As immigration reform wends its weary way through both houses of Congress, some sort of path to eventual citizenship for undocumented immigrants remains a possibility. Our revamped page Immigrant Voices offers three new lesson plans for ESL educators who plan to delve into the legislation and the impact it may have on students. Becoming A Citizen examines issues around citizenship, both the process involved in naturalization and the rights and privileges that are part of U.S. citizenship. The lesson explores what becoming a citizen means to students.
Following the DREAM Act examines what students know and need to know about the Dream Act. The lesson works with voices from our Perspectives series to illustrate the realities of living without documentation. For example, born in Mexico but raised in the U.S. since age two, Youth Radio’s Estafania describes what citizenship would mean for her and why it is so very important. Language development activities are generated from these media texts.
The Top 5 States Immigrants Choose as Home introduces some historical context “The United States is a nation of immigrants from all over the world. Where do most of these immigrants settle? Which states show the biggest increase in immigration during the last 10 years? According to recent statistics some states in theUnited States attract more immigrants than others.” The question is why?
Again students practice language skills, specifically reading and comprehension skills, as they work with up-to-date immigration statistics – in the form of info-graphics – to reflect on these trends.
Additional resources are offered by The Lowdown blog and the Immigration-related Radio Programs feed which offers the latest news on immigration reform from The Californian Report.