Activities:
Post-Viewing
(continued)
Essay: "Living in the U.S.A."
Students will write an essay expressing their feelings, impressions, hopes and dreams
regarding their adopted country. The timing of this assignment and the length of the essay will
depend on the level of the students' language skills. Some students may want to use
illustrations to express themselves. If practical, this can be a multimedia assignment.
This parallels the exercise for mainstream students described in the English lesson section
[create link]. Arrange for the students to meet with the mainstream students who also wrote this
essay, to share and compare their essays.
Immigrants' Legacy
Immigrants have made valuable contributions to the United States, and many people who have
risen to prominence in various fields have been immigrants. Give the students the list of
prominent immigrants [link] and ask if they know of others they would add to the list. The
assignment is to choose one of the individuals on the list and write a brief biographical sketch
of the person, including reasons for coming to the United States and a description of his or her
early experiences in America.
Family History Project
The goals of this project are to help students strengthen their English skills, validate their culture
and experiences, and promote family involvement with the students' education. Ask the
students to interview a parent or older relative about the history of their family. Start by
developing questions as a group during class time. If the relative to be interviewed does not
speak English, each student will have to translate the questions into his or her native language.
The student will then have to translate the interview into English. If tape recorders are
available, this can be an oral history project.
Have the students share their histories with the rest of the class.
ESOL
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