Lesson Plans

With Tenement Museum resources, students become historians. Using our teacher-designed, teacher-tested lesson plans, students engage in inquiry and learn to use critical thinking to interpret objects, oral histories, and primary sources, while making history relevant to today. Our classroom resources support multi-state History-Social Studies and English Language Arts curricula and can be used with or without a museum visit.

We currently offer four kinds of resources for teachers, including unit plans, lesson plans, and family stories. Whichever resource you select, you will find primary sources such as video stories, oral histories, documents, and photos in each. Educators can sort by grade level, unit plan, lesson plan, family stories, or primary source type below.

Be sure to check out our new comprehensive suite of virtual field trips and sign up for our monthly teacher’s newsletter for tips from other teachers, event and webinar information, new resources, and more!

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Upper Elementary

Upper Elementary Im/migration Unit Plan

Full unit resource for studying immigration and migration in your classroom.

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All Grades

Defining Immigration and Migration

Explore students’ prior knowledge of im/migration with a contemporary photograph.

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Upper Elementary

Explore Push and Pull Factors

Chart and discuss push and pull factors for im/migration.

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All Grades

Developing a Timeline

Construct a timeline for the study of im/migration in your classroom.

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All Grades

Introduction to Primary Sources

Define “primary sources” and analyze one contemporary and one historic source.

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All Grades

Investigate a 1914 Report Card

Students learn about Victoria Confino through her 2nd grade report card from 1913.

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All Grades

Examine a Factory Inspection Report

Explore how im/migrants get started through an actual factory inspection report from 1892.

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All Grades

Listen Closely to an Oral History

Teach using an oral history from the child of Italian immigrants in the 1930s.

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All Grades

View 1980s Garment Factory Footage

Teach about community action through a 1980’s video of a Chinatown garment factory.

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All Grades

Respond to an Oral History

Students chart parts of their identity before listening to an oral history from the...

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All Grades

Inspect an 1870s Charity Ledger

Students learn about a German community that worked together through an 1870’s Charity...

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All Grades

Analyze A Video Interview

Students consider what it means to be American through media seen by a 1950’s refugee...

Tools for Educators

Visit our Teacher Resources page for more tools, programs and information that can enrich learning and understanding about immigration and migration.

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