Immigration Simulation

Third Graders Experience Interactive Immigration Simulation

As part of their unit on Immigration, third graders recently had the opportunity to travel back in time to the late 1800s and experience the trials and tribulations of life as an immigrant traveling to America.

Each student was assigned a different country of origin and learned about the different classes of travel through boarding a ship and finding their appropriate quarters – first class, second class, or steerage. Upon arrival to the U.S., some experienced the arduous inspection processes at Ellis Island, as teachers played the parts of customs agents and nurses, while others explored the often overcrowded tenement houses of New York City through a virtual reality tour. Students also had a glimpse into the typical working conditions for immigrants, as they learned about sweatshop and factory work.

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