Family and friendship are two very important themes of the historical fiction novel The Orphan of Ellis Island by Elvira Woodruff. From video clips and writing prompts to reader's theater and family interviews, this resource provides numerous activities that engage children in learning more about these important aspects of life. Whether your class is reading the book or not, this lesson provides a great character building opportunity for elementary school learners.

Concepts

literary themes, literary elements, reader's theater, friendship, immigration

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Additional Tags

friendship, immigration, immigrant, family, theme, interview, reader's theater, english language arts

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Pros

• Supporting materials are provided for the different activities included in the lesson
• Provides questions for guiding class discussions about the themes of family and friendship
• Activities are adaptable to a wide range of ages and grade levels
• Allows for cross-curricular connections between language arts and social studies

Cons

• Requires class copies of the book The Orphan of Ellis Island by Elvira Woodruff
• The video mentioned in the Building Background portion of the lesson is not included, but can be easily found on YouTube

Common Core

RL.5.1 W.5.1.a W.5.2.a W.5.7 SL.K.2 SL.1.2 SL.2.2 SL.3.2 SL.4.2 SL.5.2 SL.5.5 SL.6.2