Ask: What is the main idea of chapter 3? How do you know this is the main idea? What details have you listed?

Discuss any other aspects of the book that students found interesting. Ask: How do you think it might feel to be forced to leave your country because of religious or political oppression? What contributions have immigrants made to the culture of the United States? What contributions have they made to our community?

Word Work

Verb Tenses
Review with students what a verb is and it's purpose in a sentence. Have students look at the verbs in the second paragraph in "Waves of Immigration." Ask: Are these verbs written in past tense or present tense? Why does the writer need to use past tense here? Why do we call came and were irregular verbs? 

Have students look at the verbs in the fourth paragraph of "Immigration Laws." Ask: What tense are these verbs? Why has the writer used present tense here? 

Hand out Worksheet 2. Have students work in groups of 2 or 3 to take a chapter or section of the book and find and record the verbs in the appropriate columns on the worksheet. Have students share their findings when they are finished.

Changing Word Meanings: Prefixes and Suffixes
Write the word migrate on the board and have students find two words in the text that have been formed from this word (immigrants, immigration). Have students tell you what prefix and what suffixes have been added to create the new words (im, -ant; im, -tion). Explain that the suffixes -ant and -tion change the verb migrate to a noun and change the meaning of the word. Adding -ant, for example, makes a word that means "one who migrates." Write the words assist and confide on the board and have students add -ant to create new words. Then have students add -tion to the words act, celebrate, direct, and invent to create new words. Discuss how the meanings have changed in all of the words.

Learning through Visual Devices

Interpret a Map
Have students look at the map on page 16.

Ask: Why did the writer include this map in the text? What information does it provide? Which country did the greatest number of immigrants to the U.S. come from?

Interpret a Time Line
Have students look at the time line on page 17.

Ask: What does this time line show us? How do we read a time line? What happened in 1917? What happened in 1892? How does having this information help you better understand the text?

Writing Link
Reread the section "How They Arrived" with students and have them focus on the description of the conditions on the boat. Tell students you want them to imagine that they are immigrants traveling by boat to the United States in the year 1870. They are to write about their experiences and feelings in a journal that records events over a period of a week. Some ideas they could focus on are:

• The conditions on the boat and the health of the passengers
• The people they meet on their trip and the ones they had to leave behind in their old country
• Concerns about the journey and the country that will be their new home

Encourage students to use words from the glossary in their writing. 

Assessment

• Review students' completed main idea charts to determine whether they can identify the main idea. Note whether they can support their ideas by referring back to the text. Note whether they include details that are relevant to the main idea.
• Have students use selected words from the glossary in oral or written sentences in order to demonstrate their understanding of the meaning of the word. Note whether they use any of the glossary words in their writing assignment, and whether they are used correctly.
• Review students' work on Worksheet 2 to determine their ability to identify verbs and to organize them into categories of regular and irregular verbs.
• Note whether students can create a new word by adding a suffix. Note whether they understand how the meaning and function of a word changes with the addition of a prefix or suffix.