Immigration Day

  Immigration Day was a blast. We all had so much fun. Immigration Day was a reinactment of how immigrants would get through Ellis Island and into America. There were six stations to represent this. They were customs, physical exam, mental exam, health exam, eye exam, and legal exam. Once we finished these, we were welcomed  into  America,. It might sound easy, but the exams weren't to easy to get through.

Right when we started the day, we were all on a "ship." We had to have our passports and visas prepared to show as we boarded the ship. The ship was very tight for everyone, except for the first class, of course. They weren't tightly packed on the ship, and they didn't have to go through the stations. They ate cookies Most people had to wait a long time to get off the ship just like the immigrants a hundred years ago.

    Now let us tell you about each station. As soon as you got off the ship, we had to go to the customs station. Here parents asked us general questions about their immigrant's life, such as age, name, place of birth, height, weight, etc. If you got one of these questions wrong you were deported back to the ship. This may not sound difficult, but these parents were all speaking different languages, not English. It was frustrating, just like it was for immigrants who came and didn't speak any English.

 If we passed through customs, then next you went to the physical exam where they tested you to see if you were physically able to work. They found this out by making you do a series of exercises. If you kept up, you were fine and able to move to the next station. If you didn't, you went to the hospital.

The next station was the mental exam. As soon as you got in there, you had to take a test with five questions. They did this to see if you could get creative answers. After that, you had to build an object out of different shape blocks. If the professor didn't see what you built, you were sent to the hospital. The hospital was a room where you would lay down for a few minutes to try and recover and try an exam again. Then the nurse would ask you questions similar to the customs station to make sure you were well. If you got them wrong you either got a lucky chance to lay back down, or you were deported.

The next station was sort of like a double station because it had two stations in the same room. The first one was the eye exam where you look at a letter chart and read out the letters. After that it was eye health. They asked you how you were feeling and made you look through this little tool. They asked you if it was blurry or clear to test how your eyes felt.

The next and final station was the legal exam. In this station, they showed you what it would be like in the shoes of real immigrants (Not speaking the same language). We were asked questions about our immigrant in Spanish. Don't worry; we had it translated to us. After that, we had at last finished the rotations for Ellis Island, and were in America.

Overall this was a great learning experience for all of the kids in the 6th grade. It really helped us to understand what it was like for an immigrant coming to our country a hundred years ago in search of a better life for them and their families.

   ~Reece & Graden

Ellis Island Immigration Day 2013

 Last Friday we had Immigration Day. We got to experience what it was like to immigrate to America back in the 1900's. We all dressed up as immigrants and brought suitcases (backpacks, pillowcase, etc.) to make the re-enactment more realistic. First, we all sat on a boat (one of our teachers classrooms) for an hour with about 200 other people. About ten of the "immigrants" were first class and got to sit in the chairs instead of on the floor with all the other immigrants. They also got to eat cookies and got to drink punch. After the "ship" reached land, the first class immigrants got off. If you were first class and you easily passed through all of the examinations. Then, the teachers  slowly selected pairs of regular immigrants to get off. We had to go through exams and some people had to go to the hospital. Before you could go to America you had to go through Customs. These were the steps to becoming an immigrant. You had to go through Customs, Physical, Mental, Medical, Eye, and Legal Exams.

At customs we had parent volunteers and teachers check and make sure we were the person we said we were. If you didn't pass you were deported and had to go back to the ship.

Next was physical. You had to do exercises that proved you were worth passing through. If you were weak you would get deported.

Then, there was mental. You had to take a test that showed whether you were smart or not. You had to be a bright person to get passed that.

There is also medical. At medical you had to check and see if you were sick or had any diseases.

Next, was the eye exam. You had to make sure you could see properly. If you had crusty eyes you would not get through.

Last, but not least is the legal exam. You had to take a test in Spanish. At the end we went over the real meanings.

We learned a lot with this experience. We know how the immigrants felt: sad, angry, frustrated, scared, and excited. Sometimes it helps to experience it yourself. We know how hard it was not knowing other languages, maybe having a disease, or getting deported. If you did get deported, you did get to go back through, unlike the real immigrants though. The day was a lot of fun too though. Everyone was dressed up, and the teachers acted like the Ellis Island workers. I think everyone learning about immigration should do this because it makes the learning more real.

We'd love to hear your thoughts. Feel free to leave a comment.