Many of the stories featured on the Mass Moments website appear in the scope and sequence recommended for grade three in the 2003 Massachusetts History and Social Science Framework. Third graders will learn "about the history of Massachusetts from the time of the arrival of the Pilgrims. They also learn the history of their own cities and towns and about famous people and events in Massachusetts' history."
While the content is almost perfectly aligned and the narrative form of the "moments" is ideal for third graders, the scripts, background essays, and primary sources on the website are not written at a level that is accessible to third grade students, even in theform used in the elementary and middle school units of Teachers' Features.
What follows is list of (with links to) "Mass Moments" that provide background information and resources on topics and individuals specifically mentioned in the third grade standards. By using the search tools on the website, you can easily find other stories that will enhance your curriculum. For example, while there are "moments" devoted to most of the artists mentioned by name in standard #3.7, a search of Mass Moments yields many otherswomen and men, black and white, people from every region of the state and every period of Massachusetts history.
Note that the "moments" are listen in roughly chronological order according to the event at the center of the story rather than the year of the "moment" used to tell the story.
Indians in Mashpee Demand Self-Government: May, 21 1833
First “National Day of Mourning” Held in Plymouth: November, 26 1970
The Fortune Sails from Plymouth for England: December, 13 1621
First “National Day of Mourning” Held in Plymouth: November, 26 1970
Pilgrim Monument Completed in Provincetown: August, 21 1909
Duxbury Dedicates Standish Monument: October, 7 1872
Puritans Leave for Massachusetts: April, 7 1630
Roger Williams Banished: October, 9 1635
Boston Tea Party Raider Born: November, 17 1738
Bedford Responds to “Boston Pamphlet”: March, 1 1773
Boston Mob Protests Stamp Act: August, 14 1765
Mercy Otis Marries James Warren: November, 14 1754
Five Die in Boston Massacre: March, 5 1770
Samuel Adams Dies: October, 2 1803
James Otis, Jr., Enrages Colonial Governor: June, 21 1768
Abigail Adams Knows : February, 2 1775
Agrippa Hull Enlists: May, 1 1777
Revolutionary War Commander Artemas Ward Dies: October, 28 1800
Bostonians Lay Cornerstone for Bunker Hill Monument: June, 17 1825
Boston Celebrates First Evacuation Day: March, 17 1901
Paul Revere Statue Unveiled: September, 22 1940
William Dawes Dies: February, 25 1799
Washington Commissions First Naval Officer: September, 2 1775
Henry Knox Brings Cannon to Boston: January, 24 1776
Battle Begins on Lexington Common: April, 19 1775
Harvard Awards Bowditch Honorary Degree: August, 25 1802
Alexander Graham Bell Receives First Patent: March, 7 1876
John Wheatley Purchases a Slave Child: July, 11 1761
Painter John Singleton Copley Born: July, 3 1738
Mabel Todd First Describes Emily Dickinson: September, 15 1882
Transcendentalists Publish The Dial: June, 30 1830
Henry David Thoreau Spends Night in Jail: July, 23 1846
Hawthorne and Melville Meet for the First Time: August, 5 1850
Oliver Wendell Holmes Born in Cambridge: August, 29 1809
Concord Women Cast First Votes: March, 29 1880
Benjamin Franklin Introduces “Silence Dogood” : April, 2 1722
Paul Revere Statue Unveiled: September, 22 1940
John Quincy Adams Returns to Paris: August, 9 1783
JFK’s Farewell to Massachusetts Legislature : January, 9 1961
Boston Celebrates 250th Birthday: September, 17 1880
Boston Jews Petition for First Cemetery: April, 29 1844
Firemen and Irish Clash in Boston Riot: June, 11 1837
Site for Cambridge Selected: December, 28 1630
William Pynchon Buys Land for Springfield: July, 15 1635
Marblehead Carved Out of Salem: May, 6 1635
Natick Established: February, 19 1781
Quincy’s Granite Industry Begins: November, 16 1825
Office to Help Freed Slaves Opens in Worcester: September, 27 1867
Town Meeting Auctions Poor Woman to Lowest Bidder: October, 18 1786
Legislature Guarantees Access to Public Schools: March, 25 1845
Boston Celebrates Opening of Aqueduct: October, 25 1848
Boston Public Library Receives $1 Million Donation: September, 5 1947
State Acts to Protect Mt. Greylock: June, 20 1898
Massachusetts Creates Nation’s First Regional Park System: June, 3 1893
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