Through this set of three lessons about Ellis Island, class members will learn about why immigrants came to the United States, find out about the difficulties that went along with coming to America, become familiar with the immigration process, and prepare oral histories of their own families or ancestors of another adult. Pair these informational lessons with The Orphan of Ellis Island by Elvira Woodruff for a cross-curricular unit.

Concepts

ellis island, united states immigration, immigration

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Additional Tags

ellis island, common core, the orphan of ellis island, immigration, social studies

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Pros

• Includes lots of links to additional online resources such as videos, interactive websites, and images that enrich the lesson
• Provides a list of extension ideas
• Begins with clear guiding questions

Cons

• You will need to have access to the book If Your Name Was Changed at Ellis Island by Ellen Levine to complete all of the lesson steps
• Some procedures are not fully explained and will need to be fleshed out before instruction
• The resource mentions that it addresses Common Core standards, but does not list any specific standards