Name Lauren Checker

Lesson #
Date: 9/14/15

Lesson Title: Immigration to Ellis Island at a Glance

Day of Week,

Monday

Time :

30

Instructional Context
What do I know about my students that will inform this lesson?
These students are a third/fourth grade mix. Some students are more mature
developmentally than others. The reading and writing levels in the classroom vary
substantially. Any activities I do involving reading or writing I will have to modify my
assessment for each child. The school is primarily students from a Latino background,
along with African American and Caucasian students. I believe that up until this point the
children have learned a lot about community in their school and city. The classroom is
very diverse. I think it would be beneficial for them to learn about immigration, focusing
on Ellis Island. It would be interesting for the children to connect with the stories and gain
insights about the people that came to America and how it has affected them today.
How does this lesson connect with and build on the previous lesson(s)?
Since the first day of school students have been arranged in Pods. These pods have been
crucial to students getting to know one another. They often get time to work as a group
and collaborate if they are stuck on a problem. My CT often combines social studies with
some form of language arts. The students have been exposed to community, and different
cultures. I would like to go more in depth with how people came to America, how they felt,
and how it has impacted us today. I would like to begin by reading a story called When
Jessie Came Across the Sea. This will set the tone for what immigration is because many
students arent familiar with it. The story is about a young girl coming to Ellis Island, so
hopefully the students will see that the girl is their age and be able to connect with it.
During the story I would ask students to write one question or connection they made with
the text on a post-it. I would model this action beforehand. After the story I would like to
have an open discussion about immigration and create a KWL chart as a class. At this time
the students could place their questions from the post-its on the chart. We could verbalize
our connections. This will get students thinking about what immigration is during the time
when immigrants came through Ellis Island.

How do I expect to build on this lesson in subsequent lessons?

These lessons on immigration primarily from Ellis Island will set the tone for further
learning on people today. Immigration is partially why America is so diverse, and its
important that children realize why we are all different. I want the children to understand
how to look at materials such as biographies, stories, and folk tales and gain an
understanding for people who have experienced different things. This will allow them to
begin to understand feelings and points of view for varying events. This lesson could set
the stage for learning about immigration today. Many of the children are from places other
than America, so it would be interesting to tie our learning in with history and see the
similarities and differences.

Standards Addressed
Wisconsin Model Academic Standards for Social Studies
B.4.3 Examine biographies, stories, narratives, and folk tales to understand the lives of
ordinary and extraordinary people, place them in time and context, and explain their
relationship to important historical events

National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS)

NCSS.ll.a demonstrate an understanding that different people may describe the same
event or situation in diverse ways, citing reasons for the difference in views.

Common Core State Standards (CCSS)

CCSS.SL.3.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in

groups, and teacher led) with diverse partners on 3rd grade topics and texts, building on
others ideas and expressing their own clearly.
CCSS.SL.4.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in
groups, and teacher led) with diverse partners on 4th grade topics and texts, building on
others ideas and expressing their own clearly.

Learning Objectives
Objective

Students will be able to examine this

time period in America and begin to
distinguish the relationship between
Ellis Island and Immigration.

Students will be able to describe their

beginning understandings about what it
was like for immigrants to come to Ellis
Island so that they can further gain
insights and begin to explain the
significance of immigration to America.

Assessment

I will be informally
assessing students by
checking their
understanding through
their post-it note
connections. I will
also be looking to see
which students
participate in the
discussion of the KWL
chart. For those who do
not participate, I will
meet with them at a
later time to see what
their questions and or
connections are with

the story that was read

aloud along with their
prior knowledge to
Ellis Island and
immigration.
Academic Language/Language Function Objectives

Immigration- people coming from a foreign place( country) to live

Ellis Island- Located in New York, main entry for immigrants
Statue Of Liberty- Statue that represents America and land of the free
*** Students will be able to describe their beginning understandings of
what immigration was like through Ellis Island.
**** Students will be able to examine the relationship between Ellis
Island and immigration to see the significance.
There will be a lot of discourse to expose students to these words and
how to use them in their insights during this lesson. I am not expecting
children to be proficient in the understandings of these words, but I do
want to expose them to this academic language.

