This is a very difficult assignment for 8th-grade students.
I have been scaffolding the assignment to guide the students. I am trying to give students guidance, not just give them the answers.
Here is the introduction I am using for my own piece:
Throughout this unit, we have seen how immigrants come to our country seeking a new life. In each of these stories, we saw that they did, in fact, get a new life, but it was not always the life they thought they would get. For the immigrants who come to America, they face challenges and have to make adjustments.
Then I will go on to discuss these topics:
1. One challenge immigrants had to adjust to was making money.
- In APTHH,
- In TLHC,
- In MFC,
2. Another common challenge immigrants had to adjust to was understanding the language and the limitations.
3. Another challenge immigrants had to adjust to was having two cultures: the culture of their home country and the American culture.
- In MFC,
- The contrast to this would be in BA
4. Another challenge immigrants had to confront was the fear that America was only a temporary home.
- In BA,
- Likewise, in TLHC
- In TLHC,
- The situation in BA was a little different.
Where do I go from here?
I have typed up a piece that is 1000 words long. I have by no means included every possible thing that could be cited from these stories! My goal is to explain that, from what I read, I have learned that immigrants face challenges and need to make adjustments.
I will include enough to prove the following:
- I have read the stories.
- I know some challenges immigrants face.
- I know immigrants need to make adjustments.
- I can organize what I want to say into logical topics. For example, immigrants face financial difficulties.
- I can not only list examples, I can explain the examples well enough so that the reader knows what I am talking about.
All of this should be done using correct grammar.
Students should share their Google Docs with mrbozhb@gmail.com so I can help them with their papers.