Activity Description

"Immigration: Stories of Yesterday and Today" encompasses material appropriate for a number of grades:

Relive a Boy's Journey Grades 3–8
In a photo-illustrated oral history, students meet Seymour Rechtzeit, a Polish immigrant who came to the United States with his father in 1920 at age 8, and went on to become one of the stars of Yiddish theater in New York. Seventy years later, Seymour describes the crossing and the difficulties of arriving in America. This real story provides a picture of what it was like to be a young immigrant in the early 1900s, and how the talent of people like Seymour Rechtzeit has enriched American life and culture.

Meet Three Young Immigrants Grades 6–8
Three young people, ranging in age from 11 to 13, describe why their families immigrated to the United States and what it has been like to adjust to a new country and culture. Virpal from India, Quynh from Vietnam and Kauthar from Kenya share their stories of what it's like being an immigrant today. Students can ask questions to these young people from February 1, 2004 through March 1, 2004.

Angel Island: Meet Li Keng Wong Grades 4–8
Li Keng Wong was born in China and immigrated to the United States in 1933. She relives her journey — which she made with her mother and two sisters — from her small village, through Angel Island, to meet her father in Oakland, California.

Ellis Island Interactive Tour Grades Pre K–8
An interactive tour of Ellis Island provides students with a foundation of American immigration history. With the help of captioned photographs and audio files, students tread the path that all immigrants at Ellis Island followed in the process of entering the United States at the beginning of the last century.

Writing Workshop: Oral History Scrapbook Grades 3–8
Students participate in a writing workshop to learn researching, interviewing, note-taking, and other writing skills that culminate in the online publication of an immigration oral history. Each stage of the workshop features a link to the Writer's Workshop site at point of use. A teacher's guide is also available.

Note: You may use the Writer's Workshop on oral history in conjunction with this project, as a stand-alone activity or with any other relevant classroom project.

Who Lives in America? Grades 3–8
Using graphs, charts, and tables, students come to understand different visual representations of immigration statistics. Students practice using multiple text structures as they create their own immigration charts and answer questions using chart information and research skills.

Asian American Statistics: Discover the numbers of Asian Americans living in the United States Grades 3–7
One example to use in conjunction with the Angel Island story, is Asian American Statistics. Clicking on a map of Asia, students can learn how many immigrants came to the United States from that country, in which states most of the immigrants settled, and what were the peak immigration years from that country. This is an ideal way to show students that there are distinctions between the terms "Asian American" and "Indian American" or "Korean American." It is also a good way to bring math and statistics into your social studies curriculum. Use this example as a model to research other immigrant groups living in the United States.

Lesson Goals:

Scholastic's Online Activities are designed to support the teaching of standards-based skills. While participating in "Immigration: Stories of Yesterday and Today," students become proficient with several of these skills.

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