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An Immigrant's Journey
Young scholars use books, resource CDs, and the Internet to research and collect images of the experiences of immigrants in 1907. They are divided into groups of four to write journal entries for a fictional, yet historically accurate,...
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The Immigrant Experience
Students utilize oral histories to discover, analyze, and interpret immigration and migration in the history of the United States. A goal of the unit is fostering a discussion and encouraging students to make meaning of the bigger...
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Immigration Explorations, Part 2
Students conduct secondary source research using the internet and library resources to learn more about the backgrounds of their family's cultural and ethnic heritages. Students can work together in research groups that have common...
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When Jessie Came Across The Sea
Students engage in a study about immigration by using children's literature. They conduct research about the immigrations to New York City in the past and the current status. Students conduct class discussion about Ellis Island and what...
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Lady Liberty
If you're looking for a fantastic cross-curricular lesson on the Statue of Liberty, then this lesson is for you! Learners watch a Reading Rainbow episode which focuses on the Statue, then gather facts about the creation, construction,...
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Don't Miss The Boat
Fourth graders study immigration and what it is like to be an immigrant. They choose immigrant identities, dress appropriately, and role play during an International Fair where each student displays some aspect of his/her "home country."
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Writing as a group activity
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...
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Port of Entry
Students research patterns of immigration throughout American history. The focus is on the process of how immigrants came through Ellis Island. Students reflect upon the topic to develop critical thinking skills.
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Immigration and Urban Life
Fifth graders research the impact of immigration. In this social studies lesson, 5th graders discuss how immigration affected the economy. Students discuss the living and working conditions of immigrants in the 1800s.
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Immigration Oral History
Young scholars explore oral history and how it is important to historical record. They interview someone who is a U.S. immigrant and create an oral history project/paper based on this interview.
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Immigration Explorations, Part I
Students visit a number of web sites on immigration created by other Students, evaluate types of research used, structure of sites, and what types of information were included.
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Website Publishing
Students visit the student-created John Schick's Virtual Ellis Island Museum website. They evaluate the sorts of research the students carried out to create their site, how they structured the site, and what sort of information and...
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What was Behind the Golden Door?
Students adopt the persona of an immigrant child to explore the reasons underlying why families left their homelands. They empathize with the emotional plight of immigrants through creative composition.
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Coming to America
Learners present tableaus showing scenes from The Memory Coat, a book about immigration. In this tableau lesson, students examine the cover of the book and make predictions about what is happening and who the people are. They create...
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Turning the Century
Students examine the Gilded Age. In this Gilded Age lesson, students create a museum of their own showing what life was like in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Students investigate immigration, settlement and how these...
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The Testing of the Feebleminded Immigrants
Students examine the intelligence testing of Henry Goddard during the early 1900s. They discover criticisms that are still occuring today. They analyze how science and technology is contributing to this practice.
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Virtual Ellis Island Museum Unit:
Students conduct secondary source research using the internet and library resources to research the backgrounds of their family's cultural and ethnic heritages.
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Virtual Ellis Island Museum Unit: Final Reports
Students write reports of their research findings to be shared with friends and families. They develop their reports into web pages for publication on the Internet.
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Virtual Ellis Island Museum Unit: Oral Histories
Young scholars conduct oral histories of family members to explore their cultural and ethnic heritage after developing a set of research questions.
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Oral Histories
One of a series of lessons from Ellis Island. In this lesson, students use research from a previous lesson to conduct oral history interviews of family members to learn about their cultural and ethnic heritage.
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Stowaway?
Students research and describe what happens to immigrants coming to America today. It is designed to get students thinking about the similarities and differences in immigrant experiences over the past 100 or so years.
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Immigration Unit
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...
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Problem-Solving Processes and Figurative Language
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...
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Radio Program #2: Ethnic Mix
Young scholars examine patterns of migration into the area. They complete various map activities and interviews. Students partake in family histories as well. On a map of Europe, identify the countries of immigrant origin mentioned in...