Wishtree
Text Grouping
Immigration
This text grouping set offers rich opportunities for children to read across the topic of immigration. Each text is interconnected through the broad topic of immigration.
I imagine a lot of discussion occurring between students as they interact and explore each of these texts. Focusing questions about immigration can be revisited and discussed.
Connections can be made with what students are personally experiencing or have experienced within their lives. Current events can also be tied in to discuss what is currently occuring with immigration in our country.
Her Right Foot
Her Right Foot by Dave Eggers introduces readers to the fascinating message of Lady Liberty’s right foot. It is a story about how liberty and freedom from oppression require action, so how could you stand still? Lady Liberty did not. She is on the move. Our country’s symbol of freedom is on the move—taking action, welcoming millions of immigrants.
Eggers, D., & Harris, S. (Artist). (2017). Her right foot. San Francisco, California : Chronicle Books, [2017].
Their Great Gift
Their Great Gift is a story about how immigrants come to America to try and make a better life for themselves. How they work long hard jobs and long hours to save up little by little to bring the rest of their families over. And how the greatest piece of advice they can give is to never give up and to always work hard.
Coy, J. Huie, W. Y. (2016). Their great gift. Minneapolis, MN: Carolrhoda Books, a division of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc.
Overview: What Are Borders?
https://newsela.com/read/lib-borders/id/34445/ In this article it talks about what borders are exactly and how they are used to divide countries. This connects to Wishtree because immigrants must pass through these barriers in order to try and start a new life and all of the challenges they face and unkindness. I would use this after reading Wishtree to further students’ conversations and thinking on immigrants and all of the obstacles and unkindness that they face just getting to their destination, just to be treated unkindly again.
Largest Ancestry: 2000
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/two-centuries-of-immigration/
This map/infographic provides the viewer with information on the immigration ancestries with the largest populations in the country. The ancestries are color-coded and are labelled by a key to the right of the map/infographic. I would use this text during the reading of Wishtree, particularly after Red tells the story of Francesca’s ancestor, Maeve. I would invite students to look at where the majority of Irish immigrants settled in the country, and then see if they noticed any other patterns of settlement associated with ancestral groups.
Visualizing Two Centuries of U.S. Immigration
https://www.census.gov/prod/2004pubs/c2kbr-35.pdf
This video provides the viewer with a thorough visual history of who emigrated to the United States over the past two hundred years. The video shows different colored dots, representing different countries, traveling to the United States. There is a counter on the left side of the screen tallying the total number of immigrants as well as the top three countries that contributed to the total number of immigrants that year. I would use this text after the reading of Wishtree. This video could prompt a discussion of the current beliefs about immigration, and where the majority of immigrants really come from. I would hope that students notice that the United States has had immigrants from almost every other country in the world.
Immigration Laws
https://www.annenbergclassroom.org/files/documents/immigration.pdf
These two nonfiction texts show timelines of how the immigration laws progress overtime. They show when waves of newcomers come to settle to the U.S. I would use this text after reading about Maeve’s immigration story. This can then be connected to Samar’s story as a newcomer. After viewing and comparing the two timelines, students can gain an understanding of the kinds of people who migrated to America and the time period of when immigration occurred.