Assessments

Students will be required to write on post-it notes throughout the

lesson. During the brief video they will watch I will ask students to
write down one question or idea they have from the video. They will hang
on to these and later put them on our KWL chart after we read the book.
That way, if any of their questions get answered during the story they
will not need to put the post-it on the chart. I will ensure students
have their name on the backs of each post-it note.
During the reading I will give students several post-it notes to be
monitoring their questions, prior knowledge/activated knowledge, and
concepts they learned.
I will be informally assessing throughout our discussions to monitor
participation.

Materials

YouTube
Anchor chart
Post-it notes
Pencils/pen

When Jessie Came Across the Sea book.

Instructional Strategies and Learning Tasks (Procedures & Timelines)

Time
Instructional Strategies/ Learning Tasks - Include
Purpose
introduction (and hook), demonstration, participation ,
practice & closure

Day 1
Introducti
on: 5
Minutes

Day 1
Introducti
on: 7
minutes

Day 1
Demonstr
ation/Parti
cipation

I would begin by having the students join

me on the rug in front of the SMART Board
Boys and Girls, have you ever felt scared
about trying something new?
What if you moved to a new country that
spoke a different language?
How would you feel?
We are going to be learning about
immigration through Ellis Island. Dont
worry if you are completely unsure about
what these terms mean -we will learn lots
about it.
I will now prep students for a brief fun
video on immigration.
I will prompt students to be thinking about
what immigration is and when this took
place.
I will model how I would formulate a
question from the video.
I will ask students to write down one
question they may have about this topic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=5ZQl6XBo64M

To get the students

to start thinking
about how they
would feel as
immigrants to a new
country and to
activate prior
knowledge.

I will have students do a turn and talk with

a partner and share their question.
I will ask a couple students to share out
with the group

For students to get

an image of what
immigration through
Ellis Island was and
to prep them to the
story we will be
reading.
This will also show
them images of Ellis
Island, the Statue of
Liberty.
It will allow them to
see that this event
was long ago.
To get the students
talking to one
another about their
questions to this
topic.
It will also be helpful
for me to see what
questions students
have initially.
This will allow
students to start
making inferences

Day 1
Demonstr
ation/Parti

We will preview the book; When Jessie

Came Across the Sea
I will encourage an open discussion with

cipation
Day 2
Demonstr
ation/Parti
cipation

the students to infer what the book is

about.

Participati
on/Practic
e: 10
minutes

Closure: 2
minutes

I will create a KWL chart on anchor paper,

and prep students with post-it notes.
I will inform them that they should think of
at least one prior knowledge idea, one
question (if its different from the other
day, and one thing they learned from the
book.
I will model how I would do this on post-it
notes.
I will do a read aloud of the book, When
Jessie Came Across the Sea.
I will have the students do at least two
turn and talks throughout the book to
ensure listening and comprehension
After the book is read we will go through
each section on the KWL chart.
I will first have students come up to the
chart and put their prior knowledge postits down.
I will review these and make questions/add
comments
We will do this process for both questions
and what we learned.
I will ask students if any of their questions
were answered.
I will thank the students for their efforts
and thoughts.
I will tell them where we can locate the
anchor chart throughout the unit.
I will ask students to be thinking about
how they would feel if they came from
home to a foreign place.

and connecting
ideas from the
video.
This will help me to
begin assessing
student
understanding.
I will be able to
listen to student
thoughts thus far
about immigration.

To allow students to
see eachothers
thoughts and ideas.
This anchor chart
will hang in our
classroom
throughout the unit
as a reference point.
To get students to
start using academic
vocabulary
To continue thinking
about the topic.

Accommodations
Accommodation Strategy/ies

I selected a video that was probably below students

level, just in case there were learners who had no
background knowledge about this topic.
I also selected the video to show students that we are
talking about immigration from a long time ago
I incorporated turn and talks for students who like to
share their thinking and for those who are more chatty.
Students can also talk through their ideas through turn

Purpose

To ensure that all

learners can benefit
from this lesson.

and talks.
I chose a read aloud that would be understandable for
all students.
I would ask students who lose focus easily to sit in the
front.