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Instruction Part
One: Family Tree In
this activity, students learn about their own family history to gain an
understanding of the difficulties immigrants endured when leaving their
homeland. They will interview
members of their family, preferably older relatives, using the questions
provided in this packet, or making up their own questions ahead of time.
They can take notes during the interviews, tape record, video
record, or conduct a telephone interview; whichever makes sense to them.
They will need some instruction on interview etiquette (i.e.,
informing the interviewee that they will be recorded, thanking the
interviewee, avoiding questions that are too personal, etc.).
Inform the students that learning about their family history can
give them a better idea of who they are, and it can give them an
appreciation for their family?s struggles and achievements.
Let students know that they will be conducting interviews in
preparation for the creation of a family tree. Before
handing out the interview questions and discussing the activity in depth,
introduce students to the
history of Ellis Island and the hardships faced by immigrants. Ask students to imagine how they would feel if they left home
to start their lives over in a country they had never visited. Get
them thinking about the importance of ancestry and home.
Pass out the interview worksheets and review them with the
students. Discuss interview
etiquette and ask if the students would like to add any new questions to
the list. Ask students to
determine which technique they will use for their interview, and ask them
to make a list of 5 people they might interview for this activity.
You may want to allow a few days for students to complete their
interviews. After
students complete their interviews, tell them that they will be using the
interview responses to create their own family tree. Ask students to draw
a tree with the same number of branches and roots as the number of people
they interviewed plus the number of people about which the interviewees
told them. They will need to select the most essential information to
include in the limited space of the family tree drawing.
Display the finished drawings and have each student discuss their
tree creations based on how the tree functions as an artwork, as well as
what it says about their family and themselves. Part
Two: Traveling Steerage In
this activity, students find out about the traveling conditions for
immigrants and the small number of items they were allowed to bring to
America. They will be asked
to develop a list of 30 items they would take with them.
Explain to students that immigrants would travel steerage from
Europe to America. This means
that the lower sections of the ship would be their home for at least 10
days. Most ships carried anywhere from a few hundred to over 2,000
steerage passengers. Most
immigrants would not see sunlight for the entire trip, food might be
scarce, and there would be a good possibility that they would become ill
along the way. Before
students determine their 30 items, question them about the possibilities:
Would they bring photographs of their family or homeland? Would they bring a small painting to look at?
Would they bring some paper and pencils so they could draw or write
letters to keep themselves occupied?
Would they bring any food items?
Would they bring clothing? Would
they bring a book? Would they
bring a toy to play with? Inform
students that they will need to declare these items when they enter the
mock immigration station in the next exercise.
They will need to explain to immigration officials why they chose
the items they brought with them. In
preparation for this, ask the students to compare their packing lists with
each other and discuss their reasons for including certain items. Part
Three: Entering Ellis Island In
this activity, students will create a mock immigration station in the
classroom to experience the process of entering America.
Before rearranging the classroom, they will need to create
passports. Explain to
students the purpose of the passport and what information needs to be
included along with their self-portraits.
It may be helpful to provide a visual example of a real passport,
either with a photocopy or an actual passport.
Ask students to consider what they discovered about their family
tree and imagine they were one of their ancestors traveling from another
country. They may even take on the name of one of their ancestors.
Based on what they know about their relatives, ask them to decide
if their ancestors had traveled extensively or worked on farms in their
homeland or something else. If they traveled extensively, they may have stamps from other
countries on their passport. Ask
students to create small self-portraits to paste onto the passport
booklet, attach 2-3 additional pages for stamps, and then fold all of the
pages in the center like a book. They
may then staple the book in the center to keep it together. Once
students have created their passports, begin a discussion about what the
immigration station might be like. They
may need to make small signs to put on desks that indicate which part of
the process the desk represents. They
may want to create a passport validation center, a baggage claim center, a
waiting area, and an interrogation center.
At the interrogation center, students will fill out the
questionnaires included in this packet.
If they have decided to take on the role of one of their ancestors,
they will need to fill out the worksheet accordingly.
Remind them that some questions were intentionally asked to test
the immigrant. Any wrong
response could result in exclusion. Before students enter the station,
make sure they have their baggage list and passport with them. After
all of the students have gone through the station, ask them to fill out
Worksheet 5 and engage them in a discussion about the process they went
through. Extensions/Interdisciplinary
Connections Art History: When students make out their list of items to take to America, ask them to include one artwork from art history. Ask students to explain why they chose that artwork. Back to Lesson 3 |