Empowering ELL Through Immigration and Heritage Projects
One of the most powerful ways to help English learners grow as writers is by giving them the chance to share their own stories. When students get to explore their culture, family traditions, and immigration journeys, writing suddenly feels purposeful and personal. It’s no longer just about practicing grammar or vocabulary—it’s about identity, voice, and connection.
Research backs this up: studies show that when multilingual learners write about familiar experiences and areas where they are the “experts,” engagement, confidence, and language growth increase dramatically. Teachers who tap into students’ funds of knowledge—their lived experiences, cultures, and identities—create more meaningful learning opportunities that help students flourish.
That’s why I love using my All About My Country & Heritage unit and my Immigration: Now and Then unit. Both projects center on immigration, culture, and heritage, making them not only academically rich but also deeply meaningful. When students see that their experiences are valued, they lean in, take risks, and shine.
***Disclaimer: In this blog, the terms ESL students (English as a Second Language), ELLs (English Language Learners), and ML (Multilingual Learners) are used interchangeably. While “Multilingual Learners” is becoming the more widely accepted term, “ESL students” and “English Language Learners” are still commonly used in various contexts. My aim is to be inclusive and clear to all readers, regardless of the terminology they are familiar with.
I’ve used these units at different times of the year—sometimes as a culminating project once students are confident enough to share more, other times as a mid-year bridge into social studies and culture lessons. No matter when, these projects spark pride, curiosity, and some of the most powerful classroom conversations of the year.
Unit 1: All About My Country & Heritage
This 14-day unit invites students to share their own stories—not just learn about random countries, but write about their home country, their immigration journey, and their family traditions. My students always light up when they get to be the experts.
When I have many newcomers, we start by building a foundation with immigration vocabulary through cut-and-paste and matching activities. These hands-on tasks are intentionally differentiated at three levels, which allows every student to access the content, engage with the words, and begin connecting language to meaning in a low-stress way.
From there, students read short texts about immigrants today and in the past, reinforcing comprehension by matching the same vocabulary picture cards to the stories. This step helps them anchor new language in context and strengthens both recognition and recall.
As the unit progresses, students move from learning about others’ experiences to expressing their own. They complete scaffolded activities such as describing themselves with sentence starters, creating an “All About Me” page, and telling their own immigration story by writing about when, who, how, and why they or their families came.
They then expand their writing to include cultural pride and knowledge: drawing and describing their country’s flag, locating their homeland on a map, labeling landforms and resources, and sharing facts about population, currency, and languages. Students also write about customs, traditions, and important landmarks, with sentence stems and writing supports guiding them at each stage. Toward the end, they craft a short immigration poem and create a personalized cover page to assemble their project.
The unit culminates in a presentation or gallery walk, giving students the chance to showcase their voices, celebrate their heritage, and see their classmates as experts of their own stories.
Unit 2: Immigration—Now and Then- Vocabulary Amplification with ELLs
From there, we move into hands-on vocabulary building: students cut and paste to match words with immigration images, with supports like tracing for newcomers and more independent tasks for advanced learners.
Using the Picture Word Inductive Model (PWIM), students then describe immigration-themed images with teacher modeling and guided prompts—starting with single sentences about the past, moving to multiple prompts about immigration today, and expanding to celebrations and traditions from their own cultures.
To deepen thinking, we use See–Think–Wonder routines with paintings such as Journey Across the Ocean or Traditional Food, encouraging students to observe, ask questions, and connect ideas.
As vocabulary grows, we reinforce new terms with Frayer Model activities that require students to define, illustrate, and apply their words in context.
The unit culminates in the Immigration Vocabulary Suitcase Craft, where students “pack” new vocabulary into a suitcase, decorate it, and share their work in a gallery walk or presentation. Whether taught before, after, or alongside the heritage writing unit, this vocabulary-centered project empowers English learners to expand their language in meaningful, creative, and memorable ways.
What I love about these projects is how they meet students where they are. For newcomers, the visuals, sentence stems, and crafts build confidence and provide meaningful access to content. For intermediate and advanced ELLs, the same activities stretch into richer writing, deeper vocabulary use, and longer presentations.
And most importantly? Students see themselves—and their families—in the curriculum. That sense of ownership makes a world of difference.
Tips for Teaching
- Differentiate naturally: let newcomers cut, paste, and trace while higher-level students write full sentences and paragraphs.
- Tie it to core content: both units align with Social Studies and Language Arts standards, so you can easily justify the time.
- Celebrate the end: a gallery walk or project presentation day turns the classroom into a mini cultural fair.
Want more first-day ESL tips, crafts, and classroom culture ideas? Sign up for my email list.
Happy BTS Teaching!
ESL Resource Meet
0 Comments