Elevating Immigrant Stories: From Storytime to U.S. History

This session explored how to integrate immigrant stories into classroom instruction, from read-alouds for elementary students to deeper historical narratives in U.S. history for middle and high school students. Through expert presentations and hands-on activities, participants discovered classroom-ready resources that help students connect with diverse immigrant experiences.

This session is designed to support educators in fostering inclusivity, empathy and a richer understanding of immigration’s role in shaping our communities and nation. It includes strategies for leveraging literature to empower children and promote belonging, and ways to incorporate immigration and immigrant stories into commonly taught U.S. history topics. This training was originally held on March 31, 2025.

This training is sponsored in part by the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources Eastern Region Program, coordinated by Waynesburg University.

Check out these resources:

• Resource list
• I’m Your Neighbor Books
• I’m An American free resource
• Free learning library from I’m Your Neighbor Books
• The Pine Project
• I’m Your Neighbor StoryWalk