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Resource Spotlight: Immigration

As educators across California engage with questions of identity, citizenship, and belonging, immigration is an avenue to examine how generations of movement and migration have shaped the United States' culture and policies. Immigration is often posed as a contemporary issue, but history shows that immigration policy has deep roots reaching back centuries and includes changing laws, policies, and ideas about who belongs. These resources provide educators with lesson plans, primary source sets, and methods to explore immigration policy and how immigrants have shaped American culture and identity. 

CHSSP Lesson Plans

  • Many People One Nation 
    • This first-grade primary source set teaches students about multiple cultures and peoples who have contributed to the creation and development of the United States. 
  • Symbols of the U.S. 
    • This first-grade primary source set deepens students' understanding of national identity and cultural literacy by learning about national and state symbols. This set explains the symbolism of the Statue of Liberty and its importance to immigration. 
  • California's Diverse Population 
    • This fourth-grade primary source set helps students explain the development and transformation of California, its economy, and its political and cultural development since the 1850s. This source speaks to various bursts of immigration since the California Gold Rush onward. 
  • Angel Island Immigration 
    • This eighth-grade primary source set seeks to answer the question, “Who came to the United States at the end of the nineteenth century and beginning of the twentieth century? Why did they come?” By analyzing primary sources, students learn about the experiences of immigrants at Angel Island and Ellis Island. 
  • Current Context:  Roots of the Immigration Crisis 
    • This middle school current events resource speaks to the history of immigration from the Chinese Immigration Act of 1882 to modern-day immigration. 
  • Reflections on Vietnamese American Identity 
    • This high-school level primary source set focuses on Vietnamese American identity following the fall of Saigon in 1975 and the subsequent immigration of Vietnamese refugees into the United States. 
  • Immigration to the US 
    • This eleventh-grade primary source set highlights the experiences of the so-called “new immigrants” of the late nineteenth century. It seeks to have students research: “Who came to the United States at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries? Why did they come? What was their experience when they arrived? How did immigration add to the religious pluralism of the United States?” 
  • The Arab American Immigrant Experience 
    • This eleventh-grade lesson plan highlights the gendered and racial dimensions of the Arab immigrant experience in the United States before 1940. 
  • Contemporary American Issues 
    • This eleventh-grade lesson plan provides students with an overview of social and cultural developments such as education; civil rights for people of color, immigrants, LGBT+ Americans, and disabled Americans; economic policy; the environment; and the status of women. 
  • Citizenship Over Time
    • This twelfth-grade government primary source set asks students to ask, “What does it mean to be a citizen? How has the meaning of of citizenship changes over time?” This source speaks on the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and the subsequent immigration and naturalization policies. 

#KatesBookClub Reads:

  • Finding Papa written by Angela Pham Krans, illustrated by Thi Bui.  No one can make Mai laugh like her Papa! She loves playing their favorite game—the crocodile chomp chomp! But then Papa leaves Vietnam in search of a new home for their family in America.  One day Mama and Mai pack a small bag and say goodbye to the only home Mai has ever known. And so begins Mai and Mama’s long, perilous journey by foot and by boat, through dangers and darkness, to find Papa. 
  • I’m an American written by Darshana Khiani, illustrated by Laura Freeman.  What does it mean to be American?  A classroom of children across many races, cultures, and origins explores the concept of Americanness as they each share bits of their family history and how their past has shaped their own personal American experience. Whether as new immigrants, or those whose family came to this country generations ago, or other scenarios, these stories show the broad range of cultures and values that form the history and identity of our nation.  A beautiful thought-provoking look at the vast number of cultures that exist in America, the values that bring us together as one people despite our differences, and the many ways we define what it means to be an American—great discussion starter for all grade levels.  
  • Light for All written by Margarita Engle, illustrated by Raul Colon.  Discover the many contributions that immigrants have made as they come to join family or start their own lives together in a new country they call home. Coming with their hopes, dreams, and determination, generations of immigrants have made the fabric of our country diverse, vivid, and welcoming.  This beautifully illustrated book shares the importance of having acceptance and light for everyone. Also available in Spanish.
  • Rock in My Throat, The written by Kao Kalia Yang, illustrated by Jiemei Lin.  In this true story, Kao Kalia Yang shares her experiences as a young Hmong refugee navigating life at home and at school. Having seen the poor treatment her parents received when making their best efforts at speaking English, she no longer speaks at school. Kalia feels as though a rock has become lodged in her throat, and it grows heavier each day. While Kao’s story is a sad one, it is also filled with moments of beauty, love, and hope.  Pair with Lulu and the Language of Tea.  Also available in Spanish.
  • Some of Us:  A Story of Citizenship and the United States, written by Rajani LaRocca, illustrated by Huy Vuon Lee.  What does US citizenship look like? Some of us are citizens by birth. Some of us are born beyond the United States and gain citizenship through immigration and naturalization. This nonfiction book outlines the process by which some of us--spanning every age and background--travel to the United States to live, work, study, and contribute to the fabric of our new communities. After years, without relinquishing who we are or where we came from, if we are fortunate, we can choose to become naturalized citizens. We can become American.  This title honors the many different paths to citizenship and celebrates all people who enrich our country by striving to participate in our democracy.  Use in citizenship units with Leo’s First Vote!, Grace for President, Areli Is a Dreamer, and What Can A Citizen Do?
  • We Are a Garden: A Story of How Diversity Took Root in America, written by Lisa Westberg Peters, illustrated by Victoria Tentler-Krylov.  The wind blew in a girl and her clan, where herds of mammoths still wandered the frozen tundra. It later blew a boy and his family across frigid waters, and they spread across the new land. Over time, the wind continued to disperse newcomers from all directions. It blew in men who hoped to find gold, and slave ships, and immigrant families. And so it continued, for generations and generations. A moving nonfiction picture book that beautifully examines centuries of North American history and its people. For all grade levels.

NPR Podcast 

  • “100 years of immigration policies working to keep out immigrants” 
    • This podcast episode explores the U.S. immigration “crisis” and how its deep historical roots were shaped by racism, nativism, and political interests. The host and guests trace the historical context of the Immigration Act of 1924, deportation practices, and the development of border enforcement. Including personal stories, it highlights immigration laws and the complexities of immigrants’ lives.

Secondary Literature