Immigrants in Milwaukee

The immigrant history of Milwaukee is rich and varied, but also fraught with many layered issues. Have students use the resource list in the PlayGuide to explore more about the stories of immigrants in Milwaukee. Students may also expand their research to other news media and more recent primary sources. Depending on the focus of your classroom, you could have students look at particular ethnic groups, specific time periods, social and political action related to immigration, or certain neighborhoods and how they have evolved. There are so many topics in Milwaukee’s history related to immigration that students can explore. Once students have completed their research, you can have them present it in a “science fair” style or with online formats. Having students share their research outside of the classroom with other students or the local community could also be an exciting option.

Celebrations and Holidays Around the World

In the PlayGuide for The Heart Sellers, students can read brief introductions to some holidays celebrated in Korea and the Philippines that Jane and Luna might have celebrated. Have students either do more research on one of those holidays or explore a different holiday from a cultural tradition that is not their own. As a class, make a calendar or timeline of the year, including the various holidays students have researched. Students should include a short description and some images for their chosen holiday.

Sharing Your Traditions

In the play, Luna and Jane attempt to celebrate a tradition that is unfamiliar to them. We all have traditions and holidays that are part of our cultural or familial background. Plan a day for students to share some of their cultural or holiday traditions with their classmates. How you share the traditions is up to you; students can give presentations, there can be a potluck, tables set up with displays, websites or digital resources, whatever feels right for your classroom and curriculum. After the sharing, have students reflect in writing about not only their own traditions, but some that they were able to experience through others.

Some questions to guide their writing:

• How do traditions connect us to others?

• What is special about my own traditions?

• How do my cultural traditions make me feel?

• Is it important to continue these traditions? Why or why not?

• What traditions did I learn about that I didn’t previously know?