Lesson Plan September 4, 2024
Our Immigration Cuentos
Country:
Grades:
This unit was created by Robert (Corky) Frausto, a high school English Language Arts educator in Albuquerque, NM as part of the 2023-2024 Pulitzer Center Teacher Fellowship program. It includes three lessons and is designed for facilitation across sixteen class periods, with work outside of class.
For more units created by Pulitzer Center Teacher Fellows in this cohort, click here.
Objectives:
Students will…
- Learn about the global dynamics of immigration.
- Explore the concept of querencia and analyze where they see evidence of querencia in multiple news stories and in stories of migration from their own communities.
- Learn and share experiential knowledge from their experiences, the experiences of interviewees, about the migration to the U.S.
- Learn and apply interview skills to create digital cuentos.
- Relate their experiences as immigrants or children of immigrants to the experiences of the people in the stories they analyze.
Unit Overview:
Students will examine underreported stories related to immigration and relate the articles they read to themes of querencia. As defined in the book, Querencia : reflections on the New Mexico homeland, the term querencia comes from bullfighting culture. In that respect it means, "...a place which develops in the course of the fight where the bull makes his home. It does not usually show at once, but develops in his brain as the fight goes on. In this place he feels that he has his back against the wall and in his querencia he is inestimably more dangerous and almost impossible to kill.”
It is also defined as, "...a place where one feels safe, a place from which one's strength of character is drawn, where one feels at home." Querencia is also explained as the place from which we get our identity: "Who am I? I am myself. I am how I am because I am from here, unique and unlike anyone else." (Fonseca-Chávez, V., Romero, L., Herrera, S. R., & Anaya, R. A. (Eds.). (2020). Querencia : reflections on the New Mexico homeland. University of New Mexico Press.)
As students review the news stories, they will analyze key details and themes, and also evaluate how the articles they analyze connect to themes related to the search for home, a search for querencia. They will then present the story they investigated to the class and share their analysis of how the article connects to the theme of querencia.
Before starting this unit, students will read The Devil’s Highway by Luis Alberto Correa, which describes the stories of 26 people who migrated to the U.S. in 2001. In addition to exploring themes of querencia, students will relate the Pulitzer Center stories they research and present on to the themes of the book The Devil’s Highway. They will examine the motivations and goals of the people who are migrating and the outcomes of their journeys.
By the end of the unit, students will share their analyses as part of classroom presentations in small groups. They will also produce “digital cuentos” that document stories of immigration from their own communities, relate those stories to themes from the articles they analyzed, and relate those stories to the concept of querencia.
Essential questions:
- Why are people migrating? Why are people willing to leave their homes and move somewhere else?
- What challenges do people who are migrating face when reaching their destinations?
- What are the processes people who migrate navigate to stay in the place they move to? What are their experiences of these processes and where do you see trends in the challenges/opportunities in these processes?
- In what ways are people organizing/advocating to address the challenges people face while migrating and trying to remain in their destination?
- How do the stories of migration explored in this unit compare to experiences of migration in my own community?
- What is underreported about the experience of migration, and why is it important to tell stories of migration? How do our stories of migration, and the stories explored in this unit, compare to other media representations of migration?
- How can stories make complex issues relevant and inspire action?
Performance Task(s):
- In groups of up to three, students will research reporting related to immigration. They will create a presentation (slideshow or video) describing key details and themes from the reporting. Presentations will also compare and contrast the story to other material studied in the class and describe evidence of querencia in the article. Presentations should…
- Describe the title and topic of the story. Who is the author, what is their story?
- Summarize the story and focus on a single aspect of the story.
- What part of the immigration experience (beginning the journey, the journey itself, and the outcome) does the story focus on? What is the outcome of the story? What questions would you have for the different people in the story? How does the story reflect querencia?
- Individually, students will create a digital cuento presentation that either relates their own migration story, or the story of a family member/friend/community member, to the themes explored in the unit. If presenting the story of a family member or community member, students will prepare and conduct an interview. Students will present with a slideshow or video. Presentations should…
- Summarize the migration experience of the person being profiled, and include key details that were identified as important to the subject of the profile.
Relate the person’s story to themes explored throughout the unit, including the theme of querencia.
Assessment/Evaluation:
Rubric for the digital cuento presentation of migration stories from students and/or members of their communities[.pdf][.docx]
Rubrics for presentation, including the précis statement and storyboard. [.pdf]
Three-lesson unit plan for teachers, including pacing, texts and multimedia resources, guiding questions for group discussions, performance task instructions, and grading rubric for the unit. This unit was written to be taught over the course of 2-3 weeks, but can shortened or extended as needed.
