Disciplinary Vocabulary Strategies

Rachel AlexanderRED 6545

Christine Joseph, Ph. D.March 30, 2014

8TH GRADE SOCIAL STUDIES - ECONOMICS

THE ECONOMICS OF IMMIGRATION

Content vocabulary:

Scarcity

Incentives

Supply and

Demand

Opportunity costs

Profit

Content: Social Studies8th Grade standard

Standard SS.8.E.1.1: Market Economy - Examine motivating economic factors that influenced the development of the United States economy over time including scarcity, supply and demand, opportunity costs, incentives, profits, and entrepreneurial aspects.

SS.8.E.2.1: Analyze contributions of entrepreneurs, inventors, and other key individuals from various gender, social, and ethnic backgrounds in the development of the United States economy.

SS.8.E.2.2: Explain the economic impact of government policies.

SS.8.E.2.3: Assess the role of Africans and other minority groups in the economic development of the United States.

SS.8.E.3.1: Evaluate domestic and international interdependence.

Language Arts Standard:

LACC.68.RH.2.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary specific to domains related to history/social studies.

Subject Area: NGSSS: Social Studies

Grade: 8

Strand: Economics

Standard: Understand the fundamental concepts relevant to the development of a market economy.

CCSS Language Arts Standards for informational text:

LACC.68.RH.1.1: Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources.

LACC.68.RH.1.2: Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of the source distinct from prior knowledge or opinions.

LACC.68.RH.1.3: Identify key steps in a text’s description of a process related to history/social studies (e.g., how a bill becomes law, how interest rates are raised or lowered).

LACC.68.RH.2.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary specific to domains related to history/social studies.

LACC.68.RH.2.5: Describe how a text presents information (e.g., sequentially, comparatively, causally).

CCSS Language Arts Standards for informational text (cont.):

LACC.68.RH.2.6: Identify aspects of a text that reveal an author’s point of view or purpose (e.g., loaded language, inclusion or avoidance of particular facts).

LACC.68.RH.3.7: Integrate visual information (e.g., in charts, graphs, photographs, videos, or maps) with other information in print and digital texts.

LACC.68.RH.3.8: Distinguish among fact, opinion, and reasoned judgment in a text.

LACC.68.RH.3.9: Analyze the relationship between a primary and secondary source on the same topic.

LACC.68.RH.4.10: By the end of grade 8, read and comprehend history/social studies texts in the grades 6–8 text complexity band independently and proficiently.

Journey of Dreams by Marge Pellegrino

Historical fiction for young adult readers about the hardships of Central American refugees and the long journey north.

Investigate

1. What are the economic consequences of the destruction of their village that Tomasa’s family

must endure?

2. What are the scarcities as a result of Tomasa’s family’s severe circumstances?

3. What supplies does the family need to travel through Mexico to the United States, including

economic supplies (money)?

4. How are these necessary supplies in demand, if at all?

5. What are the economic incentives for Tomasa’s family to risk traveling to the United States?

6. After tracking through the book, determine the opportunity costs the Tomasa’s family may

have had to pay to move to their new homeland.

To answer these questions, students will have to research beyond the book to make these

determinations, such as cost of travel (buses, trains), overnight costs, food and water, paying

the coyote, etc.

QUESTIONS FOR JOURNEY OF DREAMS

Economics of Tomasa’s family’s immigration: Group interactive

Find Guatemala on the interactive map .  Then find the cities that Tomasa and her family traveled to: Guatemala City, Mexico City, Tucson, and Phoenix.  Trace one route that Tomasa’s family may have taken to get from Guatemala City to Mexico City.  Remember, they crossed where Mexico and Guatemala meet at a river. Determine the number of miles they traveled and the costs they incurred. Next, trace a possible path from Mexico City to Tucson. Again determine the number of miles they traveled and the costs they incurred.  Check the path created by the class, with the map provided at the end of the book.  Think about what it would have been like to travel this distance—much of it on foot.  How would you have felt if you were Tomasa?

http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/mapping/interactive-map/?ar_a=1

Investigate

Investigate

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8Dmyk1p1Yw

View the video “Uprooted: Refugees of the global economy.”

Go to http://www.as-coa.org/articles/get-facts-immigrants-and-economy-five-reasons-why-us-economy-needs-immigrants. After viewing the video, having class discussions, and reading the fact sheet, write a five paragraph essay of the economic hardships of these immigrants in the video using the vocabulary words in this lesson. The essay will have a thesis statement, three paragraphs, and a conclusion with opinion.

A more specific rubric of expectations will be provided and you will have the opportunity to submit a draft before a final submission.

Report what you know

Teacher plans for Journey of Dreams can be found at:

http://teachinglatinamericathroughliterature.wordpress.com/april-2013-journey-of-dreams/

A text set for Mexican immigration and economics (North American Free Trade Agreement [NAFTA]) can be found at:

http://www.rethinkingschools.org/ProdDetails.asp?ID=9780942961317

Bigelow, B. (2006) The line between us: Teaching about the border and Mexican immigration. Milwaukee, WI: Rethinking Teaching, Ltd.

 

Other resources for teachers

The Arrival is a picture book for young adults. The pictures in this book depict a displaced immigrant worker. The many issues of immigrants such as missing the homeland, missing family and friends, not fitting in, and struggling with a new language are portrayed with Tan’s exquisite sketches. Useful for learning disabled and students of other languages.

Tan, Shaun. (2007) The Arrival. New York, NY: Arthur A. Levine Books.http://www.shauntan.net/books/the-arrival.html