Goals and Objectives--Grades 6 - 8
Voices and Choices--Efren Carrizales
Note: It is a good idea to print
Level Two for easy reference.
Efren Carrizales has moved to Chicago from
Mexico in order to find work. He has left his wife and three girls
in Mexico. Efren misses his family terribly and wants to be with
them. He can't afford to return to Mexico where there are no jobs.
Should he move his family to Chicago while he looks for better
These themes can be explored with either a social studies or
language arts curriculum. Use these themes to tie in other
resources to your class discussion, i.e., other books, other
cultures, students' own lives.
- The conflicts that many immigrants face in moving to America
and leaving behind their native land.
- The compromises a family makes in order to stay together and
provide a good life for their children.
These questions, which come at the end of each story (minus "the
answer"), can be used to start class discussions or be assigned as
Where is Efren from, and why does he move to Chicago?
Efren is originally from central Mexico. He moves to Chicago in
order to find work.
What kind of work does he find? In what way is he overeducated
for this work? What drives him to remain in Chicago?
When Efren first arrives in Chicago, he finds work as a
dishwasher. Later he will find work as a welder. Both jobs are
blue-collar jobs that require a lot of manual labor. Efren has a
college degree and in Mexico worked in a textile factory. He
remains in Chicago because there is work. At this time, Mexico was
in a severe economic depression.
What kind of life did Efren have in Mexico? Why doesn't his
wife Concepcion want to move to Chicago with their children?
Efren and Concepcion had established a nice lifestyle until the
textile plant shut down. They have three children and had begun to
build a house. They were near Efren's family and friends.
Concepcion had work as a nurse. Concepcion prefers their lifestyle
in Mexico to the urban environment of Chicago. She is used to being
surrounded by family and friends in a familiar environment.
Do you think Efren takes the role of husband and father
Efren takes his role very seriously. He states in the story that
a man's pride is his family. He travels all the way to Chicago and
takes menial jobs in order to provide for his family.
What are the dilemmas facing the Carrizales? How do they
compromise? Why must they compromise?
They must decide wether to wait for Efren to make enough money
to return to Mexico or for the family to join him in Chicago. To
join him in Chicago, Concepcion must sacrifice living near her
mother and having steady work as a midwife. If the family remains
in Mexico, then Efren will be alone for an indefinite amount of
Have you ever been separated for a long time from your family
or loved ones? What was that like for you? In what way was the
separation both positive and negative for the relationship?
Sometimes separation from loved ones can be a positive
experience, allowing space for the child or adult to grow. At the
same time, separation from loved ones can cause great mental stress
and anguish. Ask students to share aloud their experiences of
The story doesn't tell us, but do you think Concepcion
continued to work after she moved to Chicago? Do both of your
As a nurse Concepcion might have been able to continue to work,
depending on her ability to communicate in English. Today it is
much more likely that both parents will work.
Do you expect to have a family one day? Do you expect that both
you and your spouse will work?
This could lead to a good discussion about family planning,
gender roles in a family--including who works, and how families
compromise in order to survive--economically and
These are suggested classroom activities and student projects
that you may want to use with your students or as models to create
1. Oral interviews
The theme of this interview is to find out from recent
immigrants their impression of the United States. What do they like
and dislike about the United States? What do they miss about their
If you do not know any classmates, neighbors, friends, or family
who have recently moved to the U.S. from another country, then try
to find someone who has moved to your area from another part of the
Ask the person you are interviewing the following kinds of
- Where did you used to live?
- Describe the place you left.
- What is your impression of the U.S. (or your town)?
- How is it different from where you grew up?
- Why did you come to the U.S.?
- What do you like most and what do you like least about your new
Make sure you take notes during your interview. You may even
want to record the interview using a tape recorder. Notes or a tape
recording will give you a "record" of your subject's memories and
thoughts. Your subject is the person you have interviewed.
2. Mapping Your Community
The goal of this activity is to create a demographic map of your
community. As a class, you will need to gather data about recent
immigrants to your community. You may also want to find out if
people from other states in the United States are moving to your
Where might you look for this information?
Create a visual diagram of your information using push-pins and
colored thread on a map of the world.
- Look around your local area--are there new stores or
restaurants in your community that cater to people from a certain
- Visit the public library--ask the librarian to help you locate
books that would have information on recent immigrants to the
United States organized by region. The librarian might also be able
to help you find information on where people are moving within the
- Run a search on the World Wide Web using www.excite.com--type in a word or
related words, for example, "recent immigrants to Illinois," click
"search" and see what happens.
- Stick push-pins into your local area.
- For foreign-born immigrants: locate each country of origin and
mark it with a push-pin. Tie a piece of green thread onto the
push-pin. Stretch the thread to a push-pin marking your area and
tie it. You now have a visible line showing a connection between
that country and your area. Do this for all countries of
- For people moving within the United States: locate the
different places people have moved from and mark them with
push-pins. Attach red thread to these push-pins and tie them off to
push-pins marking your area.
Compare your visual diagram--illustrating recent trends in
immigration to the United States and migration within the United
States--to Side by Side
1890 - 1920
which gives data on immigration and migration trends at the
beginning of the twentieth century.
3. Researching Cultural Diffusion
Using your map of your community,find out what kind of cultural
contributions new immigrants are making to your community by
researching their countries of origin. You might research:
- arts & crafts
Try and include this information on your map.
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