Drawing on a curriculum by Rethinking Schools, The Line Between Us, Teaching about the Border and Mexican Immigration, central Vermont educators Carolyn Shapiro and Jean Lathrop designed a curriculum that includes looking at the phenomenon of Mexican workers living shadow lives here in Vermont. They co-taught with two teachers of sophomore social studies classes, one for two weeks and the other for five weeks. They arranged to have guests visit the classes including a Mexican immigrant, an American born Mexican-American who is now a PhD but was a migrant worker as a child, a Vermont farmer using Mexican labor, and the co-director of Vermont Refugee Assistance. One teacher used his classroom budget to buy each student a copy of a short book, Crossing the Wire, about a teenage Mexican boy who in desperation decides he has to go to the US to earn money to send back to his family and the ensuing dangers he faces crossing the border. Students were very involved and wrote insightful evaluations. “I think this unit was really great and made me think of things that are going on now that we can potentially fix instead of like history which we can’t change.” (image courtesy of Vermont Folklife Center)Carolyn and Jean compiled this resource list from the work mentioned above and also from their association with The Golden Cage exhibit at the Vermont Folklife Center in Middlebury (http://www.vermontfolklifecenter.org/):
Web-based Resources:
The American Friends Service Committee has a section of their Web site at http://tamejavi.com/immigrants-rights/ devoted to immigrants’ right in the United States, which includes
· AFSC blog on immigration policy
· Project Voice E-Newsletter: Real Immigration Stories
· numerous articles and reports
· resources such as Echando Raices/Taking Root, a bilingual DVD documentary on immigrant realities and immigrant rights
The Web site of the National Immigration Forum at http://www.blogger.com/ww.immigrationforum.org/ includes:
· Press releases
· Facts on immigration
· Backgrounders, issue briefs, and legislative analysis
· Immigration reform resources
A 15-page fact sheet on migration from Mexico through March 2007 prepared by the Pew Hispanic Center can be found at http://pewhispanic.org/files/factsheets/33.pdf.
Teachable Moment Web site presents free, timely topical activities and lesson plans for the K - 12 classroom offered by the nonprofit Educators for Social Responsibility. These include lessons on social responsibility, critical thinking, etc. and can be found at http://www.teachablemoment.org/.
Witness for Peace seeks to educate the U.S. public and policymakers about the root causes of immigration, and to change U.S. trade and economic policy that contributes to migration. Online resources at http://www.witnessforpeace.org/article.php?list=type&type=121 include reports, news, and publications.
Teaching for Change online catalog at http://www9.mailordercentral.com/teachingforchange/ offers hundreds of carefully selected books, films, and posters for teaching from a social justice perspective.
Books:
Will Hobbs, Crossing the Wire (published by Harper Collins) is a story for young adults about a Mexican boy who crosses the border to find work to help his family in Mexico. Also an online teacher’s guide for Crossing the Wire at http://www.harperchildrens.com/
Bill Bigelow, The Line Between Us: Teaching About the Border and Mexican Immigration is available from Rethinking Schools Online. The Line Between Us explores the history of U.S-Mexican relations and the roots of Mexican immigration, all in the context of the global economy. It shows how teachers can help students understand the immigrant experience and the drama of border life. It's also about imaginative and creative teaching that gets students to care about the world.
Ann Jaramillo, La Linea (published by Roaring Brook Press) is a moving story about the Herculean efforts of two Mexican teenagers to reach the Promised Land, the United States, to be reunited with their parents.
Films:
El Norte, directed by Gregory Nava, 1984, available on DVD.
A teenage brother and sister escaping violence in Guatemala flee to "El Norte" (the USA) by truck, bus and other means to reach Los Angeles, where they try to make a new life as young, uneducated, and illegal immigrants.
El Imigrante, written, produced, and directed by John Sheedy, David Eckenrode, and John Ekenrode, 2005.
This is a documentary film that examines the Mexican and American border crisis by telling the true story of Eusebio de Haro, a young Mexican migrant who was shot and killed during one of his journeys north.
- From what other perspectives do you teach about immigration?
- Do you teach about current immigration and/or migrant labor issues in Vermont? If so, what resources do you have to share with us?
- Do you have any concerns or advice about teaching about current immigration issues?
