Teaching Immigration Lesson Plans and Resources < The Immigrant Learning Center

Immigrants and immigration play a vital role in the curricula of all subjects, from social studies and English language arts to STEM and art. The ILC Public Education Institute compiled this collection of lesson plans, curricular units and resources to help you incorporate immigration into your existing curriculum. Search below or use the “Browse” tab to explore a list of all available options.

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2023 Immigrant Student Success Toolkit

Resources and strategies from the 2023 Immigrant Student Success conference

Title	Description	Tags	Author
Community Across Cultures Book Guides	Guides for reading “Thank You, Omu!” and “Gibberish” to children	early childhood, elementary school, book list	The Immigrant Learning Center
2023 Immigrant Student Success Toolkit	Resources and strategies from 2023 Immigrant Student Success conference	toolkit, elementary school, middle school, high school, adult education	The Immigrant Learning Center
Understanding the Refugee Experience: Welcome to the New World	Video of a teen refugee talking about his experiences in Syria, as a high school student in Connecticut, and more	high school, middle school, video, social studies	The Immigrant Learning Center
Welcome to the New World Curriculum and Learning Guide	Curriculum about refugees, the migrant experience, the Syrian Civil War and other topical issues	high school, lesson plan, middle school, social studies, English language arts	The Immigrant Learning Center
Teaching Immigration and the Great Depression	Lesson plans and resources about the deportation of Mexicans and Mexican Americans in the 1930s and the Dust Bowl “refugees.”	high school, lesson plan, middle school, social studies	The Immigrant Learning Center
Teaching Immigration and World War I	Lesson plans and resources about the impact of WWI and its aftermath on immigrants and immigration	high school, lesson plan, middle school, social studies	The Immigrant Learning Center
Teaching Chinese Immigration in the 19th Century	Lesson plans and resources to teach about Chinese immigration in the 19th century	high school, lesson plan, middle school, social studies	The Immigrant Learning Center
Teaching Immigration and Reconstruction	Lesson plans and resources about the role of immigration and immigrants during the Reconstruction Era	high school, lesson plan, middle school, social studies	The Immigrant Learning Center
Teaching Immigration and the American Revolution	Lesson plans and resources about the role of immigration and immigrants during the American Revolution	high school, lesson plan, middle school, social studies	The Immigrant Learning Center
Teaching Immigration and the Civil War	Lesson plans and resources about the role of immigration and immigrants during the Civil War	high school, lesson plan, middle school, social studies	The Immigrant Learning Center
2022 Immigrant Student Success Toolkit	Resources and highlights from the 2022 Immigrant Student Success conference	toolkit, elementary school, high school, middle school	The Immigrant Learning Center
Use Immigration Narratives to Build a Sense of Belonging in Classrooms	Blog post on thoughtfully engaging with your students’ immigration stories in the classroom	article/report, elementary school, high school, middle school	The Immigrant Learning Center
Professional Development Module: Immigration in Elementary Schools	Develop stronger relationships with immigrant students and families, use literature to teach about immigration, and more	elementary school, on-demand learning	CUNY Initiative on Immigration and Education
Immigrant Heritage Month Lessons and Resources	Lessons and resources to use during Immigrant Heritage Month	website, elementary school, middle school, high school	Share My Lesson
What Does it Mean to be an American?	Free curriculum offers six lessons for educators, high school students and college students on what it means to be American	website, middle school, high school	Mineta Legacy Project and SPICE
South Asian American Digital Archive Resources for Educators	Resources, lessons, and activities to support high school and college-level educators in bringing South Asian American history and stories into the classroom	website, high school, adult and higher education, lesson plan	South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA)
Teach East Africa	Lessons, videos and more for teaching about East Africa	website, elementary school, middle school, high school, lesson plan, video	Howard University Center for African Studies and Boston University Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies, African Studies Center
Immersion: A Short Fiction Film	Short film and lesson plans about a 10-year-old boy who has just immigrated from Mexico	video, middle school, high school, adult and higher education, social justice and civics	Richard Levien, Director
Immigration Videos and Lesson Plans	Short, free videos that connect immigration’s past and present; includes lesson plans and resources for teachers	video, lesson plan, middle school, high school	Retro Report
Making a Digital Story	Curriculum for creating short videos of personal or family migration stories in a classroom or public workshop setting	adult and higher education, high school, lesson plan, website	Immigration History Research Center
Book List: Immigrant/Refugee	Selection of books about immigrants and refugees that includes varied racial/cultural representation and a focus on #OwnVoices	website, early childhood, elementary school, English language arts	Diverse Book Finder
Immigrant History Initiative Lesson Plans	User-friendly lesson plans designed to promote social justice, community building, and youth empowerment and voice	social studies, elementary school, middle school, high school, lesson plan	Immigrant History Initiative
Angel Island Curriculum Guides	Curriculum and other resources for teaching about the history of Angel Island	social studies, lesson plan, elementary school, middle school, high school	Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation
The Asian American Education Project	Lesson plans for grades K-12 and PD about Asian American history	social studies, lesson plan, elementary school, middle school, high school	The Asian American Education Project
Immigration Resource Library	More than 100 lesson plans and resources on global migration from Facing History and Ourselves	social studies, English language arts, social justice and civics, elementary school, middle school, high school	Facing History and Ourselves
Out of Eden Learn	Online platform for students age 3-19 from diverse geographic and socioeconomic settings to have a collective learning experience	website, elementary school, middle school, high school	Project Zero, Harvard Graduate School of Education
Anti-Defamation League Immigration Lesson Plans	K-12 lessons that promote critical thinking and learning around historical and current diversity and social justice topics	lesson plan, elementary school, middle school, high school, social studies, social justice and civics	Anti-Defamation League
