Overview


"More than a Team" is on one level about a soccer team. On another level, however, it's a story about people leaving one country and moving to another.
For students: We hope this guide sharpens your reading skills and deepens your understanding.
For teachers: We encourage reproduction and adaptation of these ideas, freely and without further permission from AramcoWorld, by teachers at any level.
Common Core Standards met in this lesson: RI9-10.1/W.9-10.4/SL9-10.1 (see details below).

—The Editors
 
Do you have comments? I'd be pleased to hear from you at 
[email protected].
—Julie Weiss

 

More than a Team

 
People move. Sometimes they move short distances—across town, say. Other times they cross oceans and move to new countries where their lives may be very different than they were before. "More than a Team" is on one level about a soccer team. But on another level, it's a story about people leaving one country and moving to another. That's what this lesson will address. By the time you finish these activities, you will be able to:
 
  • Identify the push and pull factors in human migration and apply them to waves of Palestinian migrants who settled in Chile.
  • Identify challenges that Palestinian immigrants have faced in Chile and explain how they have adapted to them.
  • Evaluate the impact that Palestinian immigration has had on Chile and on Palestine.
  • Interview an immigrant or descendant of immigrants and apply what you have learned about Palestinian-Chilean migration to analyze his or her experiences.
Why Do People Move?

About 300,000 of Chile's  residents are descended from Palestinian immigrants. When did their forebears come to Chile, and why? Find the part of the article that describes the different times when waves of Palestinians moved to Chile. Use the information to complete the following chart. You'll find that not all the information is in the article, so you might have some blank places. But you can probably fill in some of them by inferring answers to the questions based on what you've read. Leave the right-hand column blank for the moment. 
 
Why They Immigrated
Date Why did they leave Palestine? Why did they come to Chile? Push or Pull?
Late 1800s      
1910s
 
     
1948
 
     
 Once you've completed the first two columns, look at the last one. People who study migration and immigration talk about push factors and pull factors to describe people's motivation for moving. A push factor is when people feel they must leave their homeland, usually to get away from something negative, such as war, famine or persecution. A pull factor is what draws people toward their new country. What attracts them to one place when they might have chosen other places? Often, of course, both push and pull factors contribute to people's decisions to move. Think about the waves of Palestinian immigration to Chile. Were the immigrants pushed and/or pulled? Feel free to discuss the question with your classmates; then fill in the final column, including the evidence you used to come to your answers.
 
  • "I don't want my buildings to be visible."
  • "Buildings should not become monuments or luxury statements."
  • "Architecture has been hijacked by the visual."
What Challenges Did Palestinian Immigrants Face in Chile? How Did They Deal with Those Challenges?

Arriving to a new country and staying there pose challenges, to say the least. Some of the challenges are identified in the article. Others you probably can imagine. Immigrants who succeed in their adopted homeland have to be very sturdy, resilient and hardworking. Complete the table below, listing on the left challenges that Palestinian immigrants have faced in Chile, and, on the right, how they have managed those challenges.
 
Immigrant's Challenges
Challenges                          How Immigrants Managed Challenges





 


 
Once everyone has completed the chart, discuss with your classmates which challenges you believe would be most problematic, why you think so, and which strategies have seemed to be most valuable to Palestinian immigrants adapting to life in Chile.

How Have Palestinian Immigrants Benefited by Being In Chile? How Has Chile Benefited from Palestinian Immigration?

Despite the challenges that immigrants have faced, it's likely that they have found life in Chile at least acceptable and probably better enough than life in Palestine that they have stayed on. As you did with challenges, find the parts of the article that address how Palestinian immigrants benefited from moving to Chile. List the benefits in the left-hand column of the chart below.

Then think about how a country that welcomes immigrants benefits from their being there. Although the article doesn't directly address the subject, you can make inferences from what's in the article, as well as from what you know about immigration at other times in other places. In the right-hand column, list benefits to Chile and its people of having Palestinians become part of Chilean society.
 
Benefits of Immigrations
Benefits to Immigrants Benefits to Chile                 





 
 

And Finally … What About Soccer?

Now you've done some detailed thought to immigration. After all that, let's return to the title of the article, "More than a Team." How does soccer fit into all this analysis of immigration? Go back to the article to find out. Why have the Palestinos been so important to Palestinian immigrants and their descendants? Why have they been important to people in Palestine, too? Write a paragraph about what soccer is if it's more than a gamer, and what makes it that way.

Applying What You've Learned 

Are things that are true about one immigrant group true for another? Identity someone—such as a family member, neighbor, or teacher—who either immigrated to your country, or who can tell you about his or her family's past experience immigrating. Of course, if you yourself immigrated, focus on your own experience! Generate a list of questions to ask the person. To come up with your questions, look back at the work you've done about "More than a Team" so that you can be sure that you ask questions that will yield the kind of information you're looking for. In addition, include any questions that you would like to know about but that the article and these activities have not addressed. Be sure to ask the person you interview if he or she would give you permission to share their story with your classmates. If the answer is yes, prepare a presentation about the experiences of the person you interviewed. Present your finished work to your classmates. If the answer is no, write about the interview without using the person's name and show the final work only to your teacher.
 

Common Core Standards met in this lesson:

RI9-10.1 Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

 W9-10.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization and style are appropriate to task, purpose and audience.

 SL9-10.1 Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher led) with diverse partners on grades 9–10 topics, texts and issues, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.