6th Grade Social Studies

Civil Rights Project

Databases:

American History Investigates the people, events, and themes of our nation's evolution, from the explorers of the Americas to today's headlines.

American History Online Spans more than 500 years of political, military, social, and cultural history, highlighting the important people and events of the American experience.

African-American History Online Provides expansive and in-depth information on the people, events, and topics important to the study of African-American history.

Books:

Immigration Project

Research Process

1) Assignment/Topic

2) Develop Questions
to Research/Keywords

3) Find Answers
and Take Notes

Research books, databases,
and the Internet
Collect Citations

4) Organize Findings

Make conclusions

5) Present Findings

Journal project

6) Evaluate Project

What worked?/What didn't?
What will you do differently?

Research Questions

1) Preparation for the trip to America

Why did you decide to leave your country?
What country are you leaving?
How did you get the money for the trip?
How did you travel to the boat that would take you to America?
How long did it take you to prepare?
Who is traveling with you?
What will you take?
What are you leaving behind?

Resources
Databases
Immigration 1870-1900
The New Immigration
Why they Came Over
Push Factors
Escaping the Empire
Websites
Why Did They Come?
Immigration to the US

2) The journey and arriving at Ellis Island

What was the voyage like?
How did you spend your time?
How long did it take?
When you arrived at Ellis Island, what was the first thing you saw?
How did you feel?
What procedures did you experience?
- Medical inspections?
- Interrogation?
- Retrieving your baggage?

Resources
Databases
Coming to America
Statue of Liberty
Websites
Arriving at Ellis Island
Ellis Island Experience (tour)
What they looked Like
Videos
Detained on Ellis Island
Medical Examination
Ellis Island (video and transcript)

3) Life in the tenements

What was life like once you arrived in the city?
What is your housing situation?
- Is it nice?
- Is it crowded?
What part of the city are you living in?
What are the challenges that you will face?

Resources
Databases
Immigration 1870-1900
Silent Travelers: Germs
How the Other Half Live (excerpt)
Tenement
Websites
Tenement Life
Tenements
Videos
Tenements (video and transcript)
Tenement Museum

4) Work conditions and discrimination

What is it like working as a child in a factory?
Are you treated fairly?
What kind of work do you do?
How much money do you make?
Do people in the city treat you differently because you are an immigrant?
Does anyone make you feel unwelcome in the United States?

Resources
Databases
Immigration 1870-1900
The New Immigration
Kids Did That?
Websites
Childhood Lost

5) Leisure time

What is good about being in America?
Are you having a hard time getting used to your new home?
Are you making friends?
Are you learning English?
How do you spend your leisure time?
How is America a land of opportunity?

Resources
Databases
Immigration 1870-1900
The Immigrant Neighborhood
An Amazing Journey
Websites
Immigrants, Cities, and Disease

Skimming and Scanning

skimming-reading quickly to get the main idea of the text
Read the title, subheads, first paragraph and first sentence of each paragraph.

scanning-rapidly viewing the text in search of key terms, phrases, or information
Scanning on the web:

Open the Find bar using one of the following methods: Use the Ctrl+F keyboard shortcut. Click on the menu button , and then click Find.
Type a search phrase into the Find Bar's Find: field. Firefox will start highlighting instances of your search phrase as you type.