The project centres on the historical figure Annie Moore, and brings together resources on the worldwide web about this ordinary girl who was plucked from obscurity as she passed through Ellis Island.
The children start by reading about the story of Annie Moore and from this start to examine wider issues such as:
- their own family history
- the history of Ellis Island
- immigration and emmigration
- the famine
- multicultural perspectives and attitudes
- life at the turn of the 19th century
Opportunities for individual, group and class activities are scattered throughout the pages as they arise, for example:
- act out the inspection process
- take and examine different perspectives and attitudes e.g. Immigration official/immigrants from different countries
- write diary extracts
- letter writing
- virtual tours
- examine historical records and pictures firsthand
- research own family history
- listen to oral histories from Ellis Island immigrants
All activities are accompanied by this symbol
These are just suggested activities - hopefully the story of Annie Moore will stimulate many more ideas!
Classroom Management - Some recommendations!
The pupils should be allowed to work in groups for some activities e.g discussion aspect
Some actitivities can be done as a class, for example the dramatisation of the inspection process
The creative writing activities can be done individually
The children should be allowed to discuss their ideas and debate the issues
There are opportunities for on and off computer work so the children should be enabled to have opportunities to do both as much as possible
