Younge House

Tuesday we went on a field trip to the Tenement Museum and then toured the Lower East Side, gobbling down pickles, candy, noodles, dumplings, crepes, and bubble teas galore. Long a haven for newly arrived immigrants, the LES hosts a plethora of cultures. Check out these photos for the many signs of immigration that we saw in this very unique and incredibly fun neighborhood. Then ask your local Younge House Lower East Side expert to take you on a tour and see for yourself!

WOW! Our trip to Black Rock Forest on Wednesday was awesome! The ride up was spectacular. We could see acres and acres of changing trees – it really looked like fall. When we arrived at the Black Rock Forest science center, we were greeted by our guide, Jack. In the science center we learned how to use a tree identification guide and how to identify a tree by its leaves and branches.  We also looked at minerals like granite, mica, and hornsblend which could be found all around the park.  Next we took our tree identifying skills on the road. There were five mystery trees and in our small groups we examined their various parts and using the identification guide, decided whether they were a sugar maple, a chestnut oak, a red oak, or another kind of tree. Then it was time for the solo hike. Each student walked alone along the path following a series of trailmarkers (of course the chaperones were “hidden” just in case anyone headed the wrong way). Walking alone made it very easy to concentrate on the sounds and sights of beautiful Black Rock Forest and everyone was proud of themselves for following the trail on their own. Many thanks to Evie Langteau, our science teacher, and Jack from Black Rock Forest for a great day!

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We are currently preparing for our concluding E.B. White project. Many of us have read all three of E.B. White’s novels for children, along with several articles and essays by and about the author. We have started to look for similarities in theme across all three novels. We first met in book groups depending on whether we had focused on Trumpet of the Swan or Stuart Little as our second EB novel. We created charts that showed the similarities and differences. Then as a class we developed a larger Venn diagram that looked at all three books.

So what did we decide these books have in common?

• Each book features many different types of animals
• There are many birds
• There are many animals described as “white” (Wilbur, Snowball, and the Swans)
• The animals display human characteristics
• The animals have friendly relationships with humans and humans who take care of them
• In each book, a life is saved
• Each book has an element of adventure and adventurous characters
• There are deep, caring friendships
• Each book develops the themes of change and life and death
• E.B. uses lists to make his writing descriptive

Next we will take these ideas and, inspired by the work of Joseph Cornell, create E.B. White themed collage boxes. Stay tuned for some well-thought out art work!

WE CAN DO IT! Practice at home with:

1. http://www.sense-lang.org/typing/

2. http://www.typing-lessons.org/

Last Friday, Chandni Prasad and Deepti Mittal offered a wonderful opportunity for Younge House to learn about an Indian celebration that has made its presence known here in America:  Diwali, the Indian festival of lights.  After telling us the Hindu-based story of  Lord Raama returning to his kingdom after defeating his enemies, they helped us make beautifully decorated candle holders so that we too could light the way for the coming holiday season.  Of course we nibbled on something sweet so that we might have a good year.  Hurray for cupcakes!  Thank you Chandni and Deepti for teaching us about this celebration.   Throughout our study of immigration we will continue to think of all the wonderful traditions that immigrants have brought to America, which we now all can benefit from.

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Here are a few photos of our recent trip to Ellis Island.  Enjoy!

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Now that we have conducted and recorded our Oral History/Immigrant interviews, it is time to transcribe them! We have received some tips on how to make it easy:

• Write on ONE side of the paper.
• Skip lines between each question and each answer. This will make it much easier to read.
• Use script or print — whatever is easiest for you and easiest to read.
• Number the pages and (ideally) keep them stapled together.
• Write down your subject’s words as accurately as you can.
• You will probably have to listen more than once to some bits of the interview to get the exact words. Get comfortable rewinding your recorder just a bit to do this.
• If you can’t understand a word, try to figure it out using context clues (the rest of what they are saying). If you still are having trouble, ask a teacher to listen. And if she/he can’t figure it out just put in “unintelligible” and move on.
• You may leave out “um” “er” and words like that. Put ellipses (…) in where you do.
• If you add anything in for clarification, use brackets [abc].
• Don’t worry about spelling. Just get the words down so that you can read them when you go back to the transcript. (You will take care of the spelling later in the process.)

Here is a model format from last year’s interview with Wade Cummings:

Q: Could you please state your name for us?

A: My name is Wade Cummings

Q: And where did you come from?

A: I was born in Kingston, Jamaica.

Q: When…did you come here and how old were you when you left Jamaica?

A: I left Jamaica at 6…I know the date, the year was…’72 and I was 6 years old.

Q: What was the reason that you came to America?

A: My parents. I was 6 so my parents sent for me. They [my parents] were already here.

Q: So it was their choice. How did they decide on America? Because they had immigrated before you did?

A: …My parents were here and few of my brothers and sisters were already here before me. There are a lot of us so we came in…groups. And I came with…two older brothers. The three of us came together.

On October 9th, the entire 4th grade headed to Ellis Island. After getting off the bus from Big Dalton right outside of Battery Park, we headed for the ferry that would take us to the Ellis Island Immigration Museum. On the way over, the Statue of Liberty greeted us just as she might have welcomed immigrants 100 years ago. In the museum we saw exhibits that explained who came from where when, what they brought with them, and what inspection processes they went through. There were primary documents such as photographs, passports, ship manifests, tickets, postcards, and foreign money. We walked through the gigantic registry hall where new arrivals might have stood for hours before they were seen by an agents. We imagined what it would have sounded like with so many people speaking different languages. We even saw dormitories where those who were detained overnight would have slept. All in all it was very informational and a whole lot of fun!

More pics coming soon!

We were lucky to have some families with us whose parents and grandparents had come through Ellis Island and what they were able to share was invaluable. Do you know someone who came through Ellis Island? Search for a passenger here!

Here are some other cool links:

• A history of Ellis Island
• A timeline of Ellis Island
• Stories of people doing genealogy research
• A history of immigration in America