On Wednesday, January 29, 2003, the 8th grade class of Springlake-Earth Junior High attended "The Immigrant Experience on Ellis Island" at the International Cultural Center on the Texas Tech University campus in Lubbock, Texas. This was an interactive student participation program in which the students actually received passports or papers which served as their identity during their visit and determined which class of immigrant they were and where they were from, which, in turn, determined their experience during matriculation. Students used their papers to be matriculated through the Cultural Center as they would have through Ellis Island as immigrants and used what they learned to guide them successfully through the process of becoming landed immigrants.

TEKS Skills: Making Decisions; Reading and Writing; Using Technology; Locating and Analyzing Information

The Division of Public Education (DPE) at the International Cultural Center (ICC) of Texas Tech University provides programs that enhance the international educational experiences available to Kindergarten-12th grade students in public and private schools and home-schooled classes throughout the South Plains. The hands-on, interactive programs involve the critical higher order thinking skills and are allied with the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) and the Core Knowledge Sequence.

Interactive curriculum materials are available on the DPE website. After going to this site, click on Curriculum Materials. There are many excellent resources, including information on Ellis Island and the immigration experience.

International Cultural Center at Texas Tech University Lubbock, Texas

Ellis Island 2 | Ellis Island 3 |
Ellis Island 4 | Ellis Island 6 | Ellis Island 7