The question, “Who gets to be an American?” frames students’ engagement with the Marina Budhos novel, Ask Me No Questions. Text-based inferencing is a central skill for this unit, along with analysis of plot development in fiction. Students integrate information from varied nonfiction sources to prepare arguments about the immigration debate. 

LITERATURE

Ask Me No Questions (Budhos) - Novel set in the aftermath of September 11th focusing on a Bengali immigrant family’s struggle to stay in the U.S.

Hot Topics: Immigration (Hunter) - An exploration of immigration as a worldwide phenomenon

FLUENCY TOPICS

green cards, post September 11th restrictions on immigrants, the Muslim Registration Act, racial and ethnic pro"ling by police forces, routes to legal immigration and citizenship, Americanization, illegal immigration 

FOCUS

Literary analysis

• Interrelation of character, plot, setting
• Tracking the development of plot across a novel, focusing on problem/
• resolution

Reading comprehension

• Predicting and confirming/disconfirming predictions as a component of
• Reciprocal Teaching

Decoding

• Pronouncing vowel teams
• Identifying syllables as units within words
• VC|CV syllable division rule

Debate

• Who gets a green card?
• Will legal status help the Hossain family live out their hopes and dreams?