In my 5th grade socail studies class we studied Ellis Island and my class did a play of the journeys immigrants took to come to America. I played Fraulein Georgette and my only line was, “It was very hard!” We also sang Neil Diamond’s America. I had a great teacher and I remember the lesson very well.
Sixth grade students of Miss Caroline Pew at South Orange Middle School are lucky to have a great teacher too. On Wednesday, November 3, she took her social studies class to Ellis Island. Many kids take this trip, but Miss Pew’s kids went in historical costume. She asked them to dress up as immigrants who arrived on Ellis Island at the turn of the century.
“By asking students to dress up, they are actually able to play the roles of immigrants arriving at Ellis Island,” says Pew. “The goal was for students to have a hands-on and visual experience of the content they learn in class. We studied the entire immigration process ranging from the reasons they left their home countries, the trip over, inspections on Ellis Island, and what their lives were like in America. On our own trip, we were literally walking in their footsteps.” For the journey, Miss Pew donned a Statue of Liberty costume and many of the parent chaperones were also in appropriate dress.
“Bringing history alive for my students has become a hobby of mine!” says Miss Pew. She feels strongly that having students actively participate in their history education will create an experience that they will remember for years to come. Throughout their 6th grade year Miss Pew’s students engage in many compelling activities. They work on an assembly line with a mean and greedy boss who fires workers who don’t do their job well, they turn their classroom into a beatnik coffee house and recite their own poems about Imperialism, they attend Boot Camp at Fort Pew to prepare for war, they experience “combat” in a World War I trench, they investigate historical documents through HSI: History Scene Investigation, and they create a Living Wax Museum and portray various historical figures for the SOMS School in Action night every May.
Miss Pew’s students do not read history from a textbook all year. Instead they create their own social studies textbook from their daily lessons, once again becoming active participants in their history education.
I can guarantee you that these children will always remember the history lessons they learned in 6th grade.
Miss Pew is to be commended for this above-and-beyond the call of duty effort on behalf of her charges. This effort transformed a field trip (a wonderful trip, one that I chaperoned for my daughter’s class years ago) into a fully fleshed out learning experience. It’s a great example of across the curriculum teaching. I admire and respect teachers like Miss Pew. They warm my heart.