By: Kiely Corinthians Burns
Presentation
The Dual Identities of 1st Generation American Immigrants
The future is diversity!
start ➛
6th - 8th grade
Engaging Hook
What's Going On in the 4 Cartoons?
Opening Questions:
- What flags do you see?
- What actions are the kids doing?
- Any similarites among the 4 images? Differences?
- What details do you notice in the images?
- What emotion are the kids showing?
Explanation: The kids inside the images are conflicted about their identity. They know their ethnicity and familiar with American culture, but don't know how to balance the 2. Many times, adolescents in general, battle with identity and belonging too in school, home, and society.
continue ➛
Connections
Elizabeth Acevedo and her book themes:
Within Elizabeth Acevedo's books, (Poet X, Clap When You Land, With the Fire on High, and more), specific themes she highlights in her books are Dominican American culutre, and identity/sense of belonging perspectives being a 1st generation American immigrant in American society. Therefore, 1st generation American immigrants' identity and sense of belonging perspectives will be the specific themes I explore with 6th - 8th grade students. These themes are important for them to learn because they will learn voices that aren't amplified enough in the media and have in depth understandings of identity, belonging, and how that's different for people.
continue ➛
LOW AMPLIFIED VOICES
Did you know?
Out of 1.9 million kindergarten through 12th-grade students, 34% of the student population are Native American students. These students balance their ethnic and american cultural identities, however are underrepresented in Illinois public schools. Asian, Indian, Hispanic, Mandarin, Pacific Islander, and more cultures are not amplified enough in Western American school systems. Therefore, these create disconnected identities for the students as well as negative responses to school such as code switching, low student engagement, participation, and academic achievement.
continue ➛
Illinois Report Card - Students' Racial/Ethnicity . Illinoisreportcard.com. (2024).
Hidden Figure
Hidden Figure: Adriano Espaillat
U.S. Representative Adriano Espaillat is someone who is also not amplified enough in the media. He serves as the democratic representative for New York City! Although he is a Dominican American, he was born in the Dominican Republic, not the United States. Which means he is not a 1st generation American immigrant. It also means, he is the 1st undocumented immigrant to serve in Congress!. When he was 9, he and his family moved to New York and they gained permanent citizenship when he was 12. Throughout life, Adriano Espaillat dealt with identity and beloning issues. He identifies as "afro latino" however experienced backlash from America and African Americans and Latin communities. Belonging Issues: Some Americans believe he does not belong in Congress because he was not born in America Identity Issues: Some of his family warned him about going into African American neighborhoods because they do not identity as "afro latino/latina" Some black congressional members believed he should not join CBC due to unaligned ideals Though Adriano Espaillat faced identity and belonging backlashes, he still made impacting contributions to black and brown communities and American citizens. These contributions include:
- Testified against decisions that would remove affordable housing
- Co-sponsored the Equality Act of 2017 to prohibit sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination
- Led efforts to regulate rent prices
*Scroll Up to see the Hidden Figure*
continue ➛
Materials
The Following Materials We Will review Within This Presentation (In the Order I would Teach 6th-8th grade Students) Include:
2. Map
1. Pie Chart
A map displaying the most commonly used native languages within the 50 states
A pie chart displaying the types of immigrants that live in the U.S. and population percentages
Batalova, J. (2025c, March). Most Commonly Spoken Languages Other than English in the U.S. Migrationpolicy.org. Batalova, J. (2025a, March). Immigrant Characteristics and Families. Migrationpolicy.org. Batalova, J. (2025, March). Immigrant Population in the United States. Migrationpolicy.org.
continue ➛
Batalova, J. (2025b, March). Immigrant Population in the United States. Migrationpolicy.org.
Materials
3. DataTable
4. Article
An article written from a high school Mexican American student Roni Lezama. Roni elaborates on his experiences of balancing his dual identity while also bring up themes such as code switching, streotypes, and more.
Lezama, R. (2021, January). I’m A First- Generation American. Here’s What Helped Me Make It To College. EducationWeek.org. https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/opinion-im-a-first-generation-american-heres-what-helped-me-make-it-to-college/2021/01
A data table showing 71 million U.S immigrants' most used languages from most to least.
Batalova, J. (2025a, March). Immigrant Characteristics and Families. Migrationpolicy.org. Batalova, J. (2025, March). Immigrant Population in the United States. Migrationpolicy.org.
continue ➛
Materials
6. Video
5. Video
A short 1 minute 22 second TV show clip (Fresh off the Boat) showing a Mandarin American family celebrating Chinese New Year. They challenge each other to only speak Mandarin at the table to participate more in their culture.
TED Talk video presented by high school student Kriti Gupta. Kriti goes into specific themes such as (updating her cultural norms knowledge like phone numbers to deem what is/ is not acceptable in Indian vs. American culture.
