Link 1 gives you some information on the reasons why people left their countries.
The ten questions of the second link can help you imagine who you are. If you choose an area in the second question, you will get to know something about the background of the people from that region and about the reasons for their emigration to the USA.
Why are those people leaving their country?
Why are they going to the USA?
Did a lot of people from that region leave their country?
What jobs did they have?
Do you get any other information that you could use in your diary?
Link 3 gives you some information on the reasons why so many people emigrated to the USA.
Use the special vocabulary for the long text "Passage across the Atlantic". You'll find most of the relevant information in the first half of the text.
How long did the journey last?
How many passengers could travel aboard a steamship?
Where did the passengers sleep?
How much room did they have for themselves?
What did they eat?
What about toilets, showers etc.?
What was the situation aboard the ship like (è smells, noises, languages, religions)?
Click your way through the interactive tour of Ellis Island. If you have enough time, read the extra-information given in the "Photo" sections. Make notes of the different stops (What happened? Who did what? How did they do it? Why did they do it? Where did these things take place?). There's another special vocabulary list for the medical exams.
What exams did the immigrants have to pass?
Who was allowed to enter the USA?
Who was not allowed to enter the USA?
What about "everyday life" on Ellis Island: food, dormitories, hospitals?
What did the immigrants do once they had passed all the exams?
Where did many immigrants settle?
How were they received by the people who already lived there?
What jobs did they get?
What were their living conditions like?
What kind of education could they get?
You can also use the information given in the "Photo" section of stop 7 ("money exchange") of the interactive tour of Ellis Island.