Families Then and Now Students see how families and homes change over time and identify similarities and differences between families, objects, and technologies of the past and present.
Theme: Families Then and Now | Grades 1 – 2
1910’s Rogarshevsky Family
The Rogarshevsky Family story features a Jewish American family and their 1911 tenement home. Students will learn their immigration story and identify familiar and unfamiliar objects in the recreated apartment to learn about the family’s culture and consider what is needed to create a home. Students will consider similarities and differences between the Rogarshevsky family and families today while considering how families pass traditions and beliefs from generation to generation.
Themes: Culture and Identity, Families Then and Now, Jobs and Industry
Topics: European Immigration
Duration: 60 minutes
Connections to our Curriculum:
- 1898 Photograph of Orchard Street
- Photograph of Picketing Women on strike 1911
- Teaching with Objects: Lower Elementary
1916 Meet Victoria
On the Meet Victoria costumed interpretation program, students journey back in time to 1916 and learn from an actor playing Victoria Confino, a real 14-year-old girl who immigrated to the United States through Ellis Island in 1913. Victoria shows us her home and daily life, tells us her stories, and shares how her family keeps their culture alive through food, language, holidays, and more. We’ll see how life in 1916 was quite different from today, but also explore how people cope when they move to a new place and are uncertain about the future—an experience as relevant today as it was in her time. Throughout the program, students will have a chance to ask their own questions to Victoria.
Themes: Culture and Identity, Families Then and Now
Topics: European Immigration
Duration: 60 minutes
Connections to our Curriculum:
Teaching Resources
We offer teacher-designed, teacher-tested lesson plans where students learn to interpret objects, oral histories, and primary sources while making modern connections. Find unit plans, lesson plans, primary sources, and non-fiction family stories, made for flexible use in your classroom.
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