Making Americans: A US History Lesson Series
This ten-part lesson series explores the pivotal moments, landmark cases, and competing philosophies that have shaped immigrant education in America. Written by Jessica Lander, author of the George Orwell Award-winning book Making Americans: Stories of Historic Struggles, New Ideas, and Inspiration in Immigration Education, these lessons guide students through the historical struggles over who belongs in American schools and how immigrant students should be taught.
From early debates about common schooling to landmark Supreme Court decisions protecting language rights and educational access, the series examines both restrictive policies rooted in xenophobia and movements that embraced immigrant communities as assets. Inspired by Lander’s research and classroom experience, each lesson features rich primary source analysis—including speeches, legal documents, maps, poems, and political cartoons—that develops students’ historical thinking skills while connecting past patterns of exclusion and inclusion to contemporary questions about belonging, language, and educational equity. This series provides educators with a thoughtful framework for helping students understand how schools have served as both battlegrounds and bridges in America’s ongoing conversation about immigration and national identity.
