Inquiry Blog Post #3
The hypothetical group of students
that I would be instructing with this material would be 11th or 12th
grade students. The sources cited below will need to be used together to obtain
a clear understanding. This is because some texts are more advanced than
others, so I would be occasionally referencing the simpler texts to help
explain the more complicated ones (book-based). For example, the YouTube video
with John Oliver may help further explain complex ideas in the textbooks I’ll
be using in tandem. Another example would be with the DeSipio book which would
pair nicely with the President Trump text as well as the John Oliver text. The
books I choose are fairly difficult, but I plan to go over the material with
note guides, presentations and maybe a project if there’s time left in the lesson.
The musical texts I chose will also help explain these fairly dense and
complicated issues surrounding immigration reform, and where it’s heading.
Book-based
texts:
Title: U.S. Immigration in the Twenty-First
Century: Making Americans, Remaking America
Date: 2018
Author: Louis DeSipio
A brief
summary: This book
examines major issues surrounding immigration in the U.S. including a history
of immigration policy and am investigation into the legislative and legal
debates over settlement and immigrant policies in present day. This also looks
at issues such as how they’re treated by the native population as well as the
relationship between minorities and immigrants.
A brief
description of the text complexity or accessibility of the text: Qualitatively, I think this is a
good text for my 11th and 12th grade students. It’s a bit
dry, so I would expect that I’d have to accompany it with a colorful
presentation and lecture. It’s a great book to reference, but I wouldn’t assign
any homework or classwork directly from this text. Quantitatively, it’s 274
pages long and is 1 year old. There are only 7 chapters, so it’s not a huge
undertaking to read this over a semester. The average word length is 5.7, the
average sentence length is 26.6. The readability is at a graduate level, so
I’ll need to go over much of the information in an easier to understand
context.
6 to 10
vocabulary words:
immigration, examination, naturalized, residence, bipartisan, legislation,
unauthorized
A brief
description of task and reader complexity: The purpose for using this text is to not necessarily
understand every word perfectly, but to have a source where many issues
connected to immigration reform are held and available for further discussion.
This book also takes the historical nature of immigration into the U.S. into
perspective which helps students to understand the big picture by building on
their cultural assets and where we all are today. How the complexity of the
task to be paired with the text, match the accessibility of the text and
students’ prior knowledge & motivation by relating to students their own
age group and imagining themselves in the current situation at the border. This
would be a good text to be paired with a DBQ where we look at the main and
supporting details of particular legal cases or situations dealing with
immigration reform or law.
Title: The Making of a Dream: How a Group
of Young Undocumented Immigrants Helped Change What It Means to Be American
Date: 2019
Author: Laura Wides-Muñoz
A brief
summary: This book
surrounds a journalist who is chronicling the next steps in the civil rights
struggle from the perspective of 5 undocumented activist, also known as
DREAMers, who are young people who were transported, or guided, to the United
States as kids and who have survived for years in America without legal
standing. Growing up, they frequently worked hard in school, planned for
university, only to learn they were, in the eyes of the United States
government and many residents, "illegal aliens."
A brief
description of the text complexity or accessibility of the text: Qualitatively, this book pulls at
your heartstrings by focusing on the youth caught up in the immigration
debacle. It gives the readers a chance to relate well with the struggle of the
DREAMers, and will draw empathy from the students. Quantitively, this book is
also listed at the graduate level, but if used properly with supporting
material, this book will help learners understand the daily struggle of the
DREAMers, but along with assistance from other sources and instructions. The
average word length is 5.4 and average sentence length is 23.8. This is
obviously a difficult text, but with some coaching it should offer value to the
classroom instruction.
6 to 10
vocabulary words:
undocumented, movement, activist, political, inspiring, transformative,
proposal
A brief
description of task and reader complexity: The purpose of this text is to read certain sections
along with the class mainly because this is a difficult book. I’d like to use
this book for my 11th and 12th graders because it does a
great job of transporting them into a young immigrants’ shoes and allows one to
understand this subject through real life tragedies and achievements while
being able to compare the immigrants’ dire situation with their own life. This
would be a good text to be paired with an essay asking the students to write
about how they feel about the DREAMers’ situation or how they might view it
from their perspective.
Multimedia
texts:
Title: Trump suggests legislation addressing
background checks and immigration reform
Date: 2019
Author: CBS News
A brief
summary: In this
short video, President Trump tweeted about this weekend's deadly mass shootings
while calling for Republicans and Democrats to come together. The president then
recommended the U.S. tie background checks to immigration law. This video is
courtesy of CBS.
