Page 102 - Copshaholm Curriculum Book_2015
P. 102
Coming to Indiana Lesson Plan 3
came to be. Share some of the stories about its origin with students or have
them research it from themselves. One story suggests that the word goes back
to early settlers who called out, “Who’s ere?” when someone knocked on their
cabin doors.)
2. Ask students to consider where Hoosiers themselves have come from. At
different points in Indiana=s history, people have moved to Indiana from other
states and countries, for a variety of reasons.
3. List the words from Key Ideas (above), using an overhead projector or
chalkboard. Have students volunteer definitions and discuss until students have
clear definitions in mind.
4. Divide the class into teams. Pass out the “Who’s Here?” Cards to each team.
Each card should briefly describe an individual who has come to Indiana at
different times in history.
5. Students could develop additional cards for real and hypothetical people by using
textbooks, newspapers, magazines, and the Internet to research the stories of
immigrants. Have students construct a time line for Indiana History using their
cards. Examples might include: an Irish farmer from Virginia in the 1830s, a
German carpenter in the 1840s, a recently freed slave in the 1860s, an Italian
baker in the 1890s, a seamstress from Poland in the 1900s, a refugee from
Eastern Europe after World War II, the Korean bride of an American soldier in the
1950s, an engineering student from Iran in the 1980s, a Haitian migrant worker
from Florida in the 1990s, and a computer programmer from India and an
exchange students from Argentina in the present.
6. Have students use textbooks and reference books to research the country of
origin and the time in which their character lived or lives. Through their research,
students should attempt to answer these questions:
What was happening in the character’s country of origin at this time (push
factor)?
Is this person a migrant, immigrant, refugee, or a combination of these
things?
What problems might this person have encountered that caused the move
from his or her homeland (push factors)?
What are the factors that made this person want to resettle in Indiana (pull
factors)?
What cultural contributions did this person make to Indiana?
5. Have each team present the story of the immigrants they have researched.
Presenters should feature the answers to the questions researched above.
Presentations might be in any format: a play, a song, a news report, or a poster
or other graphic design.
Closure
Debrief students after the presentations regarding the most important things they have
learned from their research. Have any students in the class had the experience of
