Classroom Activities
This unit has an estimated duration of two months with each lesson lasting 45 minutes a day.
Hook and Introduction: Day 1
To begin this unit, the United Stew of America metaphor will be introduced by showing three different videos. Each video will be a representation of the melting pot, salad bowl, and stew theories. This will give students a point of reference for a discussion on which metaphor they think best represents the United States. This will set us up for the overall unit questions of “How did the United States come together as a stew?” and “What does my own stew consist of?”
Within this initial lesson, I will introduce students to the stew theory by speaking on how the United States as a country has been and continues to be influenced by immigrants. It is essential to explicitly teach the definition of immigration. I would be wary of outright asking students to self-identify as immigrants at the beginning as there may be some anxiety about it. Examples will then be provided for how the overall culture of the United States utilizes aspects of different cultures brought by immigrants like setting off fireworks and having barbecues. This will guide us into the idea that the United States as we know it would not be the same without immigration. From there, a brief piece of history will be shared with the students about how the immigration system was actually built to discriminate against Chinese people primarily, and their journey encapsulates how it has progressed. A brief synopsis of Front Desk will then be provided to the students before reading the first two chapters to promote interest.
The first week of the unit will look as follows:
Day 2:
- Introduce vocabulary word (generously)
- Provide historical context by identifying China on a map. Explain reasons for why Chinese people initially came to the United States, and how it eventually led to the Chinese Exclusion Act.
- Read Chapters 3 and 4 of Front Desk aloud while students finger track.
- Example post-reading questions: Why did they drink Jasmine tea? Do your families have traditions you follow when good things happen? Using context clues, what do you think a second-class citizen is? How is Mia feeling towards her mom at the end of chapter 4?
Day 3:
- Introduce vocabulary word (complicated, refund)
- Supply background knowledge by briefly showing students pictures of motels and how they are run.
- Introduce character traits and differentiate from character feelings.
- Read Chapters 5 and 6 of Front Desk aloud while students finger track. Also, task students with thinking about a possible character trait of Mia in this chapter.
- Give students Stew Recipe graphic organizers to track the character traits they see in the main characters.
- Fill in “determined” character trait for Mia with evidence from the chapter.
- Ask two post-reading questions.
Day 4:
- Introduce vocabulary word (deposit)
- Review summarizing.
- Read Chapter 7 aloud, but have partners read the last two pages together.
- Ask two post-reading questions.
- Complete Somebody-Wanted-But-So-Then framework sentence to write summary sentence of chapter. (Throughout unit, we will increase the number of chapters to write summaries for.)
Day 5:
- Introduce vocabulary phrase (butterflies in my stomach to introduce figurative language)
- Provide historical background by speaking on the types of discrimination faced by Asian immigrants in the past with the Geary Act and the California Alien Land Law.
- Read Chapter 8-9 aloud and have students partner read the last two pages of the chapter.
- Fill out Stew Recipe graphic organizer for Jason with “hostile” as a character trait.
- Wrap up the week of reading with a writing assignment that requires them to write a 3-4 sentence journal entry from Mia’s point of view.
Subsequent Lessons in Weeks 2-7
Throughout the reading of the novel, a fluency protocol will be followed each day with snippets of history sprinkled in to provide background knowledge foundation. Students will also be explicitly taught the academic skills of identifying character traits and figurative language, summarizing, and sequencing events. Graphic organizers, hands-on activities, and reader’s theater will all be used to reinforce these concepts. Biweekly assessments will occur to evaluate how students are progressing towards those academic goals.
In addition to Front Desk, the class will read both Areli is a Dreamer by Areli Morales and Nim and the War Effort by Milly Lee during this unit. Each of these picture books will consist of 2-day lessons to allow time for close reading. An example informational text to be used is a ReadWorks passage called Building the Railroad about Chinese immigrants being hired to build the Transcontinental Railroad. These texts will not only provide more background knowledge but also allow students more ways to connect with the unit topic.
Culminating Project
The culminating project for this unit involves three distinct activities that will give students the chance to learn more about themselves and improve their writing and character trait identification skills. The first activity will be an opinion essay where the students will pick a character they found the most interesting and use character traits and text evidence to explain why. Next, they will create a “United Stew of Me” cube using tissue boxes covered with construction paper. These cubes will require students to identify the stew ingredients that make up their identity, pushing them to be more introspective. The final activity will be the students presenting their cubes to the class to emphasize how diverse our classroom is, along with our country.
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