PPT
Curated OER

Life in a Big Urban City in the Gilded Age

For Teachers 10th - 12th
While this presentation is not heavy in text it more than makes up for it with the telling images of life in New York at the turn of the century. Use as a supplemental lecture tool when covering immigration, tenements, Shirtwaist...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lesson on Superlatives

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students practice basic Internet navigation skills, find and summarize information on a Web site, and explore tenement life in the 19th and early 20th Century.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Lens into the Past

For Teachers 6th - 10th
Explore the history of immigration through photographs. Scholars will view and discuss photographs depicting the culture and lifestyle of late 19th and early 20th century immigrants. They take pictures of current examples of culture in...
PPT
Curated OER

Urbanization As Seen Through Late 19c - Early 20c Architecture

For Teachers 8th - 11th
Incorporating the cultures, architecture, and ethnic populations of several American cities (namely Chicago and New York), this presentation displays vivid photographs of buildings and people in 19th - 20th century urban America. The...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Understanding Tenement Life

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Learners look at life for immigrants in the 19th century. In this immigrant lesson, students discuss how the poor German, Irish, Italian, and Jewish immigrants lived in tenement housing. They research the reasons they came to America...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Immigrant Experience In America

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students study immigration, Ellis Island, and tenement life from 1890 to 1924. Each student create an identity of an immigrant and write an essay in the first person. Essays describe what they found when they arrived in New York City.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Gateway to America

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders study about immigration, Ellis Island, and tenement life from 1890 to 1924. They create an identity of a fictitious immigrant and describe what they find when they arrive in New York.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How Did the Other Half Live?

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Young scholars study the conditions under which immigrants lived. They determine what it means to make it in America. They observe the connection between immigration and unionization and how immigration changed the City of New York. They...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Frederick Law Olmsted

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students explore life in New York and the creation of Central Park. After reading a picture book about Frederick Law Olmstead, they discuss the expectations and evolution of New York's Central Park. Next, students describe a park near...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Immigration

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders examine the American immigration experience. In this immigration lesson, 8th graders watch a video about Ellis Island and discuss the processing that took place there. Students write letters in the voice of American...
Worksheet
Curated OER

Chapter 6 and 7 Unit Test

For Students 8th - 11th
In this Progressive Era and Big Business test worksheet, learners respond to 15 matching, 3 multiple choice, and 4 short answer questions.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Reading A Historical Photograph

For Teachers 5th - 12th
Students examine a historical photograph to gather information and draw conclusions.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lewis Hine

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students define the term Industrialization. They use specific examples, discuss why and how industrialization grew during the early twentieth century in America. Students evaluate the contributions of technological advances, geography...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Immigration and Urban Life

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders research the impact of immigration. In this social studies instructional activity, 5th graders discuss how immigration affected the economy. Students discuss the living and working conditions of immigrants in the 1800s.
Website
Other

Lower Manhattan Project: Child Labor in New York City Tenements

For Students 9th - 10th
In the January, 1908, issue of Charities and the Commons a report was printed revealing the results of investigative reporting on child labor in home manufacture of products in New York City. Child labor was prohibited in factories by...
Interactive
Other

Tenement Museum Project: Gods of Chinatown

For Students 9th - 10th
Take a tour of the places in Chinatown in New York City. Your guide is the web artist, Isabel Chang, who leads you through several streets in Chinatown, shows you temples and pictures of the gods, and explains their significance.
Handout
Other

Lower East Side Tenement Museum: The Immigrant Experience: History

For Students 9th - 10th
A look at immigration policy in the United States from 1624 to 2000. This history is part of the Youth-Digital-Arts-in Residence program partnered with the Tenement Museum in New York City.
Unit Plan
National Humanities Center

National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: People: Assimilation and the Crucible of the City: How Other Half Lives

For Students 9th - 10th
Photographs and an excerpt from Jacob Riis's famous tour of the distressing conditions of the tenements in New York City. Includes questions for discussion.
Primary
Other

On the Lower East Side: Observations of Life in Lower Manhattan

For Students 9th - 10th
Links to contemporary essays about life on the Lower East Side of New York City in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. These essays cover a range of topics and are well worth exploring to find out what problems writers were exposing...
Handout
Khan Academy

Khan Academy: Ap Us History: 1865 1898: Gilded Age: America Moves to the City

For Students 9th - 10th
Discusses the urbanization that took place at the end of the nineteenth century and into the twentieth. Includes questions for students at end.
Website
Other

Place in History: The Bowery Hall of Fame

For Students 9th - 10th
Stroll through the Bowery in New York City and see what the tenements looked like in the late 19th century. This mini museum shows the life of the Bowery. Information about tenement areas in other cities is included.
Handout
The History Cat

The History Cat: Ellis Island

For Students 9th - 10th
Tells the story of Ellis Island, the first stop for immigrants arriving in New York City beginning in 1890. Describes the process would-be immigrants to America had to go through before being allowed to board a trans-Atlantic ship, the...