Youngsters work to build empathy, cultural understanding, and a sense of self as they uncover the story behind their own names. They read the book, The Name Jar, discuss immigration and how it feels to be in a new place. Then, they...

A poem carved on Angel Island's walls is the guiding text of a instructional activity that challenges scholars to put movement into a written piece of art. After warm up-activities, learners play a game of "Pass the Clap" and "Pass the...

Everyone comes from somewhere. An interdisciplinary lesson on Elvira Woodruff's The Orphan of Ellis Island includes discussion starter and writing prompts for the novel, as well as a graphic organizer to help learners begin their...

Students use the Internet to gather information on the country of Mexico. They also discover the culture of their people and compare them with the United States population. They take a virtual tour of some of Mexico's most historical ruins.

Students investigate freedom. In this character development and U.S. history lesson plan, students participate in role playing in which the teacher assigns recess restrictions including whom they play with and what they play. Students...

A lovely guided reading lesson awaits you and your students. They read the book,Corn is Maize: The Gift of the Indians, by Aliki, summarize the important events of the story, and describe how corn has helped develop culture in America.

Young scholars examine the experiences of immigrants coming to America from China. They create cultural profiles for themselves and others. They identify the reasons why people immigrate to another country.

Students demonstrate an understanding of the immigrant experience in their state. For this immigrant lesson, students listen to immigrant speakers to their state and what their lives were like. Students write brief reports or complete...

Students determine the difference between immigration and emigration. They read and listen to books about emigration westward during the Gold Rush years. They examine life in Gold Rush towns while determining why gold is so valuable....

Third graders explore the adventures of an immigrant as she comes to the United States. They discuss the difficulties the immigrants had and they research the Mexican culture and society. Students create a diary of their own.

Students explore immigration. In this U.S. history immigration activity, students complete and read a mini-book about Ellis Island.

Learners explore Chinese emigration and answer comprehension questions from the reading; students conduct interview with someone who has immigrated to the United States.

Third graders use data to make a bar graph. In this graphing and social studies lesson, 3rd graders use data about where Ellis Island immigrants came from to complete a bar graph on Microsoft Excel.

Students examine the similarities and differences between modern day immigrants and pilgrims. They listen to stories, discuss their ancestors' origins, and create a native costume for a paper doll for where their ancestor is from.

Third graders develop an appreciate for the various cultures that are present in their local community. Through reading and research, they explain how various culture came to live in their area. At the conclusion of the unit, 3rd...

Students research authentic information about the clothing worn by urban European immigrants who came to live in the Wampanoag village of Patuxet (now Plymouth, Massachusetts) in 1620. They recognize the types of hats worn by men and...

  Did you know that 50% of all Americans can trace a relative who traveled through Ellis Island? Relive these journeys with your class and then provide sentence strategy templates for them to use to compose their own informative...

Students brainstorm the types of food they eat at home, discussing and comparing with the class. Students brainstorm and make a chart of questions that came out of the activity and their discussions. Students interview someone who...

Nonfiction texts about people on the move provide young readers with an opportunity to examine not only the problem-solving strategies employed by immigrants, but to also find examples of figurative language these writers use to tell...

Young scholars discuss the pre-reading focus questions. In this reading lesson, students discuss and explore the book cover and title. Young scholars predict what they will learn from this book. Additionally, students read to find out...

Students visit John Schick's Virtual Ellis Island Museum created by students in his classroom in order to develop criteria for their own research.

Pupils watch a "Maya and Miguel" video that presents the concepts of meeting new friends, introductions and students that speak different languages. They discuss language learning, review several Spanish phrases and role-play introductions.

Students examine methods of accounting for historical events. In this local history lesson, students use primary sources to explore the story of a tenement house family in New York. Students discuss the sources they encounter as they...

Five brief readings with questions support practice with various literacy skills. In some cases, learners identify whether underlined words are spelled correctly. Other times, they answer reading comprehension questions about the text or...