Length of Lesson: 45 minutes
Content Objectives: Students will be able to build contextual knowledge about the process of immigration to America from the 1880s until 1914.
Language Objectives: Students will be able to construct general and special questions in the past tense; students will be able to share their opinions about immigration experiences of the past through the use of given language structures.
Materials Needed: copies of the book …If You Name Was Changed at Ellis Island by Ellen Levine; a map of Manhattan and Ellis Island; a world map and a map of the USA; an embroidered piece of cloth; chart paper.
Vocabulary Taught: immigrants/immigration, Ellis Island, inspectors/inspection, famine, religious persecution, embroidered (cloth), permit, bribe.
Sequencing of Activities
Initiation: I ask students to define the word immigrants; if it is necessary, I provide the definition. I write down students' replies and the definition we agree upon on chart paper. I ask students if they know anyone who is an immigrant, according to our definition. Students should be able to make this connection to their lives and name some people who are recent immigrants. We locate Ellis Island on a map of Manhattan to identify the setting in the text.
Development: During this lesson I read eight of the first chapters in the book: "What was Ellis Island?", "Did all immigrants come through Ellis Island?", "Why did people leave their homelands?", "Why did people come to America?", "What did people bring with them?", "How did people travel to the ships that brought them to America?", "Were you examined before you left?", "How long would the ocean trip take?" As I read the text aloud, students in a small group follow my reading with books in their hands. During this reading it may be necessary to stop to clarify the context, for example, point to a certain country on a world map, from which immigrants sailed to America, or check students' understanding of the text through general questions. I also draw students' attention to vocabulary words and make sure they understand them. For example, to introduce the word embroidered I display an embroidered piece of cloth, like a shirt, so that students can clearly understand the word. Since titles in this book are formed as general and special questions in the past tense, I have students practice forming these types of questions asking about immigration of the past.
Closure: At the end of the lesson, students should be able to share their thoughts about immigration to America in the past based on the chapters we have read. I employ the Accountable Talk ESL strategy: to set clear expectations of language use, I provide models of expected language output through the use of the following language structures: for beginning level of language proficiency: "I think immigration to America was____________in the past;" for intermediate level: "I think immigration to America was____________in the past, because_____________;" for advanced level: "I think immigration to America was_____________in the past, because___________and______________."
Methods of Assessment: informal - on-going monitoring of comprehension and of students' oral responses expressing their opinions about immigration experience in the past using the past tense.