Deborah and Megan’s fourth grade class did a simulation of immigrants going through inspection on Ellis Island. We all chose a picture of an immigrant and we chose a name and country for them. In the simulation we were those immigrants. In the beginning we all walked in and as soon as we got there, we were our immigrant. We were dressed like our immigrant and we had to imagine being there at that time and going through inspection. Maeve was the first immigrant to pass through that day. Then sometimes after you were chosen you could be an inspector. When you were an inspector, it was a lot of fun. You got to choose whether someone was okay, mentally ill, had back problems, or other types of problems. It makes us laugh. But also we imagine how hard it is for them. I think our whole simulation was fun but for me the best part was, being an inspector.

Being an inspector is a really fun job but also a really hard job because half of the class was in your face saying, ‘I have back problems’ ‘I’m Mental’ “They told me I was limping!’ So as you can see its a little overwhelming. But you gave physical tests and mental tests, you would say stuff like “Do one jumping jack!” “Turn around” and you would have to do what they say, OR ELSE you might get deported!

Something we did in the simulation was dress up as our immigrant. Lots of girls wore scarves and bandanas on their heads. We all looked like real immigrants. The girls all wore thick skirts and shirts without designs. The boys wore hats and vests. Their hats looked like a newspaper boy.

You had to wait in line for your turn to be inspected. The line was so long that you had no hope of getting there soon. Thousands of Moms, Dads, Sisters, Brothers, Cousins, Grandmas, Grandpas, were ahead of you. When it was your turn you were very nervous. This was one girl’s experience, “How old are you?” “Seven” “Where are you from?” “Ireland” “Who are you staying with?” “My dad” “What is your occupation?” “Child” ”Ok, you can pass. NEXT”

One of the immigrants in our class named Charlotte Moore (Tess) went to the inspector. The inspector sent her to the hospital because they thought her eye looked like it carried a disease. Really it did. So Charlotte tried to keep the secret and they sent her to the doctor. The doctor (Maeve) looked at her eye. She looked under it and over it and then she told Charlotte that she could pass. Some people passed inspection, but some were too sick.

Then when we finished the inspections we got our passports stamped. We all had passports with pictures of of our immigrant selves in it. Then you had money from whatever country you were from and you traded it in for American money. Then, we took a boat to Manhattan. We went downstairs to the lobby where we pretended we were on a boat. We ate the white bread the teachers had given us. Some of us ate it fast because we were “starving” others of us ate slowly so we could “ save it.” When we were done with going on the boat we were in Manhattan! 🙂 Lower East Side, here we come!

by Tess and Maeve