As a child of Lebanese and Syrian immigrants, I understand the power of sharing (and listening to) immigration stories. So often, immigrant families have learned to live in fear and, therefore, in silence; as a result, their powerful voices and rich history don’t often find their way into mainstream curricula.
That’s why I am encouraging you to incorporate any (or all) of these 7 short texts for Immigrant Heritage Month this June! In doing so, you can honor and highlight immigration stories often left untold and give space to help your students and their families feel seen and celebrated!
Where do you START?
Depending on your students, pose the questions below as an anticipatory entrance ticket.
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- What does Immigrant Heritage Month mean to you?
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- What are immigration stories?
Then, you can have students research facts about Immigrant Heritage Month in the class or use the facts on the following article to create a Kahoot!, Blooket, or quick activity to see how much they know.
Next: implement any one of the seven short texts for Immigrant Heritage Month found below.
Variety of short texts for Immigrant Heritage Month
Below, you will find seven different immigration stories for students. An image, a slam poem, a poem, a Ted Talk, a short story, a song, and 6 word memoir that can each be used as effective and unforgettable short texts for Immigrant Heritage Month in the class.
6 word memoir
Ideas for implementing in the classroom:
✨ Have students select & analyze one memoir from the video or from the anthology. If you don’t already own it, I HIGHLY recommend it.
✨ Have students create their own six-word memoirs to practice narrative and/or creative writing
✨ Make this a longer activity by pairing it with the author’s Ted Talk in order to understand the importance of diction
✨ Pair with this exciting puzzle paragraphs activity, so students practice making inferences to extract more out of the 6 words
Song
“Immigrants (We Get the Job Done)” from the Hamilton mixtape
Ideas for implementing in the classroom:
✨ Have students watch the music video and annotate a copy of the lyrics
✨ Lyrics can be chunked into various sections for students to analyze in groups
✨ Use the poetry & lyrics journal writing prompts as practice with this specific song
P.S. this is personally one of my favorite short texts for Immigrant Heritage Month!
Book excerpt
Ideas for implementing in the classroom:
✨ After analyzing, have students create a short story narrative about their childhood
✨ This is also a great text for teaching dialogue!
✨ Other resources? Short story inclusive unit planning and a blog post on 5 short stories to incorporate in American Lit because immigrants built America
Ted Talk
“Hiding in plain sight—my life as an undocumented American” by Leezia Dhalla
Ideas for implementing in the classroom:
✨ Use this video to teach tone and/or nonfiction short texts!
✨ Pair this video with an introduction to research credible sources; have students research what worldly events Dhalla mentions that impacted her life as an immigrant
✨ Looking for other Ted Talks to use in the classroom? Check out this post for young writers!
Poem
“Where I am From: A Poem by a Syrian Refugee” by a 19-year-old Syrian refugee who has requested to remain anonymous
Ideas for implementing in the classroom:
✨ Introduce TP-CASTT with this poem
✨ Have students research the history of the Syrian Civil War (which has lasted a decade and remains ongoing)
✨ Have students research America’s response and treatment of Syrian refugees (spoiler: it’s not great)
✨ Other resources? Here are 13 more diverse poems to incorporate into your curricula and a super fun poetry review digital escape room
Slam Poem
“At the Wall, US/Mexican Border, Texas 2020” by Paola Gonzalez & Karla Gutierrez
Ideas for implementing in the classroom:
✨ Have students watch and analyze this slam poem in pairs
✨ Have one student in the pair focus on one speaker and annotate for their dialogue, then compare their findings to understand each speaker’s individuality and alikeness as writers and presenters
✨ Pair this with some poetry bell ringers (here is a $1 sampler of this really awesome resource)
Image
Ideas for implementing in the classroom:
✨ Pair this image analysis with Emma Lazarus’ poem “The New Colossus” as this text inspired the artist
✨ This creates an opportunity for students to make text-to-text connections and understand the impact of literary allusions
✨ Pair it with the Abandoned Places creative writing from nonfiction resource where students analyze images of actual creepy abandoned places (this is one of Danielle’s most popular resources!)
Other Heritage Month Resources
If you loved these short texts for Immigrant Heritage Month, check out the posts below for more resources that honor your students all year long!
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