Ellis Island Curriculum

Ellis Island is a symbol of America’s immigrant heritage. For more than six decades-1892-1954-the immigrant depot processed the greatest tide of incoming humanity in the nation’s history. Fleeing hardships such as poverty, religious persecution, or political unrest in their homelands, they journeyed to the United States in search of freedom and opportunity. Some twelve million people landed at Ellis Island; today their descendents account for almost 40% of this country’s population.

Read about the history of Ellis Island.
Look at the resources on our website and become familiar with Ellis Island.

   Where is Ellis Island?
   Why is it still an important landmark to us today?
   What is its significance in American history?

Thirteen WNET New York After viewing a tenement house, click on “HISTORY” to read about the history of a tenement house in New York City.	Genealogy – Coming to America Brief history of Ellis Island.
Ellis Island Online This site tells students how to research their own ancestors. It has many good resources available that will help people research to find out about possible relatives that came through Ellis Island.	Scholastic - Immigration This is a story of an immigrant boy who became a famous vaudeville star. He was trying to raise money to bring his family over from Poland.
Ellis Island Immigration Museum Most of the information on this site is about the museum now and how to get to it, tours available, etc. Click on “HISTORY” and you will find a wealth of information about the history of Ellis Island. Each category in this section has pictures to go along with the information (except the timeline)	PBS – Video Adventure This is an interactive site that is great for students. Three categories at this site are short informational pieces. After exploring these 3 topics, go back to the main page (picture of Ellis Island) and click on the “STOWAWAY” button. Go to the lower blue box and click on the “GO!” button to do an activity that takes you through the immigration experience as an 11 year-old boy.
Lesson Plan Activities Here you can find lesson plan for middle and high school on immigration. It has a link to a site that has printable maps of the world and various countries and areas. Maps	History Channel This site is an excellent resource for seeing pictures and maps of different rooms in Ellis Island. Click on each room for additional information. This site also offers an interactive site for students to create a family tree.

LESSON PLAN- “If I Had Been at Ellis Island”

Were you one of the detainees? How did it make you feel to be held away from
everyone?

How do you think the actual immigrants in the early 1900’s would have felt about
being detained?
Why do you think the immigrants would risk so much to come to the United States?

Why was it necessary for immigrants to go through a medical inspection, legal
inspection, and an exit inspection?

What did you learn about Ellis Island and/or immigration from this experience
that you didn’t know before?

K-12 Home

Ellis Island Curriculum