Art & Remembrance Lesson Plans	Lessons based on the art and story of one Holocaust survivor connect to contemporary human migration and human rights issues	social studies, English language arts, art, social justice and civics, lesson plan, elementary school, middle school, high school	Art & Remembrance
The Immigration Detention Syllabus	Sixteen-part series of readings and tools to support education, research and action to examine the U.S. immigration detention system	social studies, lesson plan, high school, adult and higher education	Freedom for Immigrants
Islamic Networks Group Lessons	Several lessons for middle school through college audiences, teaching about Muslims and their faith	religion, social studies, lesson plan, middle school, high school	Islamic Networks Group
Share My Lesson Immigration Lesson Plans and Resources	Dozens of rich, engaging resources to teach about immigration policy, history and awareness with preK through 12 students	social studies, lesson plan, early childhood, elementary school, middle school, high school	Share My Lesson
Learning for Justice Immigration Lessons	Lesson plans centered around the topic of immigration	social studies, English language arts, lesson plan, elementary school, middle school, high school	Learning for Justice
Teach Immigration Lesson Plans	K-12 lesson plans on U.S. immigration from Teaching Immigration	social studies, English language arts, lesson plan, elementary school, middle school, high school	Teach Immigration
Neighbors, Not Strangers	An interactive digital storytelling project to show how immigrants are our neighbors to be encountered and embraced	website, high school, adult and higher education	Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC)
Public Broadcasting Lessons on Immigration	Lesson plans, videos, audio and documents about U.S. immigration from PBS	science, social studies, math, English language arts, health and wellness, lesson plan, early childhood, elementary school, middle school, high school	PBS Learning Media
Primary Source	Professional development programs and resources to help make global civics and cultural education a part of every student’s experience	social studies, website, elementary school, middle school, high school	Primary Source
Tenement Museum Lesson Plans	Resources that support multi-state History-Social Studies and English Language Arts and can be used with or without a museum visit	social studies, English language arts, lesson plan, elementary school, middle school, high school	Tenement Museum
Understanding Migration	Resources to help learners develop an informed perspective on our shared experiences of migration before, during and after the journey	social studies, English language arts, website, elementary school, middle school, high school	Re-Imagining Migration
Global Boston Lesson Plans	A growing set of resources for educators on immigration history in Greater Boston	social studies, website, high school, lesson plan	Global Boston
Latin American Resource Guide, Professional Development Series, Vol. 1	Resource guide with three workshops for K-12 educators to introduce their students to Latin American and Caribbean art forms	arts, elementary school, middle school, high school, article/report	Institute of Latin American Studies; Urban Arts Partnership
Latin American Resource Guide, Professional Development Series, Vol. 2	Resource guide with three workshops for K-12 educators to use Latin American and Caribbean music to engage with civic issues	arts, elementary school, middle school, high school, article/report	Institute of Latin American Studies; Urban Arts Partnership
Immigration History	Galleries, articles and videos on immigration throughout U.S. history	social studies, website, elementary school, middle school, high school	History.com
Immigration Stories of Yesterday and Today	Interactive tours, virtual field trips, immigrant stories, immigration data and more from Scholastic	social studies, English language arts, website, elementary school, middle school	Scholastic
Crossing Borders with Digital Storytelling	Common Core-aligned lesson plan about writing digital stories to create empathy and understanding about immigration	English language arts, digital literacy, elementary school, middle school, high school, adult and higher education, lesson plan	Common-Core aligned immigration lesson plan developed by the AIC’s Community Education Center
Becoming Us	Collection of resources for teaching inclusive and accurate immigration narratives	English language arts, social studies, middle school, high school	National Museum of American History
Waking Dream Curricula	Collection of short videos and accompanying curriculum following the lives and challenges of DACA recipients	English language arts, social studies, lesson plan, middle school, high school, adult and higher education	iNation Media
Waking Dream Episodes	Six-episode series showing the reality of young people in the DACA program	English language arts, social studies, video, middle school, high school, adult and higher education	Indie Lens Storycast
Teaching People’s History	Teaching activities and resources reflecting the lens of history used in best-selling book “A People’s History of the United States”	English language arts, high school, middle school, social studies, website	Zinn Education Project
Teaching Central America	Free downloadable lessons, bios, and poetry and prose from Central American writers	social studies, English language arts, science, website, elementary school, middle school, high school	Teaching for Change
Reading Guides for First Generation Family Books	Printable reading guides and activities for books that amplify the experiences of first generation families	social studies, English language arts, website, lesson plans, early childhood, elementary school, middle school, high school	Modern Marigold Books
Reading Guides for South Asia Books	Printable reading guides for children’s books about South Asia	social studies, English language arts, website, lesson plans, early childhood, elementary school, middle school, high school	Yali Books
Talking About Immigration: Classroom Resources	Classroom materials and lesson plans about immigration in the United States	social studies, English language arts, website, lesson plans, early childhood, elementary school, middle school, high school	Colorin Colorado
#ImmigrationSyllabus	Syllabus with a chronological overview of U.S. immigration history and salient current issues such as xenophobia and deportation policy	social studies, website, lesson plans, high school, adult and higher education	Immigration History Research Center at the University of Minnesota and the Immigration and Ethnic History Society
Teaching Immigration with the Immigrant Stories Project	Three-unit curriculum for grades eight to adult using a library of original video stories made by immigrants and refugees	adult and higher education, high school, lesson plan, middle school, video, website	The Immigration History Research Center and The Advocates for Human Rights

Teaching Immigration Lesson Plans and Resources

Teaching Immigration Lesson Plans and Resources

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