tlp_10_mdorsi

Maria D'Orsi Teacher Lesson Page

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 * Standard**: US 11.3

Describe the causes of the immigration of Southern and Eastern Europeans, Chinese, Koreans, and Japanese to America in the late 19C and describe the major roles of these immigrants in the industrialization of America.

How was the experience of immigration for those who came to the US from foreign countries similar or different than for those who migrated within the US?
 * Guiding Question**:


 * Title:**
 * A Memoir-able Experience** - //Learning history from the accounts of those who experienced it//.

Level: Grade 9 Language Arts or Social Studies Time: Two - 55 minute sessions


 * Introduction:**

We all know a story of someone who experienced something so exciting, so horrific, or so life changing that it was made into a book. Examples are: __A Child Called It__ by David Pelzer - the classic child abuse memoir: __Between a Rock and a Hard Place__ by Aron Ralston - a survivor's memoir from the fellow who cut off his own arm when it became caught between two rocks while he hiked alone: __Bad Boy, a Memoir,__ by Walter Dean Myers, popular high school author of __Slam__ and __Monster,__ who was told he'd never amount to anything because of his speech impediment. These three stories are examples of the writer's format we call a MEMOIR.

The word memoir derives from the Latin word "memoria", which means memory. Therefore, a memoir is a written account, or memory, of an event or time in a person's history. That is how a memoir is different from an autobiography, which is an account of all the details in a persons life.

This lesson will introduce you to two very special local people who had life altering experiences: Mary Antin and Ralph Moody. Both have written memoirs of the period in their lives when they moved from one home - or homeland - to another. One lived in Medford for a time and the other in Chelsea before moving to the South End of Boston. The time period is between 1890 and 1912, when immigration to the U.S. was at an all time high. In reading exerpts from primary sources, such as their memoirs, looking at maps, viewing historical websites and creating a comparison of the two experiences you will be the historian and explore migration in the late 1800's and early 1900's both within the United States and from another country. Through this study you will also search for further proof of the authenticity of their experiences, whether they were similar or different, and determine if their memoirs can truly be used as primary sources.

Following a PowerPoint presentation featuring brief biographies of Ralph Moody and Mary Antin, as well a look at the primary sources that will be used for the lesson, groupings will be given selected readings from the memoirs and then be assigned a specific research task, which will be shared with the class at the end of the second session.
 * Task:**

Note: This lesson is designed to follow a 3 day project on Chinese immigration, which will cover some immigration details not included in this lesson. Additional discussion may be desired before commencing with this lesson.
 * Lesson Process:**


 * __Day 1__**

1) Your teacher will give a PowerPoint presentation that will include the following:
 * Brief descriptions of the two memoirs and their authors:
 * __Mary Emma and Company__ by Ralph Moody (as well an excerpt from his second memoir, __The Fields of Home)__
 * The Promised Land by Mary Antin.


 * An explanation of memoirs and their use in historical research
 * A look at primary sources; what constitutes a primary source?
 * Quick review of online resources including:
 * TRITEC partners
 * Medford Historical Society and Chelsea Historical Society with attention paid to historic maps
 * Boston Public Library, Norman Leventhal Map Room, for maps of the period
 * Google Earth and Google Maps to compare old and new maps of Medford and Chelsea

2) You will break up into preassigned groups of 5 students and will be given readings, which you will do in class. The readings are:
 * Group 1 - __The Promised Land__ (Antin):pp.163-169
 * Group 2 - __Mary Emma and Company__ (Moody): pp.11-13 and __Fields of Home__ (Moody): pp.11-17
 * Group 3 - __The Promised Land__ (Antin): pp. 182-189 and193-197
 * Group 4 - __Mary Emma and Company;__ pp.39-43 and 59-63
 * Group 5 - __The Promised Land__ (Antin): 169-179

Each member of your group will read the same passage(s). You will take notes using the Readings Worksheet as a reading guide. Then each group will work together to answer the questions at the end of the Readings Worksheet. This information will be used for day 2 activities. Reading Guide:

__**Day 2**__ You will get back into your group and review one another's answers on the Readings Worksheet. Using the combined information that you obtained from your readings and searches using the resources listed below, create one of the following:

1) a PowerPoint presentation, or 2) a Text document with Images, or 3) a Storyboard.

