Lesson by José A. Gregory
Essay by Geraldo L. Cadava, Northwestern University
Grade Level: 7–12
Number of Class Periods: 5
Primary Theme: Latina/Latino History
About This Lesson Plan Unit
The five lessons in this unit explore Latino and Latina immigration to the United States in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, emphasizing how immigrants understood and experienced this process. Students will read and view an infographic, visual materials (including art), interviews and memoirs, and legal petitions. You will assess students’ understanding through an essay assignment that compares and contrasts the varied immigrant stories covered in this unit.
Lesson Plan Author: José A. Gregory
Historical Background Scholar: Geraldo L. Cadava, Northwestern University
Additional Information About This Unit
Common Core State Standards
Common Core State Standards
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.1: Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.2: Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of the source distinct from prior knowledge or opinions.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.9: Compare and contrast treatments of the same topic in several primary and secondary sources.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.1: Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, connecting insights gained from specific details to an understanding of the text as a whole.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.2: Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary that makes clear the relationships among the key details and ideas.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.9: Integrate information from diverse sources, both primary and secondary, into a coherent understanding of an idea or event, noting discrepancies among sources.
Essential Questions
Essential Questions
Why did Latin Americans immigrate to the United States during the twentieth century?
What opportunities and challenges have Latino immigrants encountered in the United States?
How has Latino immigration to the United States contributed to American society?
How have people in Latino communities helped each other?
How have varied Latino immigrant groups had similar and different experiences in the United States?
Documents
Documents
Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the United States: 2010 Census and 2020 Census, US Census Bureau, August 12, 2021
Hank Prussing, “The Spirit of East Harlem,” commissioned by Hope Community, Inc., photo by William Alatriste, El Museo del Barrio
Carol Highsmith, “Olvera Street in the Oldest Part of Downtown Los Angeles, California,” 2012
Carol Highsmith, “A Street Vendor Awaits Customers on Calle Ocho (SW 8th Street), the Vibrant Artery of the Historic Little Havana Neighborhood of Miami, Florida,” 2019
Camilo José Vergara, “Billboard with [Miles] Morales as a Latino Spiderman, The Heights, St. Nicholas Ave. and W. 181st St., Manhattan,” 2023
Carol Highsmith, “Mural at the Chamizal National Memorial, located in El Paso, Texas, along the United States-Mexico International Border,” 2014
Elisa Silva, “A Mexican Immigrant Describes Her Work in Los Angeles” (interview by Manuel Gamio, 1926–1927, in Gamio, The Mexican Immigrant: His Life-Story (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1931), pp. 159–162)
Pablo Mares, “A Mexican Migrant Reflects on His Experiences” (interview by Manuel Gamio, 1926 1927, in Gamio, The Mexican Immigrant: His Life-Story (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1931), pp. 1–5)
Excerpts from “Situation of Mexicans in Rockdale, Illinois to the Chicago Mexican Consulate, 30 December 1930”
Excerpts from an interview with Jesús Rivera López, interviewed by Perla Guerrero, Institute of Oral History, University of Texas at El Paso/Bracero History Archive, May 13, 2006
Excerpts from Guillermo Ricardo Paz Vazquez, “My Story,” Operacion Pedro Pan: The Cuban Children’s Exodus, Operation Pedro Pan Group Inc.
Sherezada “Chiqui” Vicioso, “Discovering Myself, Un Testimonio,” in Miriam Jiménez Román and Juan Flores, eds., The Afro-Latin@ Reader: History and Culture in the United States, Duke University Press, 2010
Adriana Rodriguez, “‘I Had Never Thought of Leaving My Country,’” in A Dream Compels Us: Voices of Salvadoran Women (Cambridge, MA: South End Press, 1989), pp. 211–215. Originally published in Links 2, nos. 1 and 2 (1985), “Three Faces of Salvadoran Nursing,” National Central America Health Rights Network (NCAHRN), New York, NY
“Nicaraguan Woman Recounts Her Undocumented Journey,” 1988, in Dianne Walta Hart, Undocumented in L.A.: An Immigrant’s Story (New York: Scholarly Resources Books, 1997)