In this recognizing facts about the state of Massachusetts worksheet, learners read factual phrases and choose the who, what, or where answers. Students choose 10 multiple choice answers.

Students discover the story of the 54th Massachusetts Regiment. In this American Civil War lesson, students study the life of Robert Gould Shaw and the regiment he led. Students research primary and secondary sources to learn about the...

In this Massachusetts Bay Colony learning exercise, students read information and assess comprehension and vocabulary skills. In this multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, and true or false learning exercise, students answer ten questions.

In this matching terms and descriptions instructional activity, students use the names of people and places in the word bank to match their descriptions. Students match 10 answers.

Was Puritan society governed as more of a theocracy or democracy? After comparing and contrasting a series of primary source documents, middle and high schoolers form small groups and debate the question.

“America herself is an improbable journey.” So is Deval Patrick’s journey from the South Side of Chicago to the governorship of Massachusetts. The complete text of Patrick’s inaugural speech, delivered outdoors facing Boston Common,...

Eleventh graders review the goals of John Winthrop.  In this American History lesson, 11th graders read Winthrop's speech and summarize his key points.  Students predict the possibilities for success and failure in the...

Students use primary resources (gazettes, broadsides, advertisements) to consider life at the turn of the 18th century in Deerfield, Massachusetts. They infer observations about life in the nascent United States.

Students research how early colonists lived. They investigate late 17th century colonist's lives from Massachusetts and Delaware. Using their research, students write historical fiction in the form of friendly letters between the two...

Students use art and images analyze the Civil War. In this instructional activity on the Shaw Memorial, students engage in 3 activities, discussion, and art analysis to better comprehend the events of the Civil War. This instructional...

High schoolers describe the basic beliefs of the Puritan religion; identify the principle figures in the Salem Witch Trials;explain the events that led to the mass hysteria suffered by the town; analyze the First Amendment; and examine...

Prompt your class with the following question: What was the status of American Indians in Massachusetts during Jackson's presidency? To answer this question, class members will read a series of primary source documents (attached),...

The work of building and maintaining a democracy is, in the words of Justice William Hastie, "never finished." To better understand what Hastie sees as an ongoing building process, class members listen to a seven-minute podcast about two...

When thinking about the American whaling industry most imagine Moby Dick and Nantucket sleigh rides, harpoons and scrimshaw, whale-oil lamps and baleen in women's corsets. But it may come as a surprise that the industry was also...

Beginning in 1851, Thoreau recorded the dates of the first spring blooms in Concord, and this data is helping scientists analyze climate change! The culminating instructional activity in the series of four has pupils graph and analyze...

This is an excellent resource for teachers to use for incorporating the motion picture Glory into the classroom! Breaking down the film into particular noteworthy and telling scenes, the guide offers important considerations for...

Check out this simple, ready-to-use worksheet that your young historians can complete as they watch the motion picture Glory. It begins with a very brief list of characters to track, followed by seven short-answer questions to be...

Students read a letter by Shaw to his wife after the Union raid at Darien, Georgia; then will draw conclusions about it. Students debate about the Emancipation Proclamation as well as the possibility of allowing blacks to serve in the...

Students examine the time in which the Puritans lived in colonial New England. In groups, they research the Puritans view on life and death and discuss as a class. They read gravestones, diaries and other primary sources to discover...

Check out this simple and organized viewing guide for the film Glory! Questions prompt learners to consider the evolution of characters over the course of the film, and to analyze the effects of the film and the efforts of the 54th...

As part of a study of colonial and Native American history, class members focus on the beliefs and land use of the Pocumtucks, who settled near Deerfield, Massachusetts. Students examine their beliefs about land use and ownership, the...

How many yellow Skittles® come in a fun-size package? Use candy color data to construct a bar graph and a pie chart. Pupils analyze bar graphs of real-life data on the Texas and Massachusetts populations. As an assessment at the end...

Create the ultimate miniature golf course. The 93-page model curriculum unit from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education contains nine lessons on understanding similarity in terms of both Euclidean geometry...

The first legal gay marriage in the United States occurred in Massachusetts in 2004. Since then, countless others have tied the knot. Scholars decide whether gay marriage should be legal by reading a history of the issue, analyzing the...