Class/Level: ESL or BE

Computer Time: One Hour

Objectives:

To learn (or practice) basic Internet navigation skills

To find and summarize information on a Web site

To learn about tenement life in the 19th and early 20th Century

Background:

My class is going on a real field trip to the Tenement Museum.
I used the Web site as preparation. Visiting the Web site gave
the students the opportunity to learn about turn of the century
tenement life in New York City and to formulate some questions prior to the trip.

Steps for Learners:

a. Open the Internet by double-clicking on the Netscape icon.

b. Type in the following address in the location bar:

http://www.wnet.org/tenement
and press Enter

c. Now you're at the Home Page of the Tenement Museum. Answer the following questions on your handout.

1. Where is the museum? Write down the address. If you have time at the end of class, go to Yahoo at http://www.yahoo.com and print out a map of the neighborhood.

2. Click on Log Cabin

3. How many people lived in the Urban Log Cabin between 1870 and 1915?

4. Visit one room in the building in 1870. Describe the room and the family in as much detail as you can. Don't copy the words from the computer ­ use your own words.

5. Now look at the same room in the building in 1915. Describe the family that lived there then.

6. What differences do you notice in the room and the families in 1870 and 1915?

7. Where did most immigrants living on the Lower Eastside in the 1840's come from? Why?

8. How many people lived on the Lower Eastside in 1864? How many people lived in the whole city?

9. Read about 97 Orchard Street. Write at least three things you find interesting about it. (Were there any bathrooms? Did they have heat? How did they dispose of garbage?)

10. What was the Old Law? List two requirements of the law. Why do you think the Old Law and the Tenement House Act of 1901 were necessary?