Overview
Students travel back in time to learn about the lives of the immigrant families who made their home in a tenement on New York City's Lower East Side in 1870 and 1915.
Objectives
- Students will use vocabulary related to turn of the century immigrant life in New York City.
- Students will appreciate some of the challenges and difficulties of family life for immigrants.
- Students will understand how the families' lives were shaped by the environment in which they lived.
Materials
- Worksheet: Immigrants' Experiences Worksheet activity worksheet after they visit The Urban Log Cabin website. This activity can be completed individually or with a partner.
- Set up a time when students can share their work and a place for them to display their drawings.
Assessment
Use students' activity worksheet responses to evaluate their ability to gather information about immigrant families from a website. Assign a point value for each response.Extensions
- Using Neighborhood Portrait (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/newyork/laic/episode4/activity3/activity3.html) have students work in pairs or small groups. Click on the step-by-step instructions for creating a neighborhood or community portrait.
- Have students present their portraits to the class or school. Encourage them to focus on a specific aspect of their community that interests them.
- Explore the lessons in the Immigration Theme on TeacherVision.