Social Studies Lesson Plans:

April 13th-17th
Objectives:
Students will understand why the United States is a country of movement and
change.
Students will explain why people left their homeland countries and came to
America.
Standards:

8.3.3.C:IdentifyanddescribehowcontinuityandchangehaveimpactedU.S.history.

Monday (13th), Tuesday (14th), Wednesday (15th):

Materials:
The Golden Door or Island of Tears? Play (7 copies)
Coming to America story (21 copies)
Immigration Checklist (21 copies)
Immigration Inspection Questions (10 copies)
Medical Examination Questionnaire (21 copies)
Ipads
Laptops
Crayons
Lined paper
Blank white paper
Websites:
http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/immigration/index.htm
http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/sciencefacts/countries.html
https://www.brainpop.com/socialstudies/worldhistory/titanic/
https://www.brainpop.com/socialstudies/culture/immigration/
https://www.brainpop.com/socialstudies/usgovernmentandlaw/citizenship/
Group Rotations: There will be 5 different centers. 4 of the centers will be 20-25
minutes each; the last center will be 45-50 minutes. Split students into 3 groups.
Each day the groups will complete two centers or one long center.
Rotations:
Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

2:30-2:55 2:55-3:20 2:30-2:55 2:55-3:20 2:30-2:55 2:55-3:20

Group 1

Group 2

Group 3

Center 1: Immigration- Students will move through the steps of immigration

using a scholastic website.
Center 2: Play- Students will read and act out an immigration play. Then will
read a story about immigration. Students may color the story when finished.
Center 3: Flag- Students will look up the country their immigration character is
from. Students will draw the flag on a sheet of white paper. Then the students will
identify 5 interesting facts about the country and write them on the back of the
flag.
http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/sciencefacts/countries.html
Center 4: Journal/ picture- Students will write a letter to a family member about
the immigration process.
Center 5: Titanic/ Immigration Brain Pop and Quiz- Students will watch the
Brain Pop videos and then take the quizzes after. If there is extra time, the
students can watch the Brain Pop on citizenship.
*If students complete the activities for a center early, they may work on
activities from the centers they were previously at.
Immigration Procedure:
1. Have students sit in a really tight circle. Have them imagine they are on a
ship sailing to America. Use step 1 and 2 (scholastic website). Show them
pictures.
2. Arrival- use step 3 on scholastic website. Have students ready the story,
watch video, look at pictures, and listen to the audio about the arrival. Ask
students follow up questions.
3. Baggage- use step 4 on scholastic website. Have students watch video,
look a pictures. Then have the students check each others suitcases
(from previous lesson) to make sure they would pass inspection.
Walk to back of the room. Have chairs in a line for students to wait for
registration.
4. Registry- use step 5 on scholastic website. Have students listen to audio,
look at photos, and then read the story. On students immigration card

have them write down their new American name. Have students pick a
name they know that is similar to their immigration name.
5. Medical Examination - use step 6 on scholastic website. Read story.
Then have students fill out the medical examination questionnaire.
Discuss what the medical examiners looked at.
6. Legal Inspection - use step 8 on scholastic website. Listen to audio, and
look at photos. Have students partner up and ask each other inspection
questions (see attached sheet). Tell students to ask each other firmly and
strict. Then have students take a modified immigration test.
7. Final step!- use step 9 on scholastic website. Talk about how immigrants
needed $20 to go through the process. Then talk about next steps.
Where are you going to live? How are you going to get there? What are
you going to do when you get there?

Thursday (16th):
Students may finish any activities from the centers.
Time For Kids with Mrs. Wolov
Friday (17th):
As a final project to the immigration process the students will create an
Immigration Portfolio to display all their work. Students will take a large piece of
construction paper and fold it in half. They will decorate the cover. On the inside
will be the following:
Immigration Suitcase
Immigration Planning Sheet
Immigration Passport
Immigration Checklist
Immigration Medical Examination Card
Their Countries Flag and facts
Have students write a reflection paragraph about what they learned about
immigration. Paragraphs will be posted in their portfolio.
Closure:
Students will share their portfolios. We will also have a discussion about our
journey through the immigration steps and the activities we completed.
Assessment:
Students portfolio will be used for assessment.

Reflection:
The students loved getting to move around through the different centers and
steps of Ellis Island. Next time I would focus more on the activities for each of the
steps of Ellis Island rather than focusing on the Ipads. The students loved the
Ipads but were getting more out of interacting with each other and the activites.
Next time, I would have an Ipad or a computer and show the students the videos,
clips, pictures, and stories.