Over one million students from across the U.S. will virtually travel to Ellis Island in New York Harbor courtesy of web and video conferencing on March 29 to learn the history of early American immigration on Scholastic.com.
"Coming to America: Ellis Island" will utilize digital activities, an interactive archive of pictures, audio and video of Ellis Island history, as well as downloadable classroom activities and immigration data from as early as 1820. It will be made available to teachers and faculty from grades 3 through 8 courtesy of Scholastic.com by using video conferencing technology.
"This free, live webcast is a great opportunity to bring the world to the classroom using digital tools. Regardless of where they are living, students across the United States can learn about the history of our ancestors as if they are walking the path they took through Ellis Island more than a century ago," said Kathy Walsh, Director of Teacher Outreach at Scholastic.
The Ellis Island program is the latest in Scholastic's series of live virtual field trips utilizing video conferencing technology. These virtual field trips are designed to give students a chance to visit places of historical significance around the United States and help teachers and faculty make lessons more engaging and text books come to life.