Unit Overview:

This unit for grades 3–5 (adaptable for higher or lower grades) introduces students to American immigration, touching on various immigration paths and time periods, but primarily centered around Ellis Island and the major immigration waves of the late 19th to early 20th century. The lessons teach about what it means to pick up one’s entire life and come to a new, foreign home; how immigrants brought many cultures, religions, languages, foods, and rituals that have added to American life; what kind of important artistic, scientific, and social contributions immigrants have made to America; what life was like in a tenement building on New York City’s Lower East Side; and how photography played a vital part in capturing the immigrant experience. The multiple lessons, which can be taught independently from one another, employ an array of maps, research and analytical skills, and writing exercises, as well as student activities such as creating visual artwork, oral presentations, and dramatizations.

Lesson Overviews:

Immigrating to America

Students perform dramatizations depicting what it was like for new immigrants to come through Ellis Island at the turn of the century.

Understanding Tenement Life

Through historical photos, students explore what life was like for poor immigrants living in tenements at the turn of the century.

America, A Home for Every Culture

Students will explore how various cultures have contributed to making the United States a unique and diverse country.

Immigrant Contributions to America

Students will recognize the various contributions of immigrants to the United States.

A Lens into the Past

This lesson which supports the YFP Production of Dreams In The Golden Country uses photographs to visually describe the transition from old world to New World experienced by immigrants to the United States.