Virtual Field Trip

Ever wanted to take your kids some place far away but couldn't afford the plane tickets. How about a trip to Ellis Island? To the White House? Try looking for a virtual tour. Virtual tours are becoming more popular and easier to find on-line. What a GREAT way to help your kids see places you can't fly them too to experience first hand. I have used the White House Virtual Tour and have used it in my classroom before. The kids really relate to it a lot more than pictures in a book. The Virtual Field Trip to Ellis Island is brand new!

It's kind of long (just over 31 minutes) but a lot of good information is given through the tour and oh the stories the park rangers were able to tell. I really liked how they used pictures of people actually coming through as they told the story of people leaving the old county to come to America.

Generally in 5th grade kids start learning about Immigration but I would recommend this virtual field trip for 2nd grade on up. It could start a fun discussion about where their family came from and about their heritage. It would be even more fun to talk about ancestors that actually went through Ellis Island. The more you can relate historical events to your children's lives the more likely they will remember those events and will want to learn about it.