An Immigrant’s Journey

After learning about what prompted millions of people from all over the world to leave their countries of origin and risk the journey to the United States, students created a character and developed a background story for him or her. Many students chose to interview family members and use their own families’ history for inspiration; others created the character from their imaginations.

Ms. Janack reinforced story elements taught in English class by Mrs. Tatelbaum as students created a story plan. Students worked to develop authentic problems that were historically accurate. They planned how their characters would resolve the problems before the stories’ conclusion. For example, students’ characters suffered through illnesses or dangerous storms on the transatlantic journey in third class, or were detained during medical or legal exams on Ellis Island. Students researched and collaborated to share ideas of challenges faced by immigrants and, more importantly, learned how immigrants at this time persevered to reach America.

Once the basic story was planned, students moved to the art studio where Mrs. Williams supported the students through the process of hand-drawing the characters for their stories. Next, students added their characters to historical photos from their research sources, and imported the new multimedia into Book Creator.

Through this project, students gained a deep understanding of what it took for someone to leave everything––but a few precious objects––behind and strive to start over in America. Students also gained appreciation for their ancestors or current family members who have made this choice and this journey.

“A number of students came to class sharing conversations they’d had at home with their parents about their families’ history,” says Sandra Janack, fifth grade Social Studies teacher. “Even more than connecting to the subject matter, the project connected students to their heritage.”