ABC. (2018, February). Only In Mandarin - Fresh Off The Boat. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TzZNdqSohU
Gupta, K. (2019, May). Finding An Identity as a First Generation Immigrant . YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbdSf8VjrDE
continue ➛
Materials
8. Article
7. Video
A short 1 minute 53 second TV show clip (Never Had I Ever) displaying the main character (Devi) and her mother and cousin meeting the other American indians women (aunties) This clip displays Indian mannerism to elders and streotypical interactions .
An opinionated article against the hit TV show "Never Have I Ever" written by South Asian journalist, Jahnavi Kirkire. Talks about how the tv show did not represent South Asian American culture with care (displaying white wash Hollywood streotypes).
continue ➛
Kirkire, J. (2025, April). “Never Have I Ever” failed to provide Genuine South Asian Representation. DBKNews.com. https://dbknews.com/2025/04/13/never-have-i-ever-representation-column/
Netflix. (2020, May). Types of Indian Aunties. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmLCfFZiCAc
Materials
10. Article
9. Audio Interview
A 9 minute audio interview with host Maria Hinojosa and Congressman Adriano Espaillat. Adriano Espaillat talks about identifying as "afro latino", his upbringings, how he represent black and brown communitites, and how he faced opposition when wanting to join the Congressional Black Caucus.
An opinionated article written about how the Black Caucus chafed/misjudged congressman Adriano Espaillat. Elaborates on Espaillat's desire to be in both caucuses (the Black and Hispanic caucuses) but faced denial from the Black caucus.
continue ➛
Caygle, H. (2017, February). Black Caucus chafes at Latino who wants to Join. Politico. https://www.politico.com/story/2017/02/congressional-black-caucus-hispanic-adriano-espaillat-234575
Hinojosa, M. (2017, June). When Being Black and Latino Collide in Congress. NPR.org. https://www.npr.org/2017/06/30/535046491/when-being-black-and-latino-collide-in-congress
ACTIVITIES!
Activities
Material #4
Material #6
After reading the article with your table group, we will discuss the following questions together as a class:
- Why do you think the author compared his dual identity to code switching?
- What identity or belonging issues did the author face in highschool?
- How does the 3 steps the author states help teachers and students be more culturally responsive to 1st generation students?
Guided Discussion Questions
Written Activity
Answer the following journal entry questions in your notebook with 4-5 sentences: At 0:24 seconds, the grandmother said she created the game so she's not the only one speaking Mandarin. How can this game improve her english speaking grandkids Mandarin speaking abilities? How does this represent kids balancing their native and american cultures?
continue ➛
ACTIVITIES!
Activities
Materials #7 & #8
Material #10
Answer the following teacher led- discussions:
- What is the author's purpose of this article? (persuade, inform, entertain...)
- What do you think the word "chafes" means in the title?
- What evidences did you find in the text where certain congressmen were for or against Adriano Espaillat?
- Do you believe the CBC misjudged Adriano Espaillat or were they protecting their policies to remain pro black?
Guided Discussion Questions
Written Activity
After watching and reading the following materials, with a partner/group, answer the 4 essential questions: 1. What behaviors did you notice from the aunties? 2. How does this clip give us some insight about Indian American perspectives? 3. Find 2 evidencess where the author states this tv show negatively streotypes of south asian american upbringings 4. Do you believe we can get all our understandings of Indian American culture from Hollywood shows alone?
continue ➛
Classroom Connections
Classroom Connections
Identity and a Sense of Belonging challenges are common for middle school students, especially those in 6th-8th-grade. The overall purpose of this presentation is to show them other kids around their age who also deal with identity/sense of belonging issues that involve balancing cultures and finding spaces they feel most comfortable.
This presentation can be used in an actual classroom by...
- Used for unit plan to teach students about perspectives. Within the unit, they would learn what perspectives are, what 1st generation American immigrant perspectives are, how media/Hollywood display these perspectives, and how not all shows/movies show authentic native American perspectives
- In addition, this presentation fits best with cross-curriculuar subjects. I could link social studies, reading, and writing content/standards to this presentation and address these objectives all at once.
34%
Don't forget about the 34% Native American students whom make up the Illinois public school population.
continue ➛
Reflection
During the research process, I learned how 1st generation American immigrants have to work twice as hard to work through identity and belonging issues. They have to constantly balance cultures to be their authentic selves, but it's not always easy. In addition, native American student cultures are underrepresented in Illinois schools, demonstrating their voices are not amplified enough in education. Adriano Espaillat, the 1st undocumented immigrant to serve in Congress, is also not amplified enough in the media. Multiple perspectives can be shown through various materials (charts, articles, media, and more) however, not all materials show true authetic representation.