Your project should answer the following questions:
 * WHO did you read about?
 * WHEN did this occur?
 * WHERE did s/he come from and where did your person go. Be sure to include all steps along the way as well as who your person was with?
 * WHAT are some of the details about the journey(s), e.g. method of transportation, length of time, impediments to progress, etc?
 * WHY did your person make this journey?
 * HOW did your person feel?

You are not only answering these questions but also looking for proof that events happened as they are written. You must also answer the 3 questions below.

In order to do this you will refer to the links of primary source documents and maps. Include where you found this proof, or if you did not find proof, in your project. Online resources include:
 * Can you find proof of the information in the story?**
 * TRITEC partners
 * Medford Historical Society and Chelsea Historical Society with attention paid to historic maps
 * Boston Public Library, Norman Leventhal Map Room, for maps of the period
 * Maps of Medford available in the Medford High School library

Additionally, you are to critically examine the information that could be considered the OPINION of your person. Discuss with your group if the opinions of your person remain true to the facts as you have found in the primary sources, or if it is possible the memory as written could be inaccurate or skewed.
 * Is it the authors opinion?**

Lastly, give a consensus opinion about the use of a memoir as a primary source document. Your group will then present the project to the class. In order to do so your group should pick a speaker, or decide how you will share the presentation of information. Also, if you are using a PowerPoint, you will need someone to run the computer.
 * Is a memoir a good primary source document?**


 * Conclusion:**

Are memoirs history, fiction, or something else? Historians and scholars disagree, but memoirs are useful primary sources. Why? Because these are first-hand accounts in the author’s own words. As with any primary source, however, sections of the narrative can contain opinions or bias. It is this point of view that requires attention and analysis.

In this lesson we looked at the experiences of two local people who found it necessary to begin a new life somewhere other than their place of birth. By comparing their experiences and examining their accounts for accuracy, we have taken the same steps that historians do.

Now that you have practice using resources to evaluate personal and historical accounts, take your skills into the world…. What accounts or stories do you trust, and why?


 * Assessment:**

Worksheet || Student answered all the questions with many details  || Student answered all the questions with some details || Student answered some questions with a few details || Student did not answer all the questions and did not include details  || 15 pts. ||
 * **Students will be able to:** || Excellent (4) || Good (3)  || Fair (2)  || Poor(1)  ||  //WEIGHTING //  ||
 * Group work || <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">Student worked well in the group and made many contributions  || <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">Student worked well in the group and made some contributions  || <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">Student worked adequately in the group and made some contributions  || <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">Student did not work well in the group and made few contributions  || <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">15 pts.  ||
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">Use of websites || <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">Student expertly used the partner websites  || <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">Student competently used the partner websites  || <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">Student adequately used the partner websites  || <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">Student reluctantly used the partner websites  || <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">20 pts.  ||
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">Primary sources debate || <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">Student made a strong argument on memoirs as a primary source using several supporting elements from the book  || <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">Student made an effective argument on the use of memoirs as a primary source using a supporting element from the book.  || <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">Student made an argument on the use of memoirs as a primary source without supporting elements from the book  || <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">Student made an ineffective argument on the use of memoirs as a primary source  || <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">20 pts.  ||
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">Project/presentation || <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">Student project included all the elements required  || <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">Student project included most of the elements required  || <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">Student project included some of the elements required  || <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">Student project included little of the required elements  || <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">30 pts.  ||

The memoirs:
 * Resources:**


 * Mary Emma and Company by Ralph Moody
 * The Fields of Home by Ralph Moody
 * The Promised Landby Mary Antin

The Research Sites:


 * <span style="cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0.5em;">TRITEC partners
 * <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; cursor: pointer; padding-right: 10px;">Medford Historical Society and <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; cursor: pointer; padding-right: 10px;">Chelsea Historical Society with attention paid to historic maps
 * Boston Public Library, <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; cursor: pointer; padding-right: 10px;">Norman Leventhal Map Room, for maps of the period
 * Maps of Medford available in the Medford High School library

Worksheets:
 * Reading Guide: [[file:PS10-mdorsi-reading-guide.pdf]]

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