Immigrant Kids by Russell Freedman (80 pages; 1 book) #2
Freedman, Russell. ( 1980). Immigrant kids. New York: Penguin Books USA Inc.
Award: None found.
Grade Level: Middle School
Lexile: 1050L
Author’s Credibility: Russell Freedman has written about 50 books. He has been awarded several awards including a Newbery Medal book, two Newbery Honor books, and a Robert F. Sibert Informational Book award.
Summary/Response: This book takes place in America during the late 1800s to early 1900s. It tells of the trials and hardships immigrants faced coming to America. It also describes the awful conditions they had to endure at Ellis Island during their inspections. These inspections were used to decide which families could be admitted to America.
Upon passing inspection, the immigrants were able to come into and live in America. If their journey here was not enough to get your attention, then their living conditions will. Children had very little schooling and would often get jobs to help out with expenses. The women were amazed at the convenience of running water, even though there was only one sink that everyone shared who lived on that floor and the water was often dirty. Despite of the living conditions and changes made in their lives, the immigrant children adjusted well to their new life.
I would recommend this book when discussing immigrations into the United States in the 1800s and 1900s. The book flows well and will capture your interest through the fantastic photographs. Freedman does an excellent job of putting a face with the story. It will be wonderful for your children to use this book as a compare and contrast on how life was then to how life is now.
National Standards: Language: Students read a wide range of print and nonprint texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary works.
Freedman, Russell. ( 1980). Immigrant kids. New York: Penguin Books USA Inc.
Award: None found.
Grade Level: Middle School
Lexile: 1050L
Author’s Credibility: Russell Freedman has written about 50 books. He has been awarded several awards including a Newbery Medal book, two Newbery Honor books, and a Robert F. Sibert Informational Book award.
Summary/Response: This book takes place in America during the late 1800s to early 1900s. It tells of the trials and hardships immigrants faced coming to America. It also describes the awful conditions they had to endure at Ellis Island during their inspections. These inspections were used to decide which families could be admitted to America.
Upon passing inspection, the immigrants were able to come into and live in America. If their journey here was not enough to get your attention, then their living conditions will. Children had very little schooling and would often get jobs to help out with expenses. The women were amazed at the convenience of running water, even though there was only one sink that everyone shared who lived on that floor and the water was often dirty. Despite of the living conditions and changes made in their lives, the immigrant children adjusted well to their new life.
I would recommend this book when discussing immigrations into the United States in the 1800s and 1900s. The book flows well and will capture your interest through the fantastic photographs. Freedman does an excellent job of putting a face with the story. It will be wonderful for your children to use this book as a compare and contrast on how life was then to how life is now.
National Standards: Language: Students read a wide range of print and nonprint texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary works.
Social Studies: What is citizenship?
Illustrations: Beautiful black and white photographs that capture the face of people in a moment in time. This truly captures a moment in history and seems to suspend it through time for generations to come.
Illustrations: Beautiful black and white photographs that capture the face of people in a moment in time. This truly captures a moment in history and seems to suspend it through time for generations to come.
Access Features: This book had several access features. In the front it contained a table of contents and preface. In the back, there were acknowledgements and an index.
Related Texts: If Your Name was Changed at Ellis Island by Ellen Levine, Letters from Rifka by Karen Hesse
Classroom Use: This book would be useful to use when discussing immigration in the classroom. It can give them background knowledge before reading the unit or it can help the students expand their knowledge after the unit has been studied. It could be expanded on by having the students to bring in white and black photographs if their family has any of their past relatives. It would also be good to do a compare and contrast model on how life was then compared to how life is now.
1 comment:
I have read two of Russell Freedman's books: Kids at Work and Children of the Great Depression. They both dealt with children of poverty. I didn't realize he has written fifty books! I definitely plan to read more of his books.
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