APUSH Period 6: Immigration & Gilded Age Source-Based Stations/Activity Bundle

Looking to add an engaging, student-centered focus to your AP United States History coverage of Period 6 topics of immigration and select Gilded Age topics. This activity bundle utilizes stations all aligned the 2019-20 APUSH curriculum updates and AP analysis skills. This station activity will engage students while also effectively covering a lot of essential topics.

This station activity also includes two mini-lessons accompanied by an engaging PowerPoint and a printable/shareable Google Doc student note guide.

Mini-Lesson 1 - Focuses on the absolute essential background information and themes to New Immigration during the Gilded Age. This is completed in 15 minutes before beginning the station Activities

Mini-Lesson 2 - Focuses on the positive and negative reactions to immigration during the Gilded Age. This is best completed after the stations 1-5 are completed.

Overall, the six stations/activities break down as follows:

1. Sorting Old vs. New Immigration - Students complete a sorting activity of 20 key characteristics of the two major waves of Immigration.

2. Chinese Exclusion Video Analysis - Students watch and analyze the Chinese Exclusion Act with a 6 minute video

3. Nativist Cartoon/Source Gallery Walk - Students analyze speaker, point of view, and purpose of 8 key documents posted around the room in gallery walk format

4. Gilded Age Philosophies Analysis - Students learn the difference between the Gospel of Wealth, Social Gospel, and Social Darwinism. From there, they pinpoint the philosophy being shown in 12 quick documents/examples.

5. End of New Immigration CAPP Analysis - Students utilize the APUSH advanced analysis skills of context, intended audience, purpose, and point of view in a political cartoon of the National Origins (Quota) Act

6. Tammany Hall Podcast - Students individually complete a podcast analysis of the dual role of political machines both being positive and negative during the Gilded Age.

*Optional - Horror story of Ellis Island (Trachoma and button-hook eye exams) - a fun extension students love!

*All files are editable/shareable/printable in Google Doc and/or PowerPoint format

Note - If you are not a huge fan of the stations format - the stations can also be utilized as separate supplemental activities, The overall completion time for my AP class has been approximately two 75 minute blocks with students completing station 6 (podcast) outside of class.