Margaret Lewis

EDU 214/Fall 2018

Final: Lesson Plan

Lesson Plan Title:

Using Excel to Chart Immigration to the United States
Concept/Topic to Teach:
● Spreadsheet software
● American immigration patterns
General Goal(s):
Students will learn how to use Excel, and broaden their understanding of immigration
patterns in the US in the 19​th​ and 20​th​ centuries.
Specific Objectives:
Students will
● Become familiar with the basic tools of Excel
● Learn what a spreadsheet is and how to use it for a variety of functions
● Learn how to calculate the total amount of immigrants from each country and the
average amount per decade with ease using the Excel tools
● Use web resources to access immigration data
● Analyze the data they track in the spreadsheet and formulate cohesive conclusions
about immigration patterns
Required Materials:
● Computer or laptop
● Microsoft Excel
● Textbook
● Internet
● SmartBoard
Anticipatory Set:
Watch America’s Sources of Immigration video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=behsmaHh2bg
Step-by-Step Procedures:
● Show America’s Sources of Immigration video
 ● Ask students about their families’ ethnic background
● Show students different online resources they can use to research immigration
data, such as the US census
● Introduce Excel
● Create a sample spreadsheet with the class to teach Excel tools
● Explain the procedure and guidelines for individual Excel activity
Plan for Independent Practice:
Students will conduct their own research on immigration data and take notes on their
findings. They will use these notes to create an Excel spreadsheet, choosing five nations
of origin to track throughout the decades. Students will cite the resources they used to
find their information. They will create 8 columns, labeled 1850’s, 1860’s, 1870’s, and
so on, all the way to the 1920’s. Each column will track a decade, and each row will
track a country of origin. Students will chart the number of immigrants from each
country arrived in America during each of these decades. They will create two additional
columns to find the total number of immigrants from each country and the average
amount of immigrants arriving each decade. They will use the Excel tools to calculate
these averages. After creating their spreadsheet, students will write a short analysis of
their findings and turn it in with the spreadsheet. The references used by the students
should be listed below this analysis.
Closure:
At the end of class, when students have all completed their assignments, we will have a
class discussion to talk about what they have learned and what they struggled with while
using Excel.
Assessment Based on Objectives:
I will review each student’s spreadsheet to determine if they have properly used the
required Excel tools and have followed the guidelines of the activity correctly using their
new skills, and I will grade the assignments accordingly.
Possible Connections to Other Subjects:
While the purpose of Excel in this assignment was to track immigration data in the 19​th
and 20th centuries in America, students can use the Excel skills they learned for a variety
of subjects, from budgeting activities in their math classes to tracking scientific data in
their science classes.
Special Needs Component
One of the students in my classroom is an English Language Learner. I will
accommodate this student by giving him or her a translated print-out of the lesson and
instructions that I have given the other students. I will also pair him or her with a
bilingual student in the class so that the English language learner will have someone to
help him or her complete the activity without struggling with language barriers.