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Immigration to Baltimore, 1883: The Rebecca Novitsky Story
Teacher's Guide
Developed by James F. Adomanis
Edited by Lisa Kissinger
Objectives:
In this lesson, students will:
- Describe the history of an immigrant family from the late 1800's.
MSPAP Outcomes and Indicators:
Social Studies, Grades 4-5
Peoples of the Nation and World
- Analyze the diverse cultural contributions that influenced the
development of Maryland and the United States.
Skills and Processes
- Obtain, interpret, organize, and use information from reading,
asking questions, observing, and listening.
- Obtain, interpret, organize and use print and non-print sources of
information such as pictures, graphics, maps, globes, and artifacts.
Reading/Language Arts, Grades K-8
Reading
- Students will demonstrate their ability to read to be informed.
Writing
- The students will demonstrate ability to write effectively to
inform by developing and organizing facts to convey information.
Student Worksheets:
Other Materials Needed:
Key Web Sites Referenced in this Lesson:
Teacher Background Information:
This lesson is based on the Maryland Historical Society character,
Rebecca Novitsky. Rebecca is one of the six historical characters in
the "Maryland Through My Eyes" program of the Society, characters
that can come to your classroom and brings history to life! Through an
interactive 45- to 60-minute presentation features drama, hands-on
activities, and the opportunity for students to analyze primary
sources, students learn about history through a personal narrative.
For more information about the Maryland Historical Society's Maryland
Through My Eyes program, contact them by calling 410-685-3750.
Immigration to Baltimore, 1870-1900
The immigrations to the United States of over 41,500,000 persons, of
whom 34,000,000 came from Europe between 1820 and 1960 is the greatest
movement of population in Western history. For convenience sake,
historians usually divided the study of immigration into three time
periods: (1) the colonial, 1607-1776; (2) the "old" immigration,
1790-1890; and the (3) the "new" immigration 1890 to the present.
From the era of Reconstruction to the end of the 19th century, the
State of Maryland underwent an economic transformation that involved
the maturing of the industrial economy, the rapid expansion of big
business, and the rise of national labor unions and pronounced
industrial conflict. The last third of the 19th century witnessed
unprecedented immigration and urbanization, both of which were
indispensable to industrial expansion. American society became more
diverse as immigrants arrived not only from southern and eastern
Europe but also from Asia, Mexico, and Central America, creating a new
American mosaic. Related to this continuing theme of immigration was
the search for national unity amid growing cultural diversity. The
State of Maryland, and especially the City of Baltimore, was destined
to feel the impact of these newly arriving 19th century immigrants.
Students should be able to demonstrate understanding of the sources
and experiences of the new immigrants by
- Analyzing the obstacles, opportunities, and contributions of
different immigrant groups.
- Evaluating how Jewish newcomers responded to discrimination and
internal divisions in their new surroundings.
In this Exploration, students read text and examine historical
photographs to investigate immigration history related to Maryland.
Students will also have the opportunity to take a virtual tour of a
museum, and they will write their own script for a historical
character. This Maryland Exploration might work well as
an introductory lesson to 19th century urban life, cultural diversity,
family history and genealogy, and the establishment of the garment
district in the City of Baltimore.
Teaching Tips:
This Maryland Exploration should take at least two 30 minute
class
periods to complete. The first half of the Exploration is a
reading
selection. Students will read the Rebecca Novitsky story on-line. To
help students be successful with this reading, teachers should review
the reading selection prior to using the Exploration with
students to
identify important vocabulary to be instructed before reading.
The beginning of the lesson includes a Preview
Guide (or anticipation guide) to help students access prior knowledge
before they begin to read. Read about
Anticipation Guides from the Maryland State Department
of Education's School Improvement Web Site.
If you would like some more information on helping your students
improve their writing, view
The Literary Express.
If students need help understanding how to interpret visual sources of
information, The Maryland Historical Society provides a variety of
different on-line worksheets that will help students examine
photographs and other primary sources. Download these worksheets
from the
Maryland Historical
Society web site.
Introduction/Motivation:
To connect the students' contemporary experience with this Maryland
Exploration, ask students to determine how many students they know
that have recently arrived in Maryland, and locate the places that
these people have come from on a world map. (This activity could be
extended to a graphing activity if students live in a community with a
diverse immigrant population.)
Explain that in this lesson, students will be learning about the
immigration of one family to Baltimore in 1883. Explain that
"Maryland is often called the United States in miniature" and that
people of many different ethnic and cultural backgrounds live here.
Use the Preview Guide as an introductory activity before using the
on-line reading.
After students have completed reading the Exploration, review
the Preview Guide questions again. Encourage students to revisit the
text to check the accuracy of the statements. Encourage discussion of
the statements, and further research if necessary to check the answers
(although all of the statements can be checked just by re-reading this
Exploration).
