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[Detail] The Faro Caudill [family] eating dinner in their dugout

Lesson Overview

Through dialogue, documentation, research, and interviews, students understand their role in society. This unit provides a background to students' family histories, and gives them an opportunity to listen to the voices of immigrants of the past.

The students identify the issues involved with the migration of a community or family. By examining the traditional picture of immigration, students then consider their own families to have a better idea of their own history and their own voices.

Objectives

Students will be able to:

• use American Memory collections to search and evaluate primary documents;
• discuss their own family history and put it into context of immigrant stories;
• analyze concerns and answers to questions related to migrations' shifts.

Standards

Time Required

• Two weeks

Recommended Grade Level

• 9-12
• 6-8

Topic

• Immigration & Ethnic Heritage

Era

• Postwar United States, 1945-present
• Great Depression and WWII, 1929-1945

Credits

Susan Cassata and Mary Reiman