A Night at Ellis Island

On Tuesday, March 11, fourth graders had their annual Ellis Island night in the Lou and Nick Martin Campus Center. Leading up to the event, the students spent several weeks learning about immigration through Ellis Island. They read Journey to Ellis Island by Carol Bierman and look at immigration today through books like Front Desk by Kelly Yang and Save Me a Seat by Gita Varadarajan and Sarah Weeks. They also learn about why immigrants might leave their home country and why they chose to move to America. In addition, they look at the process immigrants go through from selling their homes to the steamship ride across the Atlantic to the rigorous inspections on Ellis Island and finally their new lives in America.

For the night of Ellis Island, the students write narratives from the perspective of a young person immigrating to America, create a suitcase that includes items their immigrant might have deemed important for the trip, write a postcard to a friend or relative, and create their own matchbox diary after reading The Matchbox Diary by Paul Fleischman.

Dressed in period clothing, students begin the evening in front of the Moncrief Library, where everyone gathers after “getting off the ship.” Once released, they proceed to the Lou and Nick Martin Campus Center, where they go through the process of being admitted into America. Starting with the Medical Station, each student must pass a test to advance. Some even have to make a stop at the hospital. From there, they move to the Legal Station, where they fill out a form, which could be in English, Spanish or Russian. With the help of Human Aide, they move on to the next phase, the Money Exchange Station. Don’t have enough money? Off to Detention! At any point, if the students lose their passport or parent or don’t have enough money, they have to go to Detention for a moment. After making it through Medical, Legal and the Money Exchange, it’s time to pass the test to come into America. Students take a picture at the Statue of Liberty, and then they are free to begin their new life in America!