There were many summer trips when my parents would pack up the family station wagon (it eventually got the nickname "Blue Moose") and head to central Indiana to visit my grandparents. It was an eight hour drive usually getting us there well after dark and while the rest of the family was zonked, I kept my dad company (and awake) as he drove. I asked him all kinds of questions of when he was a kid and he always told such great detailed stories to help me visualize.
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| The old 1972 Oldsmobile Blue Moose, decked out here for my high school graduation parade. |
A fun connection to the past is to find out more about where you've been. After studying and building background knowledge in a social studies unit, I have students combine their new learning with writing to create a customized "Historical Fictional Narrative" Immigration Letter.
To begin...
Students begin by conducting a family interview of parents, grandparents, or any other relative that might know about where ancestors originated from. The interview includes questions such as, what country did your family come from and when, where did your family first settle after coming to the U.S., how many generations ago did they arrive, why did they leave their former country, and any names of those family immigrants. While families may not be able to answer some of the questions, it is a way to get family members involved in discovering more about their past as well as passing on this historical genealogy to the next generation.
A couple great resources I read to the class before starting the writing are, An Ellis Island Christmas by Maxinne Rhea Leighton, and When Jessie Came Across the Sea by Amy Hest. Another resource is a video clip on Youtube narrated by immigrants of their experiences called, "Island of Hope Island of Tears" by PublicResoureOrg (28 minutes). Here is the link:
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These books are perfect for building background
and giving students writing ideas. |
The Letter...
The student pretends they are an immigrant who has left their country and is now beginning life in the United States. The letter is written to some of their "family" left behind in the old country and tells of their experience on the ship and Ellis Island. This letter not only serves as a writing assessment but also an assessment of an understanding of the immigration unit. Embedded in the letter, students use any pieces of their own family history they discovered through their family interview as a basis for the letter.
Students came back from their interviews excited by their family history they learned about. Parents were excited at the opportunity to having a willing listener. One student brought in a detailed document of various family members from several generations back. Another student brought in a binder filled with family trees and stories that had been originally written down by other generations.
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| Students gathered interesting family history. |
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Two examples of students' written work of
Fictional Narrative Immigration Letter. |
As for my own family history, I am thankful for all the stories my dad told, and that my sister is the family historian and has taken the interest to research and share with me!
