The question, “Who gets to be an American?” frames students’ engagement with this unit.  

UNIT TEXTS

• Hot Topics: Immigration by Nick Hunter
• Ask Me No Questions by Marina Budhos 

Students begin the unit by reading “The All-American Slurp,” a humorous short story about a young girl who has recently immigrated to the U.S. from China as she attempts to fit in with American culture. Next, students will read the nonfiction text Hot Topics: Immigration, an exploration of immigration as a worldwide phenomenon. The unit’s core novel is Ask Me No Questions, which focuses on a Bengali immigrant family’s struggle to stay in the U.S. in the aftermath of September 11th, 2001. 

FLUENCY TOPICS

Green cards, post September 11th restrictions on immigrants, the Muslim Registration Act, racial and ethnic profiling by police forces, routes to legal immigration and citizenship, Americanization, illegal immigration 

FOCUS

Literary analysis

• Interrelation of character, plot, setting
• Tracking the development of plot across a novel, focusing on problem/resolution

Reading comprehension

• Predicting and confirming/disconfirming predictions as a component of Reciprocal Teaching

Decoding

• Pronouncing vowel teams
• Identifying syllables as units within words
• VC|CV syllable division rule

Debate

• Who gets a green card?
• Will legal status help the Hossain family live out their hopes and dreams? 

English language development

• Offering alternatives to extend or deepen awareness of factors that contribute to particular outcomes
• Interpreting figurative language in context to make inferences about character