Last updated: December 15, 2018
Lesson Plan
Checking In
Download Lesson Plan
141KB
- Grade Level:
- Upper Elementary: Third Grade through Fifth Grade
- Subject:
- Social Studies
- Lesson Duration:
- 30 Minutes
- Thinking Skills:
- Understanding: Understand the main idea of material heard, viewed, or read. Interpret or summarize the ideas in own words.
Essential Question
What were some of the difficulties immigrants faced during their check-in process on Ellis Island?
Objective
When immigrants arrived to Ellis Island in the early 19th century, they had to pass a medical inspection and an oral interview in order to prove they wouldn’t be a “public charge” or burden on society. Students will have this same opportunity to prove themselves in this “legal inspection” that caused great anxiety for immigrants of its time. Through roll play, students will need to pass this final test, or face being "deported" back to their country of origin.
Background
Before immigrants boarded the ship, boat company clerks surveyed passengers before their departure. If an immigrant passed the screening process with the boat company, the likelihood that an immigrant would be deported on Ellis Island was significantly decreased. Boat companies had to pay for return passage if an immigrant was deported. Therefore, it was important for them to only move passengers that would likely pass the Ellis Island inspection. A list of approximately thirty different questions ranged from a person's birth and occupation, to whether that person is a polygamist or anarchist. When conducting an oral interview in the Great Hall, immigrant officials on Ellis Island referred to the immigrants' prior responses documented on the manifest during the original boat clerk's survey. This determined if that person is being truthful overtime. In less than sixty-seconds, immigration inspectors on Ellis Island could determine if immigrants should be granted access to the country, or questioned further in a court proceeding.
Preparation
This activity requires that "manifest information" be taken before the field trip. Download the provided lesson plan, and print enough blank manifest documents to include all students participating in the oral interview. If there is time on the boat, students can be asked the manifest questions if there is enough chaperones.
Procedure
Upon arrival, students should proceed to the Great Hall on the second floor where the wooden desks are located. At that time, students will be expected to rollplay as an immigrant ready to be "checked-in" to the United States. Students should be paired into groups of three-to-four, and informed that they will be a family waiting for questioning by the immigration inspector. During this check-in process, immigrants had to answer several questions before they were admitted to the country. Today, they will experience what it was like to be an immigrant from the early 19th-century.
Vocabulary
Immigrant
Legal Inspection
Manifest
Assessment Materials
After all students had their turn, the following questions should be asked and discussed.
- "How did it feel to be processed at Ellis Island? How do you think the immigrants felt as they were standing in line?"
- For those students detained: "What do you think it was like for passengers not allowed to immigrate to the United States?"
- "How hard/difficult was it to answer questions, even easy questions, under pressure?"
- Now imagine that you and the inspector speak different languages! "What problems might that cause?" Luckily interpreters and translators were available on Ellis Island, but it would have still been difficult to speak through an interpreter.
Contact Information
Email us about this lesson plan
Tags: immigration immigrant