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"Farmers Value Polish Help"
"Are We To Be Polanized?" article from the Greenfield Gazette and Courier newspaper
"Aliens in New England" article in Greenfield's Gazette and Courier newspaper
"The Poles at Turners Falls" article from Greenfield Gazette and Courier newspaper
"Picking Potatoes, George and me"
Tobacco and Onion Fields, Connecticut Valley
"Onion Harvest"
Sophie Dahowski and Infant
"Polonaise"
St. Stanislaus
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Summary and Objective
Before doing this activity, teachers will have provided background information about immigration to their region of the country, and students will have read articles and listened to a local historian about the reasons why immigrants settled in their area. Students will view photographs, artwork, and documents from the Digital Collection of the American Centuries web site regarding the life of Eastern European immigrants in the Deerfield, Massachusetts area between 1880 and 1920. Students will identify the reasons why these immigrants decided to settle in the Deerfield area. Students will compare and contrast the reasons why immigrants came to both areas. Students will understand that Eastern Europeans came to the Connecticut River Valley to work on farms in contrast to reasons immigrants came to their region (to farm, mine, work in the mills, etc).
Teaching Plan
Step 1.
Before doing this activity, students will read selected articles about immigration to their area of the country, using materials the teacher has found. As a class, they will listen to a local historian who will provide students with additional information.
Step 2.
They will then list the reasons immigrants came to their area on a T chart with the headings: Name of their Area and The Deerfield Area. Students will use the chart to identify reasons for immigration to the two areas.
Step 3.
Students will work in pairs to view selected photographs, art work, and documents from the Digital Collection of the American Centuries web site which relate to Eastern European immigrants in the Deerfield area.
Step 4.
After viewing the slides and reading the labels, students will record the reasons why immigrants came to the Deerfield area on the T chart.
Step 5.
Student pairs will record on a graphic organizer of a Venn diagram, labeled with the name of their area and the Deerfield area, the reasons why immigrants came to both areas, noting the similarities and the differences.
Step 6.
While in pairs, students will use the Venn diagram to write a paragraph comparing and contrasting the reasons immigrants had for coming to Deerfield area and their own area of the country.
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