If Your Name was Changed at Ellis Island
Vocabulary Activities
How a teacher should use these materials in his/her classroom to greatest effect:
A teacher should always review the vocabulary in a story so the students understand what is being read. You can choose to do a general overview of vocabulary before or after you have read the story but you must review the vocabulary many times after reading. This repetition helps students retain the words. This story in particular could be broken into smaller sections for further exploration. One should alway adjust activities to his/her own classroom population.
Step 1: The teacher will give a description, explanation, or example of the new term in familiar language to the students.
Vocabulary: Students will be shown a Powerpoint listing all key vocabulary from the book along with age appropriate definitions.
Step 2: The teacher will ask the learner to give a description, explanation, or example of the new term in his/her own words.
Vocabulary Definitions: students will complete a worksheet with vocabulary words in which they will give their own definitions.
Step 3: The teacher will ask the learner to connect an image with the new term—e.g. draw a picture, symbol, metaphor, or locate a graphic to represent the new term.
Imagery:
- Worksheet: students will complete a worksheet in which students will create an image for each key vocabulary word.
Step 4: The learner will participate in activities that provide more knowledge of the words (such as a reading in which the word is central, creating a semantic map of the word, completing a compare/contrast activity with the words after watching a video that includes them etc.).
Elaboration:
- Read: students will read from a variety of teacher-selected books on Immigration and Ellis Island.
- books selected from the school library.
- Interactive Activity: students will explore the Interactive Tour of Ellis Island by Scholastic.com.
- Video: students will view a short video on Ellis Island.
Step 5: The learner will interact with other learners using the words (a discussion/skit/play/group assignment).
Interpersonal Interaction
- Mini-skits: students will depict a part of the book-a part of the journey to America-if you were traveling in the least expensive way. Examples include but not limited to:
- examination
- travel on ship – sleeping arrangement
- travel on ship – activities
- doctors exam – chalk marks
- Mental test centers: students will go around the room to stations as if they were immigrating to America from another country of their choice. Students will do actitiies that immigrants had to do in order to come into the country. Stations include:
- arithmetic problems station - students will complete a variety of arithmetic problems.
- counting back from 20 to 1 station - students will count back from 20 to 1.
- puzzles station - Students will complete a variety of puzzles.
- read a paragraph or look at pictures of 8 faces station - Students will (try) read a paragraph (in another language) or look at pictures of 8 faces and depict which ones are happy and which are sad.
- Questioning station - Students will be asked a series of questions such as: name, place of birth, coming from, going to, relatives in the country, who paid for passage.
Step 6: The learner will participate in games that provide more reinforcement of the new term (e.g. pictionary, charades, BINGO, 20,000 pyramid/taboo, jeopardy etc.).
Games
- Bingo: students will be given a 4 by 4 blank grid in which they will choose the vocabulary words in which they will use for bingo. Students will only be given the definitions of the word and they will have to match it with the correct vocabulary word. First student with 4 in a row calls out BINGO!
- Pictionary: students will use their Imagery Worksheets from Step 3 and play Pictionary in small groups. Students will be shown 3-4 examples as a class and then play on their own.
If Your Name Was Changed at Ellis Island Main Page
If Your Name was Changed at Ellis Island Vocabulary
If Your Name Was Changed at Ellis Island Essential Questions
If Your Name Was Changed at Ellis Island Lesson Plans
If Your Name Was Changed at Ellis Island Resources
Return to Children's Literature Page
Comments (2)
ann.thier@st.bemidjistate.edu said
at 3:30 pm on Mar 1, 2011
You have some great ideas for you activities.
I can't find the links to the worksheets for the activities or the power points, if you are like me you are still working on them.
Step 2 needs to be in the students own words.
andrew.bocchi@... said
at 3:56 pm on Mar 1, 2011
1. Do the links to and from the wiki work?
-- Yes.
2. Are the vocabulary definitions they've written for their "step one" written at a very simple accessible level?
-- Yes.
3. Do they have all of Marzano's steps listed?
-- Not only that, they have included a link to a page that describes them in a bit more depth.
4. Does the content for each step match his objective for that step? Be sure to check step four closely, I find this to be the hardest one for students?
-- I think so. . . I especially liked the mini-skit activity. However, I don't think the activities are supposed to be written hypethetically. . . in other words, I think you really need links to the worksheets and activities. This can be a little time consuming, so I'm sure you are in the process of working on it.
5. Is the page easy to use and clear? Any tips or commendations?
-- I actually really like the layout of your page. It is very clear and organized. The green really stands out and helps to point out each step.
You don't have permission to comment on this page.