Hello, English Students!
Course Content
This semester we will be working on the thematic unit: Mexican Immigration.
1. Brainstorming activity- everything you know, think, or feel about Mexican Immigration
2. Creative writing- putting yourself in the scene
3. In class documentary- "The Other Side of Immigration" by Roy Germano
4. Reading Illegal by Bettina Restrepo
5. Comic analysis
6. Reading The Wind Doesn't Need a Passport: Stories from the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands by Tyche Hendricks
7. Song analysis
8. Research project
9. Guest speaker- TBA
10. Creative writing- perspectives
Recommended Reading
List
Just Like Us by Helen Thorpe- Just Like Us tells the story of four high school students whose parents entered this country illegally from Mexico. We meet the girls on the eve of their senior prom in Denver, Colorado. All four of the girls have grown up in the United States, and all four want to live the American dream, but only two have documents. As the girls attempt to make it into college, they discover that only the legal pair sees a clear path forward. Their friendships start to divide along lines of immigration status.
The Death of Josseline by Margaret Regan
Return to Sender by Julia Alvarez- After Tyler's father is injured in a tractor accident, his family is forced to hire migrant Mexican workers to help save their Vermont farm from foreclosure. Tyler isn’t sure what to make of these workers. Are they undocumented? And what about the three daughters, particularly Mari, the oldest, who is proud of her Mexican heritage but also increasingly connected her American life. Her family lives in constant fear of being discovered by the authorities and sent back to the poverty they left behind in Mexico. Can Tyler and Mari find a way to be friends despite their differences?
Into the Beautiful North by Luis Alberto Urrea
The Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henriquez- After their daughter Maribel suffers a near-fatal accident, the Riveras leave México and come to America. But upon settling at Redwood Apartments, a two-story cinderblock complex just off a highway in Delaware, they discover that Maribel's recovery--the piece of the American Dream on which they've pinned all their hopes--will not be easy. Every task seems to confront them with language, racial, and cultural obstacles.
The Devil's Highway: A True Story by Luis Alberto Urrea