Ethnic Studies Sample Curriculum

Week 1: Slavery to the Great Migration

This section situates students deeply in African American experiences of movement to, within, and across the United States.

• Slavery to the Great Migration examines the evolution of slavery, the historic migration of freed slaves and its impact on modern society, the current remnants of Jim Crow laws, and the cultural explosion of Harlem. (1-5 days)

• Read interviews from Former Slaves, and develop critical reading and evidence-based writing skills.

• Understand a historic migration expressed in the narrative of a poem, “The Great Migration”.

• Reflect on the American Dream while reading A Raisin in the Sun.

• Finish with an overview of redlining and racial covenants, and better understand the long-standing impacts of housing discrimination.

Week 2: Native American Movement

This section teaches Native American history, culture, and identity by focusing on pre-colonial knowledge, narratives, and communal experiences.

• Begin with essential understandings and terms.

• Understand how Native Americans experience homelands, kinship, and nationhood.

• Discover untold stories about the indigenous experience, identifies key legislation, reviews some of the major contributions of the Native American community, explores the concept and implications of Manifest Destiny, and the ongoing exodus. (up to 5 days)

Week 3: Changing Borders and Stories of Latino Movement

This section offers accounts of the myriad of ways in which Latinos have come to be a part of the United States.

• Explore the history of Latino immigration, including opportunities and challenges, as well as the vast contributions to American society. (5 days)

• Discover the narratives of Latinos’ stories of arrival from various nations of origin.

• Practice a Socratic Seminar by discussing Mexican repatriation during the 1930s.

• Delve further into the Bracero Program and study the largest mass deportation (part 1) and the largest mass deportation (part 2) with accompanying slides.

Week 4: Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders

This section begins by discussing AAPI identity and then explores different histories, challenges, and narratives of immigration in the AAPI community.

• Understand different identities within the AAPI community.

• Learn about Chinese immigration in 19th Century America and how the Transcontinental Railroad impacted Chinese Americans.

• Explore Indian American identity and history in California.

• Delve further into topics of segregation, labor exploitation, and migration within the Asian American and Pacific Islander community (3-5 days).

Week 5: Summative Assessment

Students research and present on a specific migration movement within the United States, evaluating the push/pull factors, as well as the short- and long-term impacts. Students can delve deeper into a topic from the unit or identify their own related topic. See a more detailed description and grading rubric here: History of Movement Research Project with Student Template.

Alternative Assignment:

Students explore the history of movement through art, where they are exposed to impactful artwork that tells the unique stories of migration. Break the students into groups and have each group research an artist and present their findings to the class.

Summative Assessment

Ask students to write an essay demonstrating what they’ve learned in this unit including: What factors increase civic engagement? When has civic engagement been successful? What makes a leader successful? What does success look like? What are the ways students can engage in important changes?

Students should use at least two primary and/or secondary resources from the unit or that they have identified in their own research. Additionally, their analysis should offer multiple perspectives.