"This is Our Land: A History of American Immigration" by Linda Barrett Osborne
Presented by Karina Romo, Markus Reynoso, Erick Rivera, & Erika Salgado
Review
This Land is Our Land: A History of American Immigration by Linda Barrett Osborne is an inclusive, non-fiction, American history novel that provides a critique on the paradoxical nature of United States’ society and government stance on immigration. It explains the oxymoronic pattern followed by the citizens of the country as new generations of immigrants from different parts of the world have and continue to flood our immigration offices, ports and borders. The novel reminds its readers that this land is the melting pot of our world, and will continue to be such for generations to come.
This novel does not explore a single story, but rather derives its narrative from many different anecdotes on immigration throughout the last few centuries. It intends to explore the challenges and divides of the United States of America’s immigration in a chronological order, beginning with early European settlement on the east coast in the times of the Pilgrim’s, through today’s issues with immigration reform on the U.S.’s southern borders. As well as this, Barrett Osborne does a great job of incorporating how many other countries have contributed, whether positively or negatively, to the waves of influx of immigration that have come about in each scenario. Barrett Osborne’s novel is a great resource for immigration with young adult audiences due to its lack of bias when it comes to the way events are recounted. It provides enough of a background on immigration issues that prior knowledge on it is unnecessary for the reader to gain full understanding. She presents information with an attempt to provoke thought and discussion with its readers while still remaining an interesting and entertaining book. It appeals to all ages and cultures due to the diversity in oppression through the years that can be related to almost all races living in the country.
This Land is Our Land is split into six easy-to-read chapters that break apart the last 250 years of U.S. immigration history into the different waves of immigration and the different regions immigrants came from. It elaborates on the levels at which these people were oppressed and explains their suffering through great difficulties, just as their predecessors had. The novel enthralls the reader with the many photographic images and works of art that are woven into the book, alongside the narrative, lending visual representation for all the ideas being brought up. Along with the pictures, they also provide quotes from people during each set time frame to establish the reality behind each of these waves of immigration. With each new chapter comes an introduction to new people, new stories and new oppression that is explored and analyzed in terms of progression.
The novel is a gentle reminder that history repeats itself and will continue to do so for years to come. It is an important work of literature that can educate and lend itself to the push for recognition of the inevitable diversity that comes from the migration of people looking for a greater future for themselves and their loved ones in this melting pot we call the United States of America.
Biography
Linda Barrett Osborne was born February 01, 1949 and is the author of Traveling the Freedom Road, Miles to Go for Freedom, Come On In America, Explorer Emigrants Citizens, Women of the Civil Rights Movement, and This Land Is Our Land. She was a senior writer-editor in the Library of Congress Publishing Office for fifteen years. Osborne's other books revolve around the melting pot of America and the history of struggles and efforts surrounding segregation and the civil rights movement. She is very inclusive when it comes to her writings. Osborne's writings tend to be empathetic and often give insight to perspectives readers may not be familiar with. She demonstrates the multiple perspectives in regards to immigration in America and provides reasoning behind the perspectives through moments in American history where government policy would fluctuate. Osborne attempts to show the anti-immigration and pro-immigration sides and how they evolved throughout American history. While Linda Barrett Osborne is not trying to answer all the questions and solve all the problems associated with immigration, she is presenting the history of it in order for discussion to follow. Osborne's great-grandparents were immigrants as well; this could be a reason why she is understanding of the various groups of immigrants. It can be concluded that Linda Barrett Osborne does not exclude other races, ethnic groups, or marginalized individuals, but rather does her best to show their side of their story: their struggles and triumphs. Instructional Resources
Using this video, the teacher can further supplement the lesson by providing more background information about the history of immigration in the US.
Using this immigration quiz link, the teacher will be able to get students to start thinking about immigration before they start the lesson. This way students can discuss what they they believe they know and can learn whether or not what they know is true or false.
