Immigration: Life on Board

Lesson 4

Jackie Carlin

40 mins

Goal: Provide a deep understanding about the cultures, experiences, ancestry,

opportunities and processes that accompany immigration

Lesson Preparation

I. Learning Objectives

a. Students will able to explain the experience of a passenger in either 1st, 2nd or
steerage class.
b. Students will be able to describe the hardships faced by immigrants journeying to
America.

(Students explore traveling across the Atlantic in steerage in 1914 and write a diary entry about
immigrant experiences.)

II. Standards by Discipline & Content Themes

a. PA Standard - CC.1.3.4.C Describe in depth a character, setting or event in a

story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text
b. PA Standard - 6.1.C.A Predict the long-term consequences of decisions made
because of scarcity.
c. PA Standard - 6.1.4.A Identify scarcity of resources in a local community
d. NCSS.1.2.g ...People, Places, and Environment;

III. Academic Language

 • Voyage-a long journey involving travel by sea or in space
• Steerage-an area on the lower deck of a ship where passengers who bought the cheapest
tickets traveled under crowded conditions
• Immigration/immigrant-a person who enters a country, to live permanently, having come
from a different country or homeland
• Steam ships- a ship that is propelled by a steam engine
• Cultural group- a group in which people belong who share the same language,
religion,traditions, family structure,institutions, & economic activity
• Primary source-records of events as they are first described usually by witnesses or by
people who were involved in the event

Skills-predicting, describing and, classifying immigrants travel experiences

IV. Technology, Materials, Resources

• Diary/journal
• Pencil
• Passport sheet
• Medical examination sheet
• Laptop to access specific websites (https://shiphistory.org/2017/09/22/life-on-board-
passengers/)

Instructional Delivery
V. Anticipatory Set
a. Teacher will begin the lesson explaining to the students that they will be learning
about the experiences immigrants faced while journeying to America. Teacher
will have students do a write-pair-share regarding the purpose of immigrants
leaving they homeland, that was learned prior to this class. This will be a quick
way to check for students understanding before beginning this lesson. Teacher
will present a map of the Atlantic Ocean explaining the route the steam ships took
to during the early 1900’s. Teacher will pass out images of classes, steam ships,
stature of liberty. Teacher will have students make a prediction about these
immigrants experiences based off pictures. This will give students a quick glimpse
at how far immigrants had to travel for a better life.
VI. Instructional Activities
a. Teacher will begin splitting the class into groups assigning each group a “home”
country and an immigrant. Each student will get to read about the three different
classes on the ship and an experience linked to that class. Students will begin
researching about their immigrants experience in groups. Assigning immigrants
from different countries allows students to see the cultural differences between
 immigrants and their home countries. Researching this information will spring
board us into the activity of the virtual voyage.
b. Teacher will have students split up into 3 groups by selecting random ticket out of
a hat; the ticker will either say 1st, 2nd and 3rd class (steerage). They will all line
up in the hallway according to class awaiting to board the ship. The first class
passengers were allowed to enter first after answering a variety of different
questions regarding name, age, sex, marital status, occupation, nationality,
ability to read or write, race, physical and mental health, last residence, and the
name and address of the nearest relative or friend in the immigrant’s country of
origin.
a. After answering questions students will be examined by a medical doctor. Doctor
(teacher) will examine each passengers before boarding the ship to look for
diseases. Teacher will make up different diseases for the students. Example: If a
student showed symptoms of Trachoma or measles they would not be allowed to
board the ship. This allow students to feel the experience of being left behind first
hand.
b. First class passengers will be allowed to access anything in the classroom and
pick their own seats. Second class passengers were limited to where they could sit
but had most of the same accommodations as first class passengers. Third class
or steerage passengers had no seats and had to stand in the corner of the room.
This will give a quick glimpse at how each class was treated based upon wealth.
c. Teacher will begin a read aloud describing what each class had access to
regarding space, food, living and health conditions.
d. Based off of the information provided and previously researched, students are to
create a realistic diary of their experience on the ship. They will have the
opportunity to look over websites,audio links and pictures. Be creative!
e. Students are to incorporate ATLEAST three of the vocabulary words listed above
in their writing.

VII. Closure
a. After students finish their diaries explaining their voyage, each student will read
aloud their diary to the class. Students will try to guess which class the student
was in during the voyage based off the information provided in their diaries. As a
follow up activity, students will begin to think about what happens when they
finally arrived to America.

Meeting All Learners

VIII. Differentiation
a. For students who learn best through visuals, I incorporated a map prior to
beginning the lesson to give students a good mental picture of where the
immigrants were traveling from.
b. Auditory learners have the opportunity to listen to audio clips instead of reading
information. I will provide the audio clips ahead of time and they will also be
provided with a student aide.
 IX. Accommodations
a. In order to meet students IEP/ 504 needs, I will have a student aide be paired to
each of the students needing help. They will be able to access more resources
such as books, different websites and games. Students will write a short poem
instead of a diary to show there understanding.

X. Modifications
a. For this lesson, students learning goals will be modified to describing one or two
events/ hardships that immigrants faced during the immigration to America. This
helps the students hone in on one specific learning goal and forces them to focus
on one topic.

Meeting Objectives
XI. Assessments
a. At the beginning of the lesson, students will do a write-pair-share to assure they
understood the previous lesson that was taught. When students begin to research
an immigrants experience traveling across the Atlantic Ocean, I will be walking
around observing and making sure each student is on track. I will have a checklist
of everyones name, noting the progress of each students research. At the end of
the activity, the diaries the students have written will inform me whether or not
the students understood the experience of a passenger in a specific class. The
diary terminology will also tell me whether or not the students truly understood
the hardships faced during the voyage to America.