Mentor Text Linky- Coming to America

      I am linking up with Collaboration Cuties for a Mentor Text Linky. I haven't linked up with them for a while and thought it was about time!  This week's focus is on Social Studies, which is perfect because we are getting ready to start a new unit in Social Studies and Reading.  

      I chose the book called Coming to America: The Story of Immigration by Betsy Maestro.  Our team has created an integrated unit to teach content, reading, and writing.  The content portion will consist of teaching about how our communities became diversely populated.  We will learn about cultures within communities and how transportation had an effect on immigration and community changes over time.  We flex group for reading, so we all try to cover the same  standards and read aloud the same books as mentor texts.  This was the book that we chose to use to begin our unit.  

The book jacket description says: 

"America is a nation of immigrants.  From the first nomadic settlers, to the huge wave of immigrants in the nineteenth century, to the refugees from troubled areas of the world, each group of immigrants has contributed in its unique way to the rich fabric of American life.  This book explores the evolving history of immigration to the United States, a long saga about people coming first in search of food, and then, later in a quest for religious and political freedom, safety, and prosperity.  It is a fascinating story that explains the richness and diversity of the American people, past and present."

         I am looking forward to using this book and for starting our unit! My school is incredibly diverse.  I have 26 students in my homeroom and 8 of them are the children of parents who have immigrated to the United States.  I know that this will be a sensitive subject but one that will help educate the students in our classroom and appreciate the diversity within our school!

       When I taught first grade I used lapbooks a ton!  I wanted to start using them again, but just hadn't made any.  This unit, I bought two packets on TpT and then added a little of my own touch to create a lapbook.  If you are in need of some resources, head over to grab these two products.  Click Here and Here!!  I don't have any pictures yet of the lapbooks, but hopefully will add them as we get started! (We had today and tomorrow

Today was a snow day and I just got the call that tomorrow is another "cold weather day".   Hope you are staying warm!

-Michelle