Unit Resources:
New Mexico Common Core Standards for English Language Arts
1. Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.
2. Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas.
3. Analyze how and why individuals, events, or ideas develop and interact over the course of a text.
Craft and Structure:
4. Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone.
5. Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text (e.g., a section, chapter, scene, or stanza) relate to each other and the whole.
6. Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text.
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas:
7. Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.
8. Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, including the validity of the reasoning as well as the relevance and sufficiency of the evidence.
9. Analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge or to compare the approaches the authors take.
Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity:
10. Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently
The following capture work by students in Albuquerque, NM who engaged with this unit as part of a Mexican American Studies course in spring 2024.
First students, reflected on how they see migration covered in the news and explore the term, "querencia." As defined in the book, Querencia : reflections on the New Mexico homeland, the term querencia comes from bullfighting culture. In that respect it means, "...a place which develops in the course of the fight where the bull makes his home. It does not usually show at once, but develops in his brain as the fight goes on. In this place he feels that he has his back against the wall and in his querencia he is inestimably more dangerous and almost impossible to kill.” Students then explore reporting by Pulitzer Center grantees on migration and create presentations that respond to the following questions:
- Who is the author and what is their story?
- What is a summary of the story?
- What part of the immigration experience (beginning the journey, the journey itself ,and the outcome) does the story focus on?
- What is the outcome of the story?
- What questions would you have for the different people in the story?
- How does the story reference querencia?
The following are examples of projects created by students:
1. Student analysis of "Life After Deportation" by Corrine Chin, Erika Schultz, and Nina Shapiro for The Seattle Times
Even though Mr Valdez was born in Mexico I feel like his Querencia is in the States. He states that he feels more free and that there are simply more opportunities in the States.
- Brian O. and Melanie O. as part of a presentation analyzing the story, "Life After Deportation" by Corrine Chin, Erika Schultz, and Nina Shapiro for The Seattle Times
2. Student analysis of "‘We’re Going to Find You.’ Mexican Cartels Turn Social Media Into Tools for Extortion, Threats, and Violence" by Rebecca Plevin and Omar Ornelas for The Desert Sun
3. Student analysis of "A Country That Welcomes Migration" by Patrick Ammerman for Yes!
4. Student analysis of "Deported to Haiti Even Though He Wasn't Born There" by Jacqueline Charles for The Miami Herald
5. Student analysis of "Separated Migrant Family of Six Faced One Hurdle After Another After Immigration Crackdown" by Neena Satija for The Texas Tribune
6. Student analysis of "Dreams Derailed" by Marcela Rodrigues for The Chronicle of Higher Education
8. Student analysis of "Far From Home" by Amie Ferris-Rotman for Time
9. Student analysis of "Heaven to Hell, Blue Skies to Pain: the Lament of Iraq’s Climate Migrants" by Susan Schulman for The Daily Maverick
11. Student analysis of "Life After Deportation" by Corrine Chin, Erika Schultz, and Nina Shapiro for The Seattle Times
Rafael was more used to life in Mexico and said, 'over here I feel more free.' Rafael is creating a new querencia in Mexico. Joy is completely new to life in Mexico. She says, "I'm isolated,” and, “I’m not sure where we belong. We’ve been gone for six years.” Going from the big city to a dirt road ranch town is a big difference and not just in landscape. Socially it is difficult for joy to make friends and talk to people. Joy is living in Nepantla it seems she can't come to terms with living in Mexico just yet and is questioning where she belongs.
Student presentation on the story, "Life after deportation' by corrine chin, erika schultz, and nina shapiro for The seattle Times
Students ultimately apply their analysis of reporting to a reflection on querencia within their communities. They ultimately produce digial cuentos, or short presentations, sharing their own migration stories or stories of migration from their communities.
- Aaliyah interviews the older brother of a friend about his experience migrating from Mexico
"He had to use a different name to cross over the border and understanding the english language and communicating with others were the difficult parts about coming into the U.S."
New mexico high school student aaliyah reflects what she learned from the older brother of a friend about his experience migrating to the u.s.
I think the biggest thing I miss about my country is that it just feels like home...
For my biggest accomplishment there's a few different things: first is having the opportunity to attend college after I was able to graduate from high school and get my diploma.
a friend of new mexico high school student brian describes her experience migrating to the u.s. from Mexico
