PBL Example: Student in Florida studies the impact of immigration

Meet PenPal Star Alyssa from Florida, USA! She recently participated in Immigration in the 21st Century to learn more about the impact that immigration has on communities around the world. In this project based learning example, Alyssa and her classmates created an Immigration Hall of Fame!

View Immigration in the 21st Century Syllabus

Alyssa was “excited to be noticed as a PenPal Star,” and she stood out to us because she did a great job of summarizing her research about immigration, demonstrating evidence of reading comprehension. Check out her response from the lesson in the project:

What does immigration look like in your community? Where do immigrants in your community come from? What impact do they have on the community?
Immigrating in my community might look like when people immigrate to an area where they might choose to live and start a life for them and their family’s for different reasons to live a better life. People immigrate for different reasons that may be personal to them or their countries. Immigrants in my country may come from just different states or from other countries in the world to start a new life to help themselves and others or to be in a safer and cleaner environment where there may be better education or healthcare ect. These new places might help them to survive and thrive at life to be better people and even to support a family. The people who move to a new area can impact people and the community. They might teach other people about their personal cultures and expose them to people so that their ways can be more well known and others will be more informed about their situation, or how they like or have lived their lives in the past. It can help people to be more accepting or caring to those who might have been through some bad things that happened in a place that they used to live.

When Alyssa’s not learning with PenPals, she participates in rowing and likes math “because I’m really good at it.” We caught up with Alyssa to learn more about her experience with PenPals!

PENPAL SCHOOLS: What is the most interesting thing you learned from your PenPals?
ALYSSA: I was surprised to learn that so many well known people were immigrants. I like seeing others perspectives on the topic. The most interesting thing that I've learned is that although where you live shapes your perspectives, people from all around the world also share common perspectives on many issues.

How has your project changed the way you think about the world?
It has changed my perspective about how I view others, that I should not assume anything about others and that I can learn from everyone.

Tell us about the final project you decided to publish in the showcase! What did you choose to create, and why? How did you come up with that idea?
My team selected to do the Immigration Hall of Fame because we wanted to learn about the impact of immigrants on our culture.

What advice do you have about being a great PenPal?
I think that everyone should respectfully share what they think about different issues, and they should also try to understand how others think

If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?
I would travel to Italy to visit famous landmarks like the Leaning Tower of Pisa. I would also like to experience the food and culture first hand.

Why do you think it's important to learn with other students from around the world?
It is great to be more informed about issues by learning about different viewpoints.

Thanks, Alyssa, for being such a great PenPal! Your students can join Alyssa in Immigration in the 21st Century, too. Sign up here!