Eine Einstiegsstunde in das Thema MIGRATION im Englisch LK

Lesson plan “Migration”

Basic information: In the English classes preparing for the A-levels it should be dealt with British as well as American history to understand today's social and political situation. As many people from Europe left to start a new life in America in the past and some still do so today, it is worth looking at the push and pull factors which lead to migration.

This is a plan for two double periods (2 x 90 minutes) for pupils in Year 11 (16 to 17 years old).

Goal: The main goal of this short sequence is to gain knowledge about migration and the reasons why people migrate.

Room and material: The first lesson can be held in regular classrooms as nothing special is needed, the second should take place in a room with laptops and internet access.

Lesson plan for the first double period (90 minutes):

Why do people migrate?

Phase Action Media Beginning phase (10 minutes) To find out what the students already know about the topic, the sequence starts with a brainstorming on MIGRATION. The pupils contribute everything that comes to their minds when they think of MIGRATION and the teacher takes notes on the board.

In cooperation with the students, the teacher highlights aspects the class will focus on in the next lessons. Think (10 minutes)

The teacher divides the class into two groups A and B. The students from each group should start by working alone to order the factors by importance.

(Group A: Imagine you were moving to a new country. What would be the most important factors to take into consideration? Put these in order of importance. / Group B: Which things would most make you want to leave your home city or country? Put them in order of importance.)

Worksheets with tasks for group A / B Pair (10 minutes)

Then the students work with their neighbour to compare their results, add new aspects and discuss their reasons for their order. Share (20 minutes)

Once the students have had time to compare with others from their group, they build larger groups with one pair from group A and one from group B. They present their results to each other and discuss their outcomes from the task, then decide which factors from each list most motivate people to migrate. Presentation phase (30-35 minutes) Some groups present their results and the class discusses the order of importance.

The technical terms push and pull factors are introduced and defined. (Push factors are the reasons why people want to leave a place – things that push them away from their place of birth. Pull factors are the reasons why people want to go to one place rather than another – things that pull them towards a place.) board Closure (5-10 minutes)

To make sure that everyone understood the difference, there is a quiz: Are these push or pull factors?

• Government persecution

• Unemployment

• Good economic prospects

• Good weather

• War or social unrest

• Safe streets

• Corruption

• ....

Lesson plan for the second double period (90 minutes):

America - a nation of immigrants

Phase Action Media Beginning phase (10 minutes) As a silent impulse, the teacher writes the following quote by Barack Obama on the board: "My fellow Americans, we are and always will be a nation of immigrants. We were strangers once, too." Students comment on this quote. 

Research (60 minutes) To gain more knowledge about America as a nation of immigrants, students start a webquest and write down the answers to the questions. By doing so,they get to know technical terms having to do with migration (e.g. Green Card, Visa), the requirements for citizenship and how immigration to the US works.

www.icivics.org/web-quests/immigration-citizenship laptop, internet access Evaluation (10 minutes)

The results of the webquest are presented by the students, they add missing aspects to their answers.

 

Document of the lesson plan