of the following three essential questions of the course:
How do individuals and groups create their identity?
How do I know who I am and where I belong in the world?
How do people exercise responsibility for each other and the world?

Due Date:

The assignment is due on Friday, February24th, 2012. On that date, you will also give a two-minute oral presentation of your work to the class.

Time available:

Time set aside to complete mini-project: three class periods and homework assignment time on four evenings (a total of at least three hours). You may, of course, spend extra time if you wish, but this is NOT required.

Materials:

All materials are provided: note cards, Family Tree forms, drawing materials, poster board, laptops etc.

Process and Products:

1. Choose one of the following research projects (or talk to me about creating a different one)

A. Create an oral history project about your family’s immigration to America

Write three paragraphs and complete a Family Tree with a visual display.

Create a timeline of important events (1845-1945) and include at least three well

composed labels indicating your family’s connections to the events; include links to immigration.

C. Interview an Immigrant

Develop questions; interview an immigrant; finish with a written (at least three

paragraphs) and visual display.

D. Compare Ellis Island and Angel Island

Conduct research; write at least three paragraphs; glue them with appropriate

graphics on a poster. You may also add a visual display following a historical figure that traveled through either Ellis Island or Angel Island.

E. Create a set of graphs, charts or diagrams using the data of the period, and explain their

relationship to your understanding of immigration (at least three paragraphs).

F. Write a poem or create a piece of art that reflects your research; write three paragraphs

explaining your piece.

2. Complete research, using at least three sources other than your textbook. Take notes on color-coded sheets. Research may include interviews; consult oral history instructions provided.

3. Organize your notes into themes or categories.

4. Write your paragraphs or labels.

5. Design and assemble your display.For whichever display option you choose (poster, Google Earth, etc.), you must follow the display guidelines that I will hand out.

6. Present your project to the class

Final product: For each project: hand in your research notes, SORTED AS USED BY PARAGRAPH OR SECTION, and Noodlebib Bibliography! All final material must be in BED form!!! Remember to answer an essential question in writing.

Social Studies 7 – Helpful Hints for Mini-Research Project: Migration 1845-1945

For Projects A, B and C: You will gather information from printed sources and oral history.

What is oral history?According to the Library of Congress, “Oral history is a way to gather information from people who took part in past events. Gathering oral history is the technique of interviewing people who lived through historical events or time periods and recording their answers. The person being interviewed is often called the interview subject.” An oral history shouldn’t just tell us about events. It should reveal the interview subject’s attitude or belief about events. An oral history is based on interviews, but should not include everything in the interview. It should be shaped by the writer to tell a story and to teach something about an historical event. This requires the writer to find a balance between including enough, but not too much information. You can’t change the person’s words or make up words for them to “say,” but you can create the order of the topics they talked about in your interview. In other words, you can pick the beginning, middle and end; you don’t have to follow the chronology of the interview.

Process: 1) Research your topic.

2)Create 10 good open-ended questions. Organize them for the interview, starting with easy questions as ice-breakers/warm-ups.

3)Get permission to tape (if you wish), but always take notes, too. (tapes must be transcribed)

4)Ask follow-up questions, such as requesting help with a Family Tree or Timeline.

5)After the interview, read notes, looking for theme(s) or categories (subjects for each paragraph).

6)Draft three paragraphs.

7)Revise and create final draft of paragraphs and Family Tree or Timeline.

8) Send a copy of your final draft with a thank you note to interview subject.

------

Project A: Several types of forms for the Family Tree graphic are available in the classroom.

------

Project B: Example of material for Timeline - include immigration information if you can

(try to be more creative and artistic with your presentation than the chart below)

1845-1849 / 1861-1865 / 1900 / 1914-1919 / 1929-1941 / 1932-1945 / 1941-1945
Irish Potato Famine / Civil War / Turn of the Century / World War I / Great Depression / Presidency of
F. D. Roosevelt / World War II
Life is very hard for great-great grandfather Cornelius O’Regan, who runs a dairy farm in Kilbarry, County Cork, Ireland. / Great-grandfather Coords emigrates from Holland & becomes a minister in New York City.
No one fights in the Civil War? / Gr-grandparents Catherine Hurley and Patrick O’Regan immigrate to NYC to find a better life. Find “No Irish Need Apply.” Patrick becomes a fireman and Catherine, a maid. / Father Stephen Patrick O’Regan lies about his age, enlists in the Navy and is sent to France. He arrives just as the war ends. / Grandfather Gus Bielefeld loses his radio business in Plainfield, NJ. (date of his immigration from Latvia is not known) Mother Alice Bielefeld finds work at Bell Telephone Co. in NYC. / Mother, who lives in The Village in NYC, votes for Socialist candidate Norman Thomas instead of FDR. Father completes college at Cooper Union (free) and earns two master’s degrees. / Mother and father become Commanders in the US Navy. Uncle Bill O’Regan, who will become an Admiral, commands a Wolf Pack in the Pacific Ocean.

------

Project C: Interview a Migrant

This project involves creating questions, taking notes in an interview, reviewing notes to find themes or categories for paragraphs, and writing paragraphs to glue onto a poster. You will also need to locate graphics for your poster (probably by Xeroxing photographs or pages in books, printing graphics from the Internet or drawing the graphics yourself).

------

Project D: Ellis Island vs. Angel Island

This project is a standard research project. It involves research, taking notes, reviewing notes to find themes or categories for paragraphs, and writing paragraphs to glue onto a poster. The key information for notes should center on immigration. This project should also involve the higher cognitive skill of comparison (perhaps one paragraph about each island and a third paragraph explaining differences and similarities). You will also need to locate graphics for your poster (probably by Xeroxing pages in books, printing graphics from the Internet or drawing the graphics yourself).

------

Projects E & F:Create a set of graphs, charts or diagrams OR poems or pieces of art

Research the data of the period. Using your mathematical skills, create your own graphs, charts and or diagrams – OR use your creative and artistic skills to craft poems or pieces of art In at least three paragraphs, analyze your data and explain its relationship to your understanding of migration.