Therefore, since various materials do not always display true authentic representation of topics (like Hollywood tv shows), then within my future teaching role, I will show students how to determine what kind of sources they should/should not rely on.
This project impacted my understanding of identity and sense of belonging by displaying to me how individual people have diverse identities and elements that makes them special. Therefore as a collective, we need to provide more welcoming classrooms/spaces for people from diverse cultures to exist without feeling pressured to turn one culture one and the other off.
continue ➛
Thank you!
The Dual Identities of 1st Generation American Immigrants
Kiely Burns
Created on October 11, 2025
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Transcript
By: Kiely Corinthians Burns
Presentation
The Dual Identities of 1st Generation American Immigrants
The future is diversity!
start ➛
6th - 8th grade
Engaging Hook
What's Going On in the 4 Cartoons?
Opening Questions:
Explanation: The kids inside the images are conflicted about their identity. They know their ethnicity and familiar with American culture, but don't know how to balance the 2. Many times, adolescents in general, battle with identity and belonging too in school, home, and society.
continue ➛
Connections
Elizabeth Acevedo and her book themes:
Within Elizabeth Acevedo's books, (Poet X, Clap When You Land, With the Fire on High, and more), specific themes she highlights in her books are Dominican American culutre, and identity/sense of belonging perspectives being a 1st generation American immigrant in American society. Therefore, 1st generation American immigrants' identity and sense of belonging perspectives will be the specific themes I explore with 6th - 8th grade students. These themes are important for them to learn because they will learn voices that aren't amplified enough in the media and have in depth understandings of identity, belonging, and how that's different for people.
continue ➛
LOW AMPLIFIED VOICES
Did you know?
Out of 1.9 million kindergarten through 12th-grade students, 34% of the student population are Native American students. These students balance their ethnic and american cultural identities, however are underrepresented in Illinois public schools. Asian, Indian, Hispanic, Mandarin, Pacific Islander, and more cultures are not amplified enough in Western American school systems. Therefore, these create disconnected identities for the students as well as negative responses to school such as code switching, low student engagement, participation, and academic achievement.
continue ➛
Illinois Report Card - Students' Racial/Ethnicity . Illinoisreportcard.com. (2024).
Hidden Figure
Hidden Figure: Adriano Espaillat
U.S. Representative Adriano Espaillat is someone who is also not amplified enough in the media. He serves as the democratic representative for New York City! Although he is a Dominican American, he was born in the Dominican Republic, not the United States. Which means he is not a 1st generation American immigrant. It also means, he is the 1st undocumented immigrant to serve in Congress!. When he was 9, he and his family moved to New York and they gained permanent citizenship when he was 12. Throughout life, Adriano Espaillat dealt with identity and beloning issues. He identifies as "afro latino" however experienced backlash from America and African Americans and Latin communities. Belonging Issues: Some Americans believe he does not belong in Congress because he was not born in America Identity Issues: Some of his family warned him about going into African American neighborhoods because they do not identity as "afro latino/latina" Some black congressional members believed he should not join CBC due to unaligned ideals Though Adriano Espaillat faced identity and belonging backlashes, he still made impacting contributions to black and brown communities and American citizens. These contributions include:
*Scroll Up to see the Hidden Figure*
continue ➛
Materials
The Following Materials We Will review Within This Presentation (In the Order I would Teach 6th-8th grade Students) Include:
2. Map
1. Pie Chart
A map displaying the most commonly used native languages within the 50 states
A pie chart displaying the types of immigrants that live in the U.S. and population percentages
Batalova, J. (2025c, March). Most Commonly Spoken Languages Other than English in the U.S. Migrationpolicy.org. Batalova, J. (2025a, March). Immigrant Characteristics and Families. Migrationpolicy.org. Batalova, J. (2025, March). Immigrant Population in the United States. Migrationpolicy.org.
continue ➛
Batalova, J. (2025b, March). Immigrant Population in the United States. Migrationpolicy.org.
Materials
3. DataTable
4. Article
An article written from a high school Mexican American student Roni Lezama. Roni elaborates on his experiences of balancing his dual identity while also bring up themes such as code switching, streotypes, and more.
Lezama, R. (2021, January). I’m A First- Generation American. Here’s What Helped Me Make It To College. EducationWeek.org. https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/opinion-im-a-first-generation-american-heres-what-helped-me-make-it-to-college/2021/01
A data table showing 71 million U.S immigrants' most used languages from most to least.