Thoughtful Application
To check whether students have understood what they have read, the
thoughtful application for this Exploration is to create a
script for
another character in the story. If necessary, provide further
explanation on historical characters. (Arrange for Rebecca Novitsky
to visit your classroom as you are completing this
Exploration!)
After students have completed a character map as a pre-writing, they
may be encouraged to visit the Museum of American History's web site
to gather more information about immigration to the United States
before 1904. Then, they will compose a script for a conversation
between Rebecca and another character in the story. Your students may
even want to act out the conversation!
Scoring Key for Sample Thoughtful Application:
A sample rubric is included below. You may wish to use MSDE's Writing
to Inform Rubric and the Language Usage rubric.
Writing To Inform
| 3.
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You have created a well-written script for your character that
includes accurate details from the story. Your character seems to
come alive - the writing keeps the reader interested, and is filled
with details that make it seem like the reader is having a
conversation with the character. You have revised your work enough to
truly turn in your best!
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| 2.
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You have created a script for your character that includes details
from the story. Your script needs a few minor changes to make it
better organized and more interesting to read You could revise your
work some more to make sure it is your best. You might want to review
the Rebecca Novitsky one more time to make sure your details are
accurate.
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| 1.
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You have completed the assignment, but your script does not
include
enough details and there are some facts included that are not
accurate. You need to revise your work some more to make sure it is
your best. You definitely need to review the Rebecca Novitsky story
again to make sure your details are accurate.
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| 0.
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Your work is incomplete.
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Extensions for further study:
- Construct a family history project. Where did your family come
from? Why donŐt you ask your parents and/or your grandparents about
your familyŐs history? Then you can write a paragraph telling where
your family came from.
- As a follow-up activity, you may want to visit
Life in the Canneries and
learn more about Child Labor in Maryland at the turn of the 20th
Century.
- Draw upon stories about the experiences of immigrants in the
recent
past in order to retell the stories and discuss the good and bad
experiences of the people who have moved into their state or region.
Possible sources are Angel Child, Dragon Child by Michele Maria
Surat,
The Land I Lost by Hyunh Quang Nhoung, Making a New Home in
America by
Maxine Rosenberg, How Many Days to America? by Eve Bunting,
I Speak
English for My Mom by Muriel Stark, and Grandfather's
Journal by Allen
Say.
- Draw upon stories such as The Drinking Gourd by F.N. Monjo,
Next
Spring an Oriole by Gloria Whelan, The Little Weaver of
Thai-Yen
Village by Tran-Khanh-Tuyet, Dancing with the Indians by
Angela Shelf
Medearis, and I Speak English For My Mom by Muriel Stark in
order to
retell and analyze examples of people from different groups meeting,
adjusting to, or helping one another. What problems did they have?
What did they do to overcome them? How would students suggest dealing
with them and why?
- Interpret photographs and historical narratives that depict the
obstacles encountered by various individuals and groups and their
struggles to overcome them. Analyze a problem, considering the
different perspectives of people involved, the options they had at the
time for dealing with the problem, and the consequences of the
decisions made. Possible sources include Immigrant Kids by
Russell
Freedman, Strange New Feeling by Julius Lester, Immigrant
Girl: Becky
of Eldridge by Brett Harvey, Yonie Wondernose by Marguerite
De Angeli,
An Illustrated History of the Chinese in America by Ruthanne L.
McCunn, The Black Americans: A History in Their Own Words by
Milton
Meltzer, Mexican in America by Jane Pinchot, Dimitry: A
Young Soviet
Immigrant by Joanne E. Bermstoem, and In the Year of the Boar
and
Jackie Robinson by Bette Bao Lord.
- Describe the ways in which immigrants learned to live and work in
a
new country. Draw upon excerpts from first-hand accounts, stories, and
poems that describe living and working conditions. How did urban
reformers like Jacob
Riis
try to serve
the needs of new immigrants? What role did public schools have in
helping immigrants settle into their new communities?
- Use old photographs, oral histories, and other sources to compile
a
history of the experiences of family members who immigrated to the
United States. (NOTE: The Maryland Historical Society Library has an
outstanding collection of oral history interviews of prominent
Maryland citizens. Contact the Maryland Historical Society for more
information, www.mdhs.org).
- Examine the experiences of Jewish immigrants through children's
stories such as The Cat Who Escaped from Steerage by Evelyn
Wilde
Meyerson.
- Examine newspaper and magazine accounts and construct interview
questions for a written, telephone, or in-person interview with a
recent immigrant in order to discover why they came, what their life
was like, and to describe some of the experiences that they have had
in adjusting to Maryland.
- Since this is 2000, the year of the census-taking, draw upon past
census data using Web sites such as the US Census Department
or the
US Historical Census Data Browser
and historical accounts in order to describe patterns and changes in
population over a period of time in Baltimore or another town in
Maryland.
Additional web sites:
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