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!

Upper Elementary: 4-5th Grade

Think Deeply About Family Interviews

Teach students about how a Puerto Rican family made a difference with their oral histories.

Upper Elementary: 4-5th Grade, Middle School: 6-8th Grade

The Gumpertz Family Story

Learn about the Gumpertzes, a German American family who lived in 97 Orchard Street in the...

Upper Elementary: 4-5th Grade, Middle School: 6-8th Grade

The Levine Family Story

Learn about the Levine family, a Jewish American family who lived in 97 Orchard Street...

Upper Elementary: 4-5th Grade, Middle School: 6-8th Grade

The Confino Family Story

Learn about the Confino family, Greek Jewish immigrants who lived in 97 Orchard Street...

Upper Elementary: 4-5th Grade, Middle School: 6-8th Grade

The Moore Family Story

Learn about the Moores, an Irish American family who lived in 97 Orchard Street in the...

Middle School: 6-8th Grade, Upper Elementary: 4-5th Grade

The Rogarshevsky Family Story

Learn about the Rogarshevsky’s, a Jewish American family who lived in 97 Orchard...

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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