Tenement+Museum+Project

This page will guide you through a model project - the Tenement Museum Project. At any point, you can find your own way through the Tenement Museum by following this link: [|Virtual Tour of Tenement Museum]

Studying about the tenements of New York City is certainly interesting but reading about this topic in a textbook is a totally different experience from visiting the website and getting a virtual tour of the building. The //Lower East Side Tenement Museum// has a site that takes you on a virtual tour throughout the tenement building beginning with the hallway entrance. You can enter into six of the apartments. There is a history given about six of the families that lived at //97 Orchard Street in New York City//. You can notice different decorations and styles from patterns on material to clothing. The Tenement Museum offers free workshops to discuss many topics relating to //Coming to the United States// then and now such as, health issues, social welfare, undocumented immigrants, housing conditions and making a living.
 * Background to the Site**

//Choose at least one of the following activities to get your feet wet with the Museum://

1. **Family Exploration** Choose to follow one of the following families:

[|Gumpertz Family] -- a German-Jewish family, living in the tenement in the 1870's



[|Levine Family] -- a Polish family, living in the tenement in the 1890's



[|Confino Family] -- a Sephardic-Jewish family from Kastoria (once part of the Ottoman Empire, now in Greece), living in the tenement in the early 1900's.



[|Rogarshevsky Family] -- a Lithuanian family living in the tenement in the early 1900's.



[|Baldizzi family] -- Sicilian-Catholic living in the tenement in the 1930s

Comment on New York experience of the family or families you chose in our [|Discussion Forum] under the Tenement Museum Activity.

2. **Issue Exploration** Go to the [|Encyclopedia] and select an issue or topic (economic depression, nativism, sweatshops, etc.) to study in more detail - follow the links in the topic entry. How could you adapt the material in the Encyclopedia for your ESL students? Comment on what you learned about your issue in our [|Discussion Forum] under the Tenement Museum Activity.

3. **Educators Section** Go to the [|ESL Educators' Section] of the Site and read about the Workshops offered at the Museum for ESL students. Which of these would your students be interested in if they were able to visit the Museum someday? Comment on the ESL Workshops in our [|Discussion Forum] under the Tenement Museum Activity.

4. **Lesson Plans and Materials** Review the materials provided by the Museum staff for Adult ESL classes. These include information and activities for both bfeore and after visitng the Museum. [|Adult ESL Pre- and Post Visit Materials] Leave a comment in our [|Discussion Forum] under the Tenement Museum Activity, giving your reaction to these materials. Which did you find most engaging for the students and why? Which would you want to change for your students and why?

5. **Pat's Middle School Tenement Museum Unit** Have a look at this Unit for 8th Grade ESL Students. Pat designed this for Internet Research on a topic relating to immigration. Try an activity yourself. Answer the //Questions about 97 Orchard Street//. Look at Pat's //Family Exploration Activity --// can you answer these questions about the family you chose in #1 above? Optional task: //Add your own activity to the unit!//

Comment on at least two other participants' discussion entries in our [|Discussion Forum] on the Tenement Museum Activity. Try to relate what they said to what you learned in your own exploration of the Tenement Museum.
 * Commenting on Others' Postings**

Optional: Create a podcast or audio file with a link in our [|Discussion Forum], telling the group about your own family experience or about similar issues faced in other cities in the world.
 * Audio or Video Commentary**

Now, add your own Tenement Museum Activity - click to go to the Participants' Tenement Museum Activity Ideas Page