Handout

Building Connections and Strengthening Community Project

This project gives students an opportunity to champion the stories of individuals and groups in their school community that they believe have been told in a limited way.

Last Updated: September 28, 2022

Handout

Language

English — US

Subject

History
Social Studies

Racism
Democracy & Civic Engagement

Activity

Students explore the supporting question “How did the Angel Island Immigration Station both reflect and enforce borders within American society?”

Captain examines passengers aboard the The Shimyo Maru vessel.

Activity

Students explore the supporting question “How does the history of immigration through Angel Island help us understand how we create and challenge borders today?”

Assessment

Students culminate their arc of inquiry into the Angel Island Immigration Station by completing a C3-aligned Summative Performance Task and Taking Informed Action.

Inquiry

This 5-7 day C3-aligned inquiry explores the compelling question “How does the history of the Angel Island Immigration Station help us understand how borders are erected, enforced, and challenged?”

Lesson

Students identify continuities and changes between Emmett Till’s murder and today’s Black Lives Matter movement, and they reflect on the ways they can contribute to the movement for racial justice.

George Floyd mural outside Cup Foods at Chicago Ave and E 38th St in Minneapolis, Minnesota

Lesson

Students explore the importance of context and learn about Emmett Till’s murder in Jim Crow-era Mississippi.

July 1939: An African-American man drinking at a segregated drinking fountain in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Lesson

Consider the talk Mamie Till-Mobley had with her son Emmett before he traveled to Jim Crow-era Mississippi in 1955 and the dangers that prompted her concern.

Southbound Illinois Central Railroad "Seminole" passenger train crosses main line of West Point Route at station in Opelika, Alabama in August 1955. Absence of interlocker required crew member to flag crossing.

Lesson

Explore Mamie Till-Mobley’s courageous decision to show the public Emmett Till’s body through an open-casket funeral and photos in Jet magazine and consider why Emmett’s death generated widespread determination to pursue racial justice.

A large crowd gathers outside the Roberts Temple Church of God In Christ in Chicago, Ill., Sept. 6, 1955 as pallbearers carry the casket of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old African-American boy who was slain while on a visit to Mississippi. Police estimate a crowd of about 2,000.

Lesson

Students explore the life and choices of anti-lynching journalist Ida B. Wells and learn about the long tradition of Black resistance to racial terror and violence.

Ida B. Wells (1862-1931) was an African-American journalist and early civil rights activist.

Lesson

Student’s explore how Emmett Till’s murder inspired a generation of young African American men and women to actively join in the civil rights movement.

Lesson

Students explore the first year of the Delano grape strike, when grape workers in California's San Joaquin Valley went on strike to demand higher wages and better work conditions.

Dolores Huerta and others hold up "Huelga" signs as part of the grape strike.

Lesson

Students learn about education, identity, and activism through an exploration of the East Los Angeles school walkouts, when thousands of students protested unequal educational opportunities for Mexican American students.

John Ortiz, Mexican-American student leader at James A. Garfield High School, addressing assembled students during a walkout.

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Most teachers are willing to tackle the difficult topics, but we need the tools.

— Gabriela Calderon-Espinal, Bay Shore, NY

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Building Connections and Strengthening Community Project

At a Glance

Language

Subject

Get the Handout

You might also be interested in…

Supporting Question 1: The History of the Angel Island Immigration Station

Supporting Question 3: Navigating the Borders of National Belonging

Summative Performance Task & Taking Informed Action

Angel Island Immigration Station: Exploring Borders and Belonging in US History

The Legacy of Emmett Till

Contextualizing Emmett Till’s Murder

Preparing to Journey to the Mississippi Delta

"A Rallying Cry and a Cause"

The Anti-lynching Activism of Ida B. Wells

The Emmett Till Generation

California Grape Workers’ Strike: 1965–66

The 1968 East LA School Walkouts

Building Connections and Strengthening Community Project

At a Glance

Language

Subject

Get the Handout

You might also be interested in…

Supporting Question 1: The History of the Angel Island Immigration Station

Supporting Question 3: Navigating the Borders of National Belonging

Summative Performance Task & Taking Informed Action

Angel Island Immigration Station: Exploring Borders and Belonging in US History

The Legacy of Emmett Till

Contextualizing Emmett Till’s Murder

Preparing to Journey to the Mississippi Delta

"A Rallying Cry and a Cause"

The Anti-lynching Activism of Ida B. Wells

The Emmett Till Generation

California Grape Workers’ Strike: 1965–66

The 1968 East LA School Walkouts

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