In addition to providing multiple articles about immigration, this resource can be used to enrich the lesson by providing students with various perspectives on immigration.
This article will provide more information for the lesson on refugees and their reasoning, and experience in coming to America.
With information on the history of immigration in the US in relation to the ongoing debates about immigration, this resource can be used to spark debates within the classroom so that students can think outside the ideas and perspectives on immigration that they may not have know they had.
This video could be used to show how the immigration procedure was administered at one of the ports in New York called Ellis Island.
The Chinese Exclusion Act was one of the government policies that specifically ban a specific demographic from immigrating to the United States. This was the first significant law to ban immigration and this highlights how the United States tried to restrict immigration.
The Bracero program was the largest contract labor program in the United States. This video could be used to highlight labor practices involving immigrants in the past.
Lesson Plan
The purpose of this unit is for students to get a grasp on how Americans' attitudes towards immigration has fluctuated throughout various points in American history. This will also give students a chance to learn a more inclusive, personal perspective on the history of immigration by various ethnic groups to the United States. Students will make connections from the text to their thoughts and perspectives on immigration through the KWL chart and class discussion.
Activity
- Before reading the text, the students will be given the KWL chart; they will fill out the “what they know” and “what they want to know” sections on the topic of immigration.
-Then to initiate the class session by using the video on Ellis Island to start of the unit. This will give students an idea how the immigration procedure occurred in the past at this port. https://youtu.be/bDNKHWzQiz8
- After the video ends, I would have students take immigration from this website: http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/blog/immigration-quiz-2/
-Students will then be assigned to finish the text book over the weekend for a group activity for the next class session.
-Students would be numbered off from one to six and split into six groups with each group being assigned a chapter from text. Each group is in charged of describing the experience of immigrant living in the United States and the various government policies from the United States. They would also look for the attitude of the American people at the time.
-Each group will be given a blank poster paper and writing utensils to create poster paper based on the chapter they were assigned for the other groups to use as a reference.
-When every group is finished, the poster will be placed on the wall and a class discussion comparing the experiences of various ethnic groups of immigrants in the United States.
-After this activity, students will finish their KWL Chart by filling out “what they learned”; for homework students will be assigned a writing prompt: Compare the various experiences by the ethnic groups mentioned in the text. What are the hardships they faced when coming to the United States and while living in the United States? Use quotes from the text to support your thoughts.
-Then to initiate the class session by using the video on Ellis Island to start of the unit. This will give students an idea how the immigration procedure occurred in the past at this port. https://youtu.be/bDNKHWzQiz8
- After the video ends, I would have students take immigration from this website: http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/blog/immigration-quiz-2/
-Students will then be assigned to finish the text book over the weekend for a group activity for the next class session.
-Students would be numbered off from one to six and split into six groups with each group being assigned a chapter from text. Each group is in charged of describing the experience of immigrant living in the United States and the various government policies from the United States. They would also look for the attitude of the American people at the time.
-Each group will be given a blank poster paper and writing utensils to create poster paper based on the chapter they were assigned for the other groups to use as a reference.
-When every group is finished, the poster will be placed on the wall and a class discussion comparing the experiences of various ethnic groups of immigrants in the United States.
-After this activity, students will finish their KWL Chart by filling out “what they learned”; for homework students will be assigned a writing prompt: Compare the various experiences by the ethnic groups mentioned in the text. What are the hardships they faced when coming to the United States and while living in the United States? Use quotes from the text to support your thoughts.
California Common Core Standards
CCSS.ELA - Literacy.RL.11-12.1
Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support
analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the
text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.
CCSS.ELA - Literacy.L.11-12.3
Apply knowledge of language to understand how language
functions in different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or
style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or listening.
CCSS.ELA - Literacy.W.11-12.9
Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to
support analysis, reflection, and research.
CCSS.ELA - Literacy.W.11-12.7
Conduct short as well as more sustained research
projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question) or solve a
problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple
sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under
investigation. 
