This is one of my favorite children's books. I was not a "woke" 3rd grade teacher. I happily taught the immigration unit (one of my favorite units to teach) all about how and why Russian Jews came to America.
The books I picked for the unit were:
Molly's Pilgrim (a classic) (Russian Jew)
Watch the Stars Come Out (Russian Jews)
Immigrant Kids by Russell Freeman (A bit mixed, but a lot of Russian Jews)
Ellis Island Christmas (Russian Jews)
Dreaming of America (Russian Jews)
Journey to Ellis Island (Russian Jews)
We also ended the unit by watching An American Tail. As most know, that movie was about a little Russian Mouse escaping persecution. His name is Fievel. I'm pretty sure he's Jewish too.
I have pictures of my third graders working on this unit, and I share the pictures when now talk to teachers about Literature Circles and Integrating Social Studies and Language Arts. I'm always a little embarrassed since my little Texans were about 60 percent from Latinx backgrounds.
My only saving grace was that I loved the book, How Many Days to America? And I always read that one to the students as well. Not for any political reason. Not for any balance and not to give the students a complete picture of immigration. I just really liked the book. It is a story about a family who had to escape a "bad government." And they came to the United States in a boat (they were robbed on the way, and other countries fired at their boats when they drew near) and it always made me tear up in pride that the US was the special place that everyone wanted to come. And we were better than other countries who refused to accept refugees. The story ends where the family is welcomed and it's Thanksgiving so they sit down to a feast. And the father tells his kids they don't have to worry anymore. They are in America.
The books I picked for the unit were:
Molly's Pilgrim (a classic) (Russian Jew)
Watch the Stars Come Out (Russian Jews)
Immigrant Kids by Russell Freeman (A bit mixed, but a lot of Russian Jews)
Ellis Island Christmas (Russian Jews)
Dreaming of America (Russian Jews)
Journey to Ellis Island (Russian Jews)
We also ended the unit by watching An American Tail. As most know, that movie was about a little Russian Mouse escaping persecution. His name is Fievel. I'm pretty sure he's Jewish too.
I have pictures of my third graders working on this unit, and I share the pictures when now talk to teachers about Literature Circles and Integrating Social Studies and Language Arts. I'm always a little embarrassed since my little Texans were about 60 percent from Latinx backgrounds.
My only saving grace was that I loved the book, How Many Days to America? And I always read that one to the students as well. Not for any political reason. Not for any balance and not to give the students a complete picture of immigration. I just really liked the book. It is a story about a family who had to escape a "bad government." And they came to the United States in a boat (they were robbed on the way, and other countries fired at their boats when they drew near) and it always made me tear up in pride that the US was the special place that everyone wanted to come. And we were better than other countries who refused to accept refugees. The story ends where the family is welcomed and it's Thanksgiving so they sit down to a feast. And the father tells his kids they don't have to worry anymore. They are in America.
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