Introduction
Good morning class! Today we will be learning about Ellis Island. Has anyone ever heard of Ellis Island, or know what it is?
We've learned that an immigrant is a person who leaves another country to move to a new one. Does anyone have any family members or friends who are immigrants?
Ellis Island is located in New York and was the gateway to America for many immigrants from 1892- 1954. In today's lesson we will be learning more interesting facts about Ellis Island, and try putting ourselves in the shoes of an immigrant travelling across the Atlantic Ocean to Ellis Island.
Let's begin!
Task
Our tasks today will include:
-Gathering important facts from the Ellis Island hand out
-Participating in an interview about Ellis Island with a partner
-Writing and recording a journal entry from the point of view of an immigrant traveling to Ellis Island, including facts from the Ellis Island handout.
Process
I will have pictures of Ellis Island on the screen, both past and present.
We will begin by reading the Ellis Island worksheet as a class and highlighting or underlining important information and vocabulary. I will ask for volunteers to read. Upon finishing I would like everyone to write down three important facts. I will call on a few different students to share one of their facts with the class. The students will get in to partners and discuss the two questions at the bottom of the worksheet. They can use the handout and other sources like their textbook or internet research to complete them.
(https://www.education.com/download/lesson-plan/immigration-ellis-island/attachments/ellis-island.pdf)
Next, the students will all get their laptops out and work with the same partner. They will open the Ellis Island interview document. They will read through it with their partner, and then interview each other using the questions on the page. They will type their partner's answers, discuss the results and submit it to their drop box.
Lastly, the students will take time to work individually. I will instruct them to write a journal entry from the point of view of a child their age who is travelling across the Atlantic Ocean to Ellis Island. I would like them to use 2-3 facts from the Ellis Island hand out in their entry. Upon finishing I will have them record their journal entry. Students will be encouraged to get creative with their recordings.They will submit the script and recording to their drop box. I will select a few recordings to share with the class if I have the student's permission after grading.
Evaluation
I will review the students' worksheet answers and interviews to see if they display a general understanding about immigration and Ellis Island.
I will grade the students' journal entries based on whether they incorporated 2-3 facts from the worksheet and seem to have a thorough understanding of the Ellis Island immigration process.
Conclusion
After completing today's activities, students should understand the process for immigrants traveling through Ellis Island into the United States.
The introduction questions were meant to activate the student's background knowledge of Ellis Island. If they didn't have any, I used a follow up question asking if they knew any relatives or friends who are immigrants so they are able to relate the topic to their personal lives.
The worksheet is a good tool for the students to dissect for important information and refer back to for the remaining tasks. I think using partner work for the worksheet questions and interview helps the students create a discussion and learn more about their fellow classmate's backgrounds and ideas.
The journal entry was the main task of this lesson plan. This gave the children the opportunity to get creative and put themselves in someone else's shoes. I think making the assignment more personal is a good way to help the students understand what it may have been like to actually be an immigrant coming to the United States in the early 1900's. I decided to have the students record their journal entries to allow them the opportunity to experiment with technology and get even more creative.
Lastly, as an extension of this project, I would suggest students go home and ask their families if they have any immigrant relatives and share any interesting information they learn with the class. This allows an opportunity for parents to be involved in their child's education, and for the child to learn more about themselves and their history.
Credits
Credits:
Ellis Island Hand Out
https://www.education.com/download/lesson-plan/immigration-ellis-island/attachments/ellis-island.pdf
Ellis Island Interview