Push and Pull Factors Students learn about the economic, social, and political conditions that both motivate families to leave their own countries and attract them to settle in a new country.
Theme: Push and Pull Factors | Grades 3 – 5
1910’s Rogarshevsky Family
The Rogarshevsky Family story features a Jewish American family and their 1911 tenement home. Students learn about the push and pull factors of Eastern European immigration, their journey through Ellis Island, and their work in the garment industry on the Lower East Side. Through exploration of the objects in the family’s recreated apartment, historical photographs, and the 1900 census, students will evaluate the family’s ability to make financial gain while preserving their culture and traditions. Students will analyze workers’ efforts to improve working conditions through labor unions including the actual experiences of Bessie Rogarshevsky, one of the teenage daughters in the family.
Themes: Culture and Identity, Industrialization and Labor, Push and Pull Factors
Topics: European Immigration
Duration: 60 minutes
Connections to our Curriculum:
- Rogarshevsky Family Story (with connected primary sources)
- Lesson Plan: Examine a 1910 Census
- 1898 Photograph of Orchard Street
- Photograph of Picketing Women on strike 1911
1960s Saez Velez
The Saez Velez Family story features a Puerto Rican family and their 1968 tenement home. Students learn about the history of Puerto Rico, how Puerto Ricans came to be US citizens, and how the Saez Velez’ migrated to New York City. Through exploration of the recreated apartment, video interviews, family and neighborhood photos, and other primary source documents, students will examine the ways the Saez Velez family established themselves in a culturally and racially diverse Lower East Side and met challenges by building community at home, school, work, and in the neighborhood. Students will discuss how the family’s efforts made a difference on a larger scale and reflect on the contributions they themselves make to their communities.
Themes: Culture and Identity, Industrialization and Labor, Push and Pull Factors
Topics: Puerto Rican Migration
Duration: 60 minutes
Connections to our Curriculum:
- Oral History of a memory from Jose Velez about helping his mom
- Jose Velez’s 3rd Grade Class Portrait
- Jose Velez Discusses Watching Spanish Channels
- Photograph of Wong, Epstein, and Saez Velez Families
1970’s Wong Family
The Wong family story features a Chinese American family and their 1970’s tenement home. Students learn about the push and pull factors of Chinese immigration and the long history of laws that restricted Asian immigration. Through exploration of a recreated apartment and garment shop, students will examine how the Wongs made a home in a growing Chinatown. Video interviews and family and neighborhood photographs will allow students to consider how different generations of the family navigate language, schooling, media, and work leading students to consider how they themselves form their own senses of identity and belonging.
Themes: Complicating Stereotypes, Culture and Identity, Industrialization and Labor, Push and Pull Factors
Topics: Asian Immigration
Duration: 60 minutes
Connections to our Curriculum:
- Wong Family Story
- Lesson Plan: Community Action – Footage of 1980’s Chinatown Garment Factory
- Lesson Plan: Respond to Kevin Wong’s Oral History about his name
- Lesson Plan: Define Immigration and Migration (ft. Epstein, Saez Velez and Wong Family Photograph)
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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