A brief
description of the text complexity or accessibility of the text: Qualitatively, this short video is
of a CBS news report on a possible connection between immigration and mass
shootings. The focus is taken off of the shooting itself and spoke on the
immigration issues as the real problem behind these violent acts. One shooter
the reporter spoke on was from El Paso, a region where immigration is an
extremely emotionally charged topic. Quantitatively this is a short 3 minute
and 33 second clip from CBSAM which has 2 news reporters go over some controversial
comments and clams on immigrants. There was not a transcript available for this
broadcast so quantitative data is limited. Despite this, I think this is an
important video to show and would complement the other texts nicely.
6 to 10
vocabulary words:
legislation, background check, Pan Handle (geographic area and culture),
reform, sync-up, broadcast, terror (political term)
A brief
description of task and reader complexity: The purpose of this text is to get the learner to
connect different events over time with each other, even though they may not
appear connected at first. This video will build on the learner’s cultural
assets by acknowledging immigration problems which most students face either
directly or indirectly at some point. This is a topic that students tend to pay
more attention to, so that will build on the students’ prior knowledge and
motivation. This would be good to pair with an analyzation of actual cases related
to immigration.
Title: Legal Immigration: Last Week Tonight
with John Oliver (HBO)
Date: 2019
Author: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
A brief
summary: In this
video, John Oliver who is a comedian with his own talk show on the HBO network,
speaks on our failing legal immigration system and how it works, but mostly
doesn’t.
A brief
description of the text complexity or accessibility of the text: Qualitatively this is a good choice
because John Oliver’s humor often reaches adolescent audiences, especially with
their late-night viewing habits. He shows clips that are not putting a kind
light on the actions of President Trump regarding immigration and the gap
between what he wants and the reality of the situation. For better or worse,
this is how most of my students feel at the moment, however I’d be careful not
to alienate Trump supporters within the classroom. Quantitively I was able to pull
more from this 19 minute and 41 second long video because the transcripts were
available. There are 4004 words, 5867 syllables and 1506 sentences. The average
word length is 4.4, the average sentence length is 2.7 and the longest word is
“congratulations”. It rates at a 7th-8th grade reading
level, but the subjects covered are far more complex than grade-school age.
6 to 10
vocabulary words: legal
immigration, illegal immigration, estimated, embassy, practically, converting,
work visa
A brief
description of task and reader complexity: The purpose for using this text is to bring humor to
the classroom while maintaining a high level of learning. It will likely need
to be edited to be fully appropriate for a classroom. This text builds on
students’ cultural assets by making it fun to learn along with their favorite
light-night hosts. This text matches the students’ prior knowledge and
motivation by splicing the lesson with humor, but still delivering important
and relevant news and political actions made for that week. This would be a
good text to pair with a short essay on what was learned or what was
interesting.
Title: Are Illegal Immigrants Bringing an
Invisible Killer Over the Border?
Date: 2019
Author: The Daily Signal
A brief
summary: A renewed
upsurge in cases of avoidable diseases (such as measles) has been largely
credited to parents who don't vaccinate their children, particularly in
California. Congressman Andy Biggs joins the podcast with perceptions on this
issue that he believes Americans should be watching closely for illegal
immigrants who are unknowingly bringing serious diseases over the border.
A brief
description of the text complexity or accessibility of the text: Qualitatively, I like the format of
this text which is essentially a podcast without video. This format is also
popular with 11th and 12th graders, likely because the
price of these podcast is usually free to the subscriber. Hearing the opinion
from an actual member of congress is also appealing to the learning styles of
my student demographic. This “podcast” would do a great job of facilitating a
class discussion since the congress member’s opinion is not a popular one, at
least in my classroom. Immigrants bringing disease over our boarders might be
an issue that deserves attention, or it might be another carefully crafted
distraction to the real issues like children being placed in detention and
removed forcibly from their family. Quantitatively, there are 6980 syllables,
average word length is 4.5 and average sentence length is 2.7. The length is
24:34. There are 1774 sentences, 1745 short words (3-) and 719 long (7+) words.
Here the reading level again is 7th to 8th grade, however
when broken down, the concepts become much more complicated.
6 to 10
vocabulary words:
Chairman, original founders, socialism, breach, deregulated, impeach, economy,
emphasize
A brief
description of task and reader complexity: The purpose of this text is to try and discuss a part
of immigration reform that is often overlooked. We’ve been told stories of drug
cartels, thugs and gang members coming across our borders; how much of that is
true is certainly debatable. Bringing diseases across the border, in my
experience, has not been brought into the mainstream news from my analysis of
reading the top thirty or so news stories each day. This builds on the
students’ cultural assets by showing this highly publicized topic, and the lack
(or omission) of this particular issue of disease. This text is connected to
the task by directly listening to it and being responsible to answer a short
essay regarding main ideas and supporting topics. This would motivate the
student to learn by inspiring them to investigate this issue on their own, as
the research here is quite lacking. Students’ prior knowledge and motivation
lie in the fact that this is issue likely affects their life be it directly or
indirectly.
