My Town Tutors is a great resource for parents & teachers.
This is a great computer interactive for the Boston Massacre: https://www.mission-us.org/
Mission US is a fantastic computer interactive. The organization is committed to creating an amazing resource for teachers and students. Teachers could spend an entire month with all that is shared in the teacher’s guide. (The pages of the teacher’s Guide are listed below with a brief explanation of the information on each page.)
Some advice for teachers who are new to Mission US.
Teacher’s Guide: Print the guide and place in a 3-ring binder. Skim through the guide entirely. Some sections will draw your interest. Focus on developing lesson plans around the resources that you feel are best for your students.
- Top 5 Things to Know Before You Play (page 17)
- Timeline of Historical Events Before, During and After the Mission (pages 18 – 20)
- Educator’s Primer on the