Photo Credit: T.C. Fitzgerald,
Photographer, Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth
Featured
Theme
What do you know about your state? How do you relate
Massachusetts resources to your standards-based
teaching? The Massachusetts Studies Project includes
the themes of Massachusetts History, Geography and
Government in its two databases which can be
searched online. To make it easier for interested
educators to focus on these themes, many resources
are brought together on this Highlights page. Several
are singled out for special status. This is a beginning,
not a complete listing. We hope you will add to our
collection by sending references, lessons and teaching
ideas.
There are many opportunities in the new curriulum
frameworks and standards,especially History/Social
Science, to include the rich resources of the Commonwealth
to enhance teaching and to make learning more relevant
and immediate.
Massachusetts
Bibliography
Selected Bibliography
on Massachusetts History, Geography, Government.
Featured
Teacher Organizations
Massachusetts
Council for the Social Studies
The state affiliate of the National Council for the
Social Studies supports K-college history/ social
science teachers through networking, programs, publications
and meetings, including the Northeast Regional Conference
on the Social Studies, the largest gathering of social
studies teachers in the country. Regional councils
include Greater Boston, Central Mass., Merrimack Valley,
South Shore, South East Mass., Cape and Islands, and
Western Mass.
New! Four Videotapes
on Massachusetts History
The Massachusetts Council for
the Social Studies offers a video version of "Massachusetts
Yesterday" created by Edward Kingsbury of Wellesley.
• Part One: When the Pace of Life was Slower,
25 mins. • Part Two: The Early Decades, 14 mins.
• Part Three: 1760-1860, 19 mins. • Part
Four, 1861-1972, 17 mins. Four videotapes with scripts,
resource materials, and lesson plans, $40 first set
postpaid via UPS. Each additional set $25 ppd. Send
order to MCSS, 200 Linden Street, PMB 195, Wellesley,
MA 02482-7914; fax 781-237-4499. For information only,
call 781-237-7478. All proceeds from sales benefit
the MCSS.
Here are some related activities
by Arlene Price of Spofford Pond School in
Boxford
Massachusetts
Geographic Alliance
This state alliance of 2000 teachers offers workshops
and conferences, resource library: Regional Service
Centers are Salem State College, Bridgewater State
College, Westfield State College, Clark University
and Winchester School Department.
Featured
Research Organizations
Massachusetts
State Archives
The State Archives is a public research repository
of governmental records which documents official actions
and also supports studies in areas such as law, medicine,
architecture and history. Its Archives Advisory Commission
serves as the Massachusetts
Historical Records Advisory Board which provides
information and guidance to the historical records
community of the state. Check the site for a listing
of research repositories and for information on the
May 11th Community Forum at Worcester Centrum on "Building
Alliances: Massachusetts Historical Records."
Massachusetts
Historical Society
This private history organization has rich primary
source collections on Massachusetts families and topics.
Its new Center for the Study of New England History
sponsors research projects, scholarly conferences
and seminars, fellowships and publications. Information
on research collections is available online.
Featured Teaching
Materials
Historical
Atlas of Massachusetts: This large-size,
handsomely illustrated volume contains background
information on periods of Mass. history, and topics
such as population, ethnicity, and women's roles.
Teaching
with Historic Places (TWHP): Of the 74 TWHP sites
available for school visits in the U.S., five Massachusetts
sites are included: Bunker Hill Monument, Saugus Iron
Works, John F. Kennedy Birthplace, Boott Cotton Mills
of Lowell, and Boston's Arnold Arboretum. Find out
about TWHP programs of the National Park Service sites,
Jackdaws lesson plan booklets and a Curriculum Framework
Guide.
Exemplary Teachers
We salute Richard Aieta,
(in tribute),
Kathleen Callanan Babini
, and Karen Board Moran.
These exemplary teachers share their Massachusetts
Studies teaching ideas with you.
Featured Lesson
Plans
Lesson Plans developed
by teachers in a DOE-funded summer institute of the
Mass. Studies Project on Mass. History, Geography
and Government held at UMass Boston from 1997-98.
Massachusetts
Maps
Print
out the last four maps as 25% scale, landscape version.
Website Links
American
History Archive Project
American Local History
Network
American
Memory
Center for Civic Education
History Place
Internet
Resources for Social Studies
Library of Congress
(primary source photographs, documents)
Map
Machine
Mass.
Curriculum Frameworks for History/Social Science
(includes history, geography, government, economics)
Mass. Institute
for Social & Economic Research
(evaluation of Massachusetts census data)
NASA
Spacelink
National Archives
and Records Administration
National Council
for Geographic Education
New England Historic
Genealogical Society
New
York Archives and Records Administration
(See Consider the Source primary
documents)
Old Sturbridge Village
U.S. Census
Working
with Maps
Nominate a site or resource to be highlighted on
this page by sending e-mail to the Massachusetts
Studies Project