Batalova, J. (2025a, March). Immigrant Characteristics and Families. Migrationpolicy.org. Batalova, J. (2025, March). Immigrant Population in the United States. Migrationpolicy.org.
continue ➛
Materials
6. Video
5. Video
A short 1 minute 22 second TV show clip (Fresh off the Boat) showing a Mandarin American family celebrating Chinese New Year. They challenge each other to only speak Mandarin at the table to participate more in their culture.
TED Talk video presented by high school student Kriti Gupta. Kriti goes into specific themes such as (updating her cultural norms knowledge like phone numbers to deem what is/ is not acceptable in Indian vs. American culture.
ABC. (2018, February). Only In Mandarin - Fresh Off The Boat. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TzZNdqSohU
Gupta, K. (2019, May). Finding An Identity as a First Generation Immigrant . YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbdSf8VjrDE
continue ➛
Materials
8. Article
7. Video
A short 1 minute 53 second TV show clip (Never Had I Ever) displaying the main character (Devi) and her mother and cousin meeting the other American indians women (aunties) This clip displays Indian mannerism to elders and streotypical interactions .
An opinionated article against the hit TV show "Never Have I Ever" written by South Asian journalist, Jahnavi Kirkire. Talks about how the tv show did not represent South Asian American culture with care (displaying white wash Hollywood streotypes).
continue ➛
Kirkire, J. (2025, April). “Never Have I Ever” failed to provide Genuine South Asian Representation. DBKNews.com. https://dbknews.com/2025/04/13/never-have-i-ever-representation-column/
Netflix. (2020, May). Types of Indian Aunties. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmLCfFZiCAc
Materials
10. Article
9. Audio Interview
A 9 minute audio interview with host Maria Hinojosa and Congressman Adriano Espaillat. Adriano Espaillat talks about identifying as "afro latino", his upbringings, how he represent black and brown communitites, and how he faced opposition when wanting to join the Congressional Black Caucus.
An opinionated article written about how the Black Caucus chafed/misjudged congressman Adriano Espaillat. Elaborates on Espaillat's desire to be in both caucuses (the Black and Hispanic caucuses) but faced denial from the Black caucus.
continue ➛
Caygle, H. (2017, February). Black Caucus chafes at Latino who wants to Join. Politico. https://www.politico.com/story/2017/02/congressional-black-caucus-hispanic-adriano-espaillat-234575
Hinojosa, M. (2017, June). When Being Black and Latino Collide in Congress. NPR.org. https://www.npr.org/2017/06/30/535046491/when-being-black-and-latino-collide-in-congress
ACTIVITIES!
Activities
Material #4
Material #6
After reading the article with your table group, we will discuss the following questions together as a class:
Guided Discussion Questions
Written Activity
Answer the following journal entry questions in your notebook with 4-5 sentences: At 0:24 seconds, the grandmother said she created the game so she's not the only one speaking Mandarin. How can this game improve her english speaking grandkids Mandarin speaking abilities? How does this represent kids balancing their native and american cultures?
continue ➛
ACTIVITIES!
Activities
Materials #7 & #8
Material #10
Answer the following teacher led- discussions:
Guided Discussion Questions
Written Activity
After watching and reading the following materials, with a partner/group, answer the 4 essential questions: 1. What behaviors did you notice from the aunties? 2. How does this clip give us some insight about Indian American perspectives? 3. Find 2 evidencess where the author states this tv show negatively streotypes of south asian american upbringings 4. Do you believe we can get all our understandings of Indian American culture from Hollywood shows alone?
continue ➛
Classroom Connections
Classroom Connections
Identity and a Sense of Belonging challenges are common for middle school students, especially those in 6th-8th-grade. The overall purpose of this presentation is to show them other kids around their age who also deal with identity/sense of belonging issues that involve balancing cultures and finding spaces they feel most comfortable.
This presentation can be used in an actual classroom by...
34%
Don't forget about the 34% Native American students whom make up the Illinois public school population.
continue ➛
Reflection
During the research process, I learned how 1st generation American immigrants have to work twice as hard to work through identity and belonging issues. They have to constantly balance cultures to be their authentic selves, but it's not always easy. In addition, native American student cultures are underrepresented in Illinois schools, demonstrating their voices are not amplified enough in education. Adriano Espaillat, the 1st undocumented immigrant to serve in Congress, is also not amplified enough in the media. Multiple perspectives can be shown through various materials (charts, articles, media, and more) however, not all materials show true authetic representation.
Therefore, since various materials do not always display true authentic representation of topics (like Hollywood tv shows), then within my future teaching role, I will show students how to determine what kind of sources they should/should not rely on.
This project impacted my understanding of identity and sense of belonging by displaying to me how individual people have diverse identities and elements that makes them special. Therefore as a collective, we need to provide more welcoming classrooms/spaces for people from diverse cultures to exist without feeling pressured to turn one culture one and the other off.
continue ➛
Thank you!