Lesson plan
Immigration: Ellis Island
Learning Objectives
Students will be able to understand the process for immigrants traveling through Ellis Island into the United States.
Introduction
(5 minutes)
- Display pictures of Ellis Island on the board for students.
- Explain that an immigrant is a person who leaves another country to move to a new one.
- Ask if any students have heard of Ellis Island to see if any students have background knowledge.
- If this does not trigger interest, ask if any students are immigrants or if any have family members who are.
Explicit Instruction/Teacher modeling
(10 minutes)- Hand out the Ellis Island worksheet.
- Show photos of Ellis Island in the early 1900s and as it is now.
- Read the worksheet with your students, and direct them to underline important information and vocabulary.
Guided Practice
(20 minutes)- Have students work with partners to answer the questions at the bottom of the worksheet.
- Ask them to write down 5 facts from the article on the back of the worksheet.
- Review your students' work, and have each student list one interesting fact he learned from the worksheet.
Independent working time
(20 minutes)- Hand out the Ellis Island interview worksheet.
- Read the instructions, and have your students independently work on the survey.
- Direct your students to write a journal entry from the point of view of a child their age who went across the Atlantic Ocean to go to Ellis Island.
Differentiation
- Enrichment: Have students use 5-8 new vocabulary words in their entries, and direct them to write a parallel journal entry from the point of view of an immigration official.
- Support: Have students write a journal entry of 5 sentences with a drawing of Ellis Island.
Assessment
(5 minutes)- As you walk around the room, check to make sure that your students are using facts from the worksheet to back up their journal entries.
Review and closing
(15 minutes)- Have students share their entries aloud.
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