You will need the whole day for this trip but it is worth it! A trip to Ellis Island should be taken at least once in your life time. I have visited Ellis Island several times both personally and with students. The third grade at the elementary school I work for does a complete theme study of immigration, how and why they came to America, and the complete process they went through when arriving at Ellis Island. This is accompanied with students researching their ancestral background, a project and presentation on their own ethnic heritage, and finished with an ethnic day festival of foods from all over the world.
It is exciting to see the children identifying the Great Hall and the Stairs of Separation. The main building has three floors of rooms with many displays and exhibits. There is plenty to see and learn there is even a room to watch a video/documentary, "Island of Hope; Island of Tears". Outside is the view of the New York Harbor and the Great Wall that the children can search for relatives names and make a pencil etching. You could spend the entire day in the museum touring all the exhibits.
If you finish the museum early you can take a ferry to the Statue of Liberty. You can view the statue from the ferry as it slowly circles Miss Liberty, or if you want you can disembark the ferry to go inside the statue. There is an ice cream stand, snack bar and gift shop on the statue's island. We have never had enough time to do this; we would tour the Statue of Liberty strictly from the ferry.
This is truly a great and meaningful trip. Before leaving the main land make time to visit the 911 memorial in honor of all those lost in 2001. To see so many names on can not help being moved.
No comments:
Post a Comment