Warm-Up Ellis Island National Monument Online: Asking

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Warm-Up Ellis Island National Monument Online: Asking Questions

Lesson Goals

Read the online article “Ellis Island OralHistory Project.”

Determine the mostimportant idea ina text.

Ask questions tounderstand

.

Explore

told by the people whoexperienced them.

Words to Know

Write the letter of the definition next to the matching word as you work through the lesson. You may also use the glossary to help you.

central idea A. to make fit for a particular need or condition

questioning B. a recording of personal experiences and observations

adapt C. asking about a text to understand it better

oral history D. the main piece of information in a text

WK2

Lesson Question

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Warm-Up Ellis Island National Monument Online: Asking Questions

Immigrants’ Own Words

Authors of informational text might tell historical information through facts or

examples, but they also might use from the people that were there.

Suppose you could talk to the two young immigrants.

What might they tell you about their at Ellis Island?

How might they the way life changed for them?


InstructionPart 1

Ellis Island National Monument Online: Asking Questions

2Slide

Oral Histories

An is a firsthand account of a time period or an event by

someone who the event. It is recorded and kept for others to

listen to or read.

Oral History Not Oral History

• Testimony at a trial

• A personal story told aloud

• An account

• An informational text written

the event

• A play about a historical event

• A person’s description of what he or she had for breakfast on a normal day

Ellis Island Oral History Project

• Started in

• Contains nearly 2,000

• Tells the stories of immigrants who came to Ellis Island between 1892 and 1954 and of the people who worked at Ellis Island.

• Includes many stories about immigrants’ experiences that helped them

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InstructionPart 1


4Slide

Questioning

is pausing while reading to ask questions about the text.

Answer ityourself.

Ask a question.

Pause as you read.

Look for

in the text.

Use another

.

Asking Questions about a Text

Underline the fact in the text that inspires the teacher’s question about interviews.

Since 1973, the Ellis Island Oral History Project has been dedicated to preserving the first-

hand recollections of immigrants who passed through the Ellis Island immigration station

between 1892 and 1954 and the employees who worked there.

Over the years, the project has grown to include approximately 2000 interviews. The

interviews include people from dozens of countries, former Immigration and Public Health

Service employees, military personnel stationed at Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty as well

as people detained at Ellis Island during World War II until it closed in 1954.

–Ellis Island Oral History Project, National Park Service: Ellis Island


InstructionPart 1


Looking for Answers in the Text

To look for to questions in the text, continue to read the text carefully.

Underline the part of the text that provides an answer to the question, “What languages were spoken at Ellis Island?”

To work for the Bureau of Immigration, applicants for interpreter positions had to take a

federal civil service examination that rated their speaking, reading, writing and comprehension

for each language. The common languages spoken at Ellis Island included Italian, Polish,

Ukrainian, Slovak, German, Yiddish, French, Greek, Hungarian, Russian, Serbo-Croatian,

Romanian, Swedish, Portuguese, Bulgarian, Czech, Spanish, Armenian, Arabic, Dutch,

Norwegian and Chinese.

–“Interpreter,” National Park Service: Ellis Island

4Slide

Asking Questions about a Text

You might want to ask yourself a now. Remember, it helps to better

the text if you ask yourself a question.

A question I ask myself about this text is it says here that “approximately

interviews” were taken. I wonder who made these interviews,

and how were they , and how long did it take to record all the interviews?

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InstructionPart 1


9Slide

Answering Questions Yourself

To answer questions yourself, use in the text and what you already know.

All immigrants arriving at Ellis Island had to undergo a medical inspection. Medical officers

screened immigrants for any indication of physical or mental illness. If illness was suspected,

immigrants were detained at Ellis Island’s hospital complex. In some cases, the incurable or

extremely ill were sent back to their home countries. In total, approximately 3,500 immigrants

died at Ellis Island; 1,400 being children.

Nevertheless, most patients, such as the Hayter siblings, recovered after treatment and joined

their families in the United States.

–“Hayter Family,” National Park Service: Ellis Island

Now I might be asking myself, why did all immigrants arriving to Ellis Island

undergo ?

This text here does not give me the answer. But I already know that on

the over to America that the conditions on the ship were

and that people arriving to Ellis Island were already .

So that might explain or answer the question.


InstructionPart 1


Using Other Sources

To find answers elsewhere, look for sources that are credible and

.

Sources Sources

• Dictionary

• Encyclopedia

• Textbook

• Expert in the topic

• Reputable website

• Blog

• Social networking site

• Someone without knowledge of the topic

8Slide


InstructionPart 2

2Slide


Central Idea

A central idea is the most an author communicates in a text.

A central idea is: A central idea is not usually:

• used to describe what a text is mostly about.

• supported by from the text.

• in one or two

sentences.

• the of the text.

• the first sentence of a text.

• a or a restatement

of the text.

Important Details

Underline the important details in the passage.

My mother used to love to play the music. . . . And

in the summertime the windows would be opened.

And my playmates now were both Armenian and

non Armenian. And they’d hear that music coming

out, you know, they’d call us “foreigners” and things

like that because of that music. And I used to tell

my mother, “Shut it off,” or “Stop that music.”

–“Armen Remembers Trying to ‘Fit In,’” Ellis Island Oral History Project,

National Park Service: Ellis Island

details:

• “call us ‘foreigners’”

• “Shut it off”

details:

• “in the summertime”

• “windows would be opened”


InstructionPart 2

2Slide


Finding a Central Idea

To find a central idea, look for in the text. Then analyze

the details to see what they have in .

Underline the important details in the passage.

Since 1973, the Ellis Island Oral History Project has been dedicated to preserving the first-

hand recollections of immigrants who passed through the Ellis Island immigration station

between 1892 and 1954 and the employees who worked there.

Over the years, the project has grown to include approximately 2000 interviews. The

interviews include people from dozens of countries, former Immigration and Public Health

Service employees, military personnel stationed at Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty as well

as people detained at Ellis Island during World War II until it closed in 1954.

–Ellis Island Oral History Project, National Park Service: Ellis Island

The of this passage is, “The Ellis Island Oral History Project

is important because it helps you understand what it was like at Ellis Island during a specific time period.”

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Important Details in the Oral Histories

Think about the important details in the oral histories you have read:

• Coming to the US

• Spending time at

• Getting used to a new neighborhood

• Learning about the

• Getting along with others

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Summary

? Lesson Question


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Answer

Lesson Question How did immigrants adapt to the changes they faced?

Use this space to write any questions or thoughts about this lesson.

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Warm-Up Ellis Island National Monument Online: Asking