The school year these last couple of years has looked very different from others. With many things being online and activities and field trips being canceled, we needed to find another way to give our students those same experiences. This is where virtual field trips come into play. Virtual field trips are fun activities that any teacher can incorporate into their lesson plan from anywhere for free. You can take your students anywhere from the Smithsonian to Easter Island. Virtual field trips allow our students to open their minds and make global connections from the comfort of their classroom. 

A virtual field trip that is awesome is the Interactive Tour of Ellis Island. This tour is excellent for children because they get to learn about their history and see where many of our families came through when making their way to America from other countries. Ellis Island is the stop where more than twelve million immigrants made their first stop in America between 1892 and 1954. More than 40 percent of Americans can trace their family history back to Ellis Island, which is pretty impressive. 

The Ellis Island interactive tour split up into four sections:

The first section, Explore Ellis Island, has a map of the island where you can click on different areas. Then, it gives you the story behind that area, actual photos of that area, audio recordings of people passing through Ellis Island with their stories, and even some videos. They even give you did you know facts in the corner that are nice to share with your students. 

The second section is Meet Young Immigrants. This section is about stories of children who recently immigrated to the United States. They give you a little summary about the child and where they are from, and they even share a video of the child telling you all about that information. 

The third section is Immigration Data. This section goes over the numbers and charts of immigration over time. They separate the charts by decade, region, and fifty-year periods and region. 

The fourth section is the actual virtual field trip video that you can have your students watch while allowing them to explore Ellis Island on their own. The video is thirty-one minutes long, and they go over the history of Ellis Island and bring you around, showing the students the different parts of Ellis Island. 

Overall this site is very user-friendly, and all students should be able to navigate it on their own. However, it is essential to teach our students where our ancestors came through and show them that America is made up of all different backgrounds of people and that Ellis Island is where it all started. 

Ellis Island Virtual Field Trip

Want to take your students on their own virtual field trip? Check out this website for some ideas.

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