Journey+of+the+Sparrows+by+Fran+Leeper+Buss

=//Journey of the Sparrows// by Fran Leeper Buss=

Challenging Theme: **Family Immigration**
Students may not have any idea how hard life is for a person who has immigrated to the United States. Students may not also have any idea what their cultural background is or where their ansestors came from. This would be a great time to show students exactly what life would be like in the eyes of a family who has immigrated from another country. Students would read this book along side the lesson below to talk about in their literature circles. Students can share ideas or feelings they have while reading this book. This would also give students a chance to hear what their peers have for ideas about immigration.
 * Overview**

Start with reasons for immigration, move to their family history, find out where roots are from, they become an immigrant from that country. Students receive "passports" that act as journals for their voyage. They discuss why they are leaving their country, what they are taking, do a little research on their country, too. Then they board the "ship" and have either first, second, or steerage tickets. We have situations arise on the ship that they respond to in the journals. We then hit Ellis Island (have some videos, books that tell about the experience.) Then we create a "Mock Ellis Island" and they go through the health checks,etc. Students create immigration costumes to wear, etc. (This lesson was adapted from "Immigration Unit" by Julie on http://www.proteacher.org/a/29745_Immigration_Unit.html)
 * Ways to teach the theme**

1. What is your cultural background? What is your family history? Where are your family roots? 2. How would you react if you were an immigrant from another country? 3. How would you make a living to survive without the help of family members by your side? 4. If someone who was an immigrant asked you for help, would you offer assistance? Why/why not? 5. How has this experience changed your views on immigrants?
 * Discussion Questions**

1. [|http://www.proteacher.org/a/29745_Immigration_Unit.html__]: This is a great site that offers a variety of reliable lesson plans to use on immigration units. 2. http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/types/types_1306.html : The U.S. Dept. of State Bureau of Consular Affairs gives the steps to getting family based immigrants legal information towards becoming legal immigrants. 3. http://www.ellisisland.org/ : This is the website that gives information about Ellis Island for individuals to look up information regarding this significant event.
 * Suggested links/resources**

Challenging Theme: Third World Poverty
Journey of the Sparrows is about this girl from El Salvador and she eventually ends up in Chicago. Her living and working conditions, to our standards, is complete poverty. However she is always grateful and from her stand point things are better in poverty in Chicago than her previous life in El Salvador.
 * Overview**

I think a cool teaching idea would be to research poverty in El Salvador. This book was written in 1993 and it's never certain why her and her family were so desperate to leave El Salvador. So I think it would be cool to research what was going on in El Salvador when this book was written, or a situation in another country where people are leaving due to war etc. (Dar Fur) and examine their situation.
 * Ways to Teach the Theme**


 * Discussion Questions**
 * 1) Why would a refugee in Chicago living in Poverty think that their situation is better?
 * 2) What sort of things do we take for granted that someone that a poor refugee in the U.S. think are great?
 * 3) What dangers are there for some one in poverty/ and illeagal immigrant living in poverty?
 * 4) What problems to society in general do people in poverty live with? i.e. violence, drugs, health issues etc.
 * 5) Who helps these people, in what areas do people in poverty-around the world and in the U.S. need the most help?


 * Suggested Links/ Resources**
 * 1) []- this site has an interactive thing that students could do that simulates what it is like to live in extream poverty.
 * 2) []- this site has good information on poverty in the third world.
 * 3) []- this is a site from the united nations and it has resources for teachers.