Immigration

http://www.smfc.k12.ca.us/stage/lalosh/index.html

This website is a 5th Grade project (10-11 years old). Their introduction mentions the ‘melting pot’ of America and emphasises the fact that everyone in the US has an immigrant background from some point in history. They have focused on several countries, giving a little bit of the history and background of why people left for America. There is also some information about the hardship of the journey and the arrival at Ellis Island. The reason I chose this site was the contact that this school has with the Bridge program – the children meet with other children of recent immigrants and talk to them about their experiences of arriving in a new country and also help them with their English.
Whilst the project is a very watered down version of immigration history, it does give the children a basic idea that it wasn’t easy for those arriving in America. Their contact with the immigrant children would help their understanding of the problems faced by those arriving today – a lot of these not dissimilar to those experienced throughout history.