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Dear Parents/Guardians,

Our class Wiki is a wonderful way for the students and parents to access materials, lessons, as well as resources. This unit in particular is all about immigration. Students will learn about reasons immigrants left their home country, what the journey to America was like, as well as the arrival to the U.S and processing through Ellis Island. We will also discuss what life was like for the immigrants after Ellis Island. For example, we will take a look into tenement housing as well as working conditions. The main goal of this lesson is for students to form meaningul and authentic connections with the stories of immigrants. This will be achieved through interviewing family members and researching their background. There will also be opportunities for students to explore themes of social justice. For example, students will explore harsh working conditions faced by many immigrants. Students will also explore current topics of immigration such as legislation regarding citizenship, ESL and bilingual education in schools. I would also like to mention that parents and other family members are more than welcome to join the class. I would greatly appreciate guest speakers to share personal experiences with the class. I also encourages parents to look at the service and project based learning opportunities that accompany this unit. I am excited to begin our journey into exploring the arrival of immigrants to this country and the many impacts they have made on our state and our country.

Sincerely, Ms. Desiderio