AEI 2011
Immigration in New York

Photo Credit “New York- The Club-Rooms of ‘The Christian Union for Chinese Work,’ in Brooklyn, Ladies Teaching Pupils the Alphabet.” 
Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper. 6 October 1883. Page 101. Courtesy Brooklyn Public Library.

The second annual K-12 AEI was held at the National Archives at New York City (NARA-NYC) during 2011 New York Archives Week, bringing together 35 local K-12 educators and members of the archives community. The group discussed strategies for teaching primary source materials on the topic of immigration in, and around, New York. The group also reviewed the Common Core State Standards. The New York State Board of Regents approved legislation that will institute the common core in K-12 education. By 2014-5, New York teachers and educators will be assessed based on criteria developed from these standards along with additional standards set by the NY State Department of Education (NYSED). The new state assessments will focus on deeper levels of thinking to encourage college and career readiness. 

Utilizing the collections of NARA-NYC, the Brooklyn Public Library, and the Ukrainian Historical and Educational Center of New Jersey, the group began to develop questions, exercises, and activities for students based on the new Common Core State Standards. Archivists contributed primary source material, including newspaper illustrations, maps, photographs, documents, and ephemera such as digital images of hand baggage tags. These items represented the diversity and rich holdings of the participating repositories.

The program included a panel moderated by Chris Zarr, Education Specialist at NARA-NYC, featuring:

Pamela Cruz, Director, Girl Scouts of the USA National Historic Preservation Center
Richard Geldmacher, Social Studies Cluster Teacher, PS 68, Bronx; Chapter Leader, United Federation of Teachers
Ellen Noonan, Adjunct Professor of Public History, New York University; American Social History Project/Center for Media and Learning, The Graduate Center, City University of New York
Andy Steinitz, Master of Science Student, Library and Information Science, Pratt Institute; Assistant Registrar-Transfer Articulation, Office of the Registrar, Pratt Institute

View the 2011 AEI photo album. 

Following the October AEI event, Marisa Gitto was appointed Curriculum Coordinator and worked with a core group to draft curriculum focusing on immigration in New York. The group created questions, exercises, and activities that could apply across multiple grade levels utilizing the same primary source materials. The final version will be publicly released later this fall.

Resources

Online Resources with the National Archives at New York City [PDF]
"What is a Teachable Document?" from the National Archives at New York City  [PDF]
Primary Source Documents Available for Classroom Use

Special thanks to the participating repositories:
National Archives at New York City
Brooklyn Public Library
Ukrainian Historical and Educational Center Archives of New Jersey