At a Glance

Topics

Immigration

Website

Tenement Museum website

Features

Focus on historical thinking, Further resources for teaching this content, Multiple Sources, Useful for English language learners

Duration

1 Class Session

Grade(s)

2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

Lesson Format

Download

Blank Lesson Plan Rubric PDF

Tenement Life

Students examine a set of primary source documents related to the life of an immigrant girl in order to investigate what life might have been like at the turn of the century.

Review

The Tenement Museum website provides engaging and entertaining ways to introduce young students to primary sources. The “Elementary School Lesson” found under “Primary Source Activities” uses a family photo, a postcard, a report card, and a passport to examine the life of Victoria Confino, an immigrant girl at the turn of the 20th century. Because these sources are mostly visual, they allow easier access for young students and English language learners than text-dense sources. The lesson provides useful guiding questions for the teacher when helping students examine the documents. After students have discussed the sources, they are asked to write a paragraph about Victoria’s life.

The Tenement Museum website also includes a variety of other fun and educational activities for students. Students can play the immigration game in which they figure out how to get to America, or complete a virtual tour of a tenement building. They could also mix a folk song or, for older students, explore the webcomics of a modern immigrant.

Notes

Teachinghistory.org Lesson Plan Rubric
Field	Criteria	Comments
Historical Content	Is historically accurate?	Yes
	Includes historical background?	No
	Requires students to read and write?	Yes Students “read” visual sources that contain minimal text. They write about the life of an immigrant girl using evidence from these sources.
Analytic Thinking	Requires students to analyze or construct interpretations using evidence?	Yes
Analytic Thinking	Requires close reading and attention to source information?	Yes The lesson includes questions to prompt students to look at specific details in the documents, but teachers need to add questions about the origins of the documents.
Scaffolding	Is appropriate for stated audience?	Yes
Scaffolding	Includes materials and strategies for scaffolding and supporting student thinking?	Yes Suggested questions are provided for each source. The teacher could use the questions to develop a graphic organizer.
Lesson Structure	Includes assessment criteria and strategies that focus on historical understanding?	Yes Students are asked to write about Victoria’s life using the historical evidence. There are no assessment criteria included and teachers will need to develop their own.
	Defines clear learning goals and progresses logically?	Yes
	Includes clear directions and is realistic in normal classroom settings?	Yes