Artifact Proposal #1- Student Example

Immigrants coming to America for the first time were troubled with several different adversities. Coming from their home countries, immigrants traveled on a boat thousands of miles to reach America. The boat rides were unpleasant. Food was scarce and crowding was common. After days of travel the sight of the Statue of Liberty was beautiful. The Statue not only symbolized the end of a long and hard journey, but it promised a new start in a free country.

Freedom in America would come at a price. The immigrants were herded off of the ships, into lines where they waited to enter the main building on Ellis Island. This building held thousands of immigrants from around the world, but more specifically Europe. The immigrants, once inside, were shuffled through lines of tests and quizzes that determined whether or not an immigrant was worthy enough to come to America. Tests included health screenings, literacy tests and background checks. As the immigrants entered the building and at any point throughout the testing process an ailment was found in their health or psyche, they were marked with chalk symbols on their clothing. These dark symbols and failure of any test could result in deportment.

The different tests were difficult for immigrants. Most immigrants came through Ellis Island in families. These families could easily be broken up. If one family member failed a test, they could be deported without the remainder of their family. This caused great fear and problems for families passing through Ellis Island. Another stressor throughout the process was the simple fear of being deported. The journey to America was difficult but the immigrants knew they were going someplace better. If an immigrant was deported they had nothing to look forward to, making the trip back more difficult. Immigrants led a difficult life on Ellis Island, but many received entrance to America, which was an answer to a prayer for many.

Station 1: KidPix Pictographs

First Activity:

The first activity asks for the teacher to create a tally sheet for students to use in order to tally each student in the classroom's favorite sport. This tally sheet needed to include small words becasue young students are just beginning the reading process, as well as pictures to help the students better understand what is being asked.

Second Activity:

The second activity asked for a data sheet created in KidPix that a student would make of the information gathered from the completed tally sheet. KidPix allows for students to use their imagination when creating a project that shows different data that has been collected. KidPix has different tools such as, cirlce templats, line templates, different colors and stickers that students can use to create their projects. This program allows for an easy creation of a project, which makes it beneficial for elementary students who are just learning how to read and problem solve.

Third Activity: Discussion Questions-

1. How many students like basketball the most?

2. How many students like baseball the most?

3. How many students like football the most?

4. How many studnets like soccer the most?

5. How many students like volleyball the most?

6. What sport is the favorite of the class?

7. At recess what sport would have the most people playing?

The above are questions that would follow the data collection and project. The questions would help students better understand why they are collecting information and relate it back to learning similarities between students and how they can be used to create a project.

Fourth Activity:

This fourth activity provided step-by-step instructions for students to follow in creating a snowman. These instructions had the students answer different questions about themselves and based on how they answered the questions, differnet clothing and details would be added to their snowman picture. This allows for students to collect data about themselves and apply it to a snowman. In the end the class would be able to come together and discuss different similarities and differences within their snowmen to discuss the differences in the data of the classroom.

Fifth Activity: Dicussion Questions-
1. How many snowmen have a blue hat?
2. How many snowmen have a red hat?
3. How many snowmen have a red hat and black circle eyes?
4. How many snowmen have mittens and a scarf?
5. How many snowmen have gloves and no scarf?
6. How many snowmen have an apple nose?

The above questions are questions that would be used after each student has created their snowman based on the instructions given. These questions would be used to help tie the different data together and show how data can be different in some areas and similar in others.