Culturally
Relevant texts:
Title: MYKA 9 - I MUST CROSS (immigration
reform music video)
Date: 2010
Author: Myka 9
A brief
summary: This is a
hip-hop video by the artist Myka 9 about immigration reform, and the history behind
it. This song also mentions the plight of other immigrants, not only the ones
involved in crossing our southern border. I like this video because it exudes
knowledge and also has some great break-dancers preforming during the track.
A brief
description of the text complexity or accessibility of the text: Qualitatively this is a great attention-grabbing
tool used to deliver immigration issues to high school students. The song
mentions immigrants from at least 20 countries, not just Mexico and Central
America. The focus of the song is how immigrants have a strong work ethic and
are looking for safe and legal passage into the United States. The
break-dancing is stellar and the DJ, who gets to “scratch” for a bit, is quite
talented and lends a good beat to the lyrics. Additionally, there is a melodious
chorus talking about how we’re all just doing the best we can. Quantitatively
this song is 4:28 long and has 490 words with a total of 757 syllables. The
average word length is 4.4 and the average sentence length is 9.4. There were 209
short words (3-) and 82 long words (7+). The recommended grade level is 9th
to 10th grade.
6 to 10
vocabulary words:
intellect, discipline, petition, expedition, neglect, exorcism, illusion,
irrelevant
A brief
description of task and reader complexity: The purpose of this text is to motivate interest
while providing a broad perspective of immigration issues and how many people
it affects. The students are invested in hip-hop, but not necessarily “conscience”
rap, so this will help build up their cultural assets in being exposed to
something new. The accessibility of this text is free online, and it matches up
with their prior knowledge and motivation by infusing music with a positive
political message.
Title: The Hamilton Mixtape: Immigrants (We
Get The Job Done)
Date: 2017
Author: K’naan featuring Residente, Riz MC
and Snow the Product
A brief
summary: This is the
official music video for Immigrants (We Get the Job Done) by K’naan featuring
Residente, Riz MC and Snow the Product. While including lines from Lafayette’s
character in Hamilton, this song often gets praise from the theatre audience.
This song links issues we have surrounding immigrants and their rights with a
special focus on labor and how the immigrants had been forced into enormous
amounts of free labor in horrific conditions. This video portrays some of these
experiences.
A brief
description of the text complexity or accessibility of the text: Beginning on the qualitative side
where the dimensions and factors are best or only measured by an attentive
human reader, this text has many variables. First, the meaning and purpose of
this text are directly related to people of all ages, but more so at teenagers
and young adults because it includes a mostly hip-hop oriented musical number.
This text not only covers very important dialog that needs to be remembered so
we don’t repeat history, but it does so in an entertaining way. The language
used and clarity of it were surprisingly well done as it’s quite important to
be able to understand the lyrics or the meaning will be lost. Quantitatively, this
text is portrayed in a musical manner makes it well received by a variety of
learners. The 806 words (3,048 characters) were clear, as was the overall
message that immigrant labor was responsible for so much more than they’re
given credit for. The length of the video is 6:07. Other data shows the number
of syllables at 1220, there are 120 sentences, the average word length is 4.2
characters, and the average sentence length is 6.7. Additionally, there are 512
monosyllabic words and 94 polysyllabic words and an average of 1.5 syllables
per word. There are 301 words deemed difficult (37%). There are 365 short words
(less than 3 characters) and 120 long words (over 7 characters). The longest
sentence is 117 characters and 22 words. The estimated reading time is five
minutes, and the readability level is 13th to 15th grade which I think is
ridiculously high.
6 to 10
vocabulary words: mixtape,
Broadway, musical, immigrant labor, slave labor, explicit, commercial
(performance), and compilation
A brief
description of task and reader complexity: The purpose in using this text would be to get the
attention of the class with a media that they’re likely already invested in. In
fact, I wonder at what point during this song do the students stop just
enjoying it, but realize that it’s actually highly politicized and trying to
bring progressive issues to the mainstream. Immigrant law in this country is
really an embarrassment at this point, and if we want the situation to improve
then we need to get the youth involved and active. There should be no more overworked
and underpaid people, especially to the extremes that immigrants face in that
regard. The purpose of this text is to motivate interest. This text, as I
mentioned prior, builds on their existing relationship and investment in the
hip-hop culture. Also, many students are themselves immigrants or from
immigrant families and can relate well with the struggles being mentioned in
this music video. One might even venture to say that this song gives a voice to
the silenced, strength to the weak and knowledge to the ignorant. The
complexity of the task, in this case, can easily be matched with most students’
prior knowledge and motivation because it’s in a format they’re already used to
having on a daily basis. I think most students are at least aware of some of
the issues that immigrants have faced and continue to today. Motivation will
hopefully ensue when the student sees how bad the situation is, and makes a
conscience commitment not to support it in any manner.
Title: Roger Street Friedman "Sun
Never Sets" (Official Video)
Date: 2019
Author: Rodger
Street Freidman
A brief
summary: This is a
song about someone immigrating to the U.S. with nothing at all, until he found
a job with a tailor. In general, it’s about someone with nothing immigrating to
a land with opportunities for folks who’d like to work hard. We need to keep our
head high, because immigration is not easy, but it is a difficult journey worth
taking. Hence the theme: don’t let the sun set on your dream.
A brief
description of the text complexity or accessibility of the text: Qualitatively this song is written
to emphasize how hard it is to become a legal citizen, but how it’s surely worth
it in the end. The visual presentation showed pictures and video of people
immigrating to the U.S. from 1907 to present day. What stuck out to me were the
miles of smiles, people looked absolutely elated to be in this country. Also,
there were many tough scenes to watch such as the kids held in the detention
center and overcrowded gyms holding hundreds of families in dire conditions. Quantitatively,
This video is 5:16 long and was published by the band’s YouTube channel on
March 3, 2019. YouTube did not offer transcript for this song, and I was unable
to find them elsewhere online. Despite this, I think this is an important video
to show and would compliment the other texts nicely.
6 to 10
vocabulary words:
tailor, heed, trials, fate, faith, rhetoric, emanating
A brief
description of task and reader complexity: The purpose of this text is to inform the students of
the historical ups and downs of immigration to the U.S. and how immigrants have
been treated. It brings us up to date and exposes the horrible conditions that
they are sometimes forced to live in. This will build on the students’ cultural
assets by adding a historical perspective to U.S. immigration, and posing the
question “What is the difference between U.S. immigration now as compared to what
it was over one hundred years ago?” The complexity of the task here would be
understanding the lyrics and what the video’s visuals symbolize or say
directly. This text would match the students’ prior knowledge and motivation because
most people are affected by this issue either directly or indirectly, and it
would also fill in knowledge gaps regarding the history of immigration to the
U.S.
Hello Conor,
ReplyDeleteYou did a great job at giving all of the required information. I find it interesting that you have a older group of hypothetical students. Would you ever work with younger students? If so, what texts would you pick for them?
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteSorry, just making sure this thing works! Right now that's the age of the students I'm teaching, so that';s why I chose that age group. If I was looking for texts for a younger audience I'd definitely pick something less complex and with more visual learning. Thanks!
DeleteHi Conor,
ReplyDeleteFirst off-WOW-you really worked hard at deeply analyzing your entire text set. I bet you will have fun teaching this in your classroom. You have a nice variety of texts and if you arrange them with the more complex texts coming in after your more accessible ones, I think you will be very successful! I wonder if you might add a children's book on immigration to your set? Molly's Pilgrim comes to mind as well as books by Alma Flor Ada. Aside from your music choices (which are fantastic), my favorite text is the piece that brings in immigration and disease. Disease is probably far more dangerous to the average American than the "illegal thugs" that are played up in the media. Feedback...using Rubrics for informational texts in your qualitative analysis would strengthen your argument. Such a fascinating topic!
Thanks, I really appreciate that! I will check out that book for sure, thanks for the recommendation!
DeleteReally nice job Conor! I love the blend of heavier academic texts (the one you identified as being at a graduate level) and more culturally relevant/accessible texts as a way to help ease the pressure on your students while still challenging them. My only question would be about your pacing of the unit, if you've given any thought to that? Would you be blocking things out so you have one lesson where you really get to drill down into the more challenging material with them, and buttress it with some of the culturally relevant texts, or would things be more spread out and integrated to give them little "breaks" within the difficult material?
ReplyDeleteNot sure who left this comment, but he or she provides very helpful advice about complexity and pacing of texts.
DeleteThis was Austin W., sorry I forgot commenting with my email still shows up as anonymous for some reason.
DeleteHey Connor, really excellent job with this post! Everything is very nicely laid out and easy to read, which I appreciate as a reader. I also thought you did a really nice and detailed job of explaining how you plan to use these materials together in your introduction. I think I could have done a much better job than I did on my own blog post in terms of being specific about how the texts work together, which is something you did an awesome job of.
ReplyDeleteConor, this topic has the potential to be of very high interest to students. You've selected some very difficult texts (e.g. DeSipio). You may want to consider selecting a short 2-3 paragraph passage for a structured, close reading.
ReplyDelete