“With all of their belongings in baskets and sacks, families came to the U.S. seeking a new life, freedom, and fortune.”http://www.sdmf.k12.wi.us/bf/ellisisland/ellis.htm

Vocabulary

Guy SwentekWilson Elementary

overstuffedoverstuffed• too much stuff for something to hold

Jake’s house was empty, except for the

overstuffedoverstuffed trunktrunk

in the middle of the floor.

tossetossedd

•thrown carelesslythrown carelessly

That night, the ship tossedtossed,

rolling the passengerspassengers back and forth in their narrow bunk beds.passengerpassengerss

•travelerstravelers

harmonicaharmonica• mouth harp; a musical wind instrument mouth harp; a musical wind instrument

“Whoever heard of butterfly seeds?” he said,

and just played his harmonicaharmonica.

s h u f f l e s h u f f l e ddm i x e d ; r e a r r a n g e dm i x e d ; r e a r r a n g e d

When the ferries reached Ellis Island, the passengers were s h u f f l e ds h u f f l e dinto long lines to be inspected.

inspectorsinspectors• examiners

The inspectorsinspectors looked in Jake’s ears and eyes---but not in his pockets.

allealleyy

• a narrow street with walls on a narrow street with walls on both sidesboth sides

Jake looked out

at the dark

narrow alleyalley,

cluttered with lines of drying clothes.

vendorvendor• a seller of property, goods, or servicesa seller of property, goods, or services

The next morning, The next morning, Jake was up early. Jake was up early. Below he spotted a Below he spotted a fruit fruit vendor vendor emptying emptying a crate of apples into a crate of apples into his cart.his cart.

Mr. Gargiulo wiggled

his fingers between

the slatsslats.

adviceadvice • guidance; recommendation

It was Papa’s first day at his new job, and he didn’t pay much attention when Jake asked for his adviceadvice.

•a heavy a heavy block of iron block of iron

or steel on or steel on which hot which hot metals are metals are shaped by shaped by

hammeringhammering Jake

shouted over the

ring of the .

muttermutter• to speak unclearly, usually in a low voice

“Maybe your silly old grandpa

got the seeds mixed up,”

Albert would

muttermutter.

rumbledrumbled a loud, low, continuous noisea loud, low, continuous noise

Then one day the sky rumbledrumbled, and a sudden

shower drencheddrenched the hot, steaming streets.drencheddrenched

•soaking wetsoaking wet