Younge House

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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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

Hooray, hooray! Our immigration study is well under way! Lately, we have been reading lots of great picture books about people’s experiences coming to America. These stories are about people all over the world and throughout history who have struggled to settle here and make a better life. They are very inspiring!

This morning, Younge House got the chance to interview Dalton Spanish teacher Maria Nebres about her experience immigrating from Brazil to America when she was 19 years old. Yesterday we discussed what series of questions we would like to ask.

Click here for the list of questions we generated and will be using for our own interviews.

Learn more about Maria and her journey by listening to the interview below:

 

 Interview with Maria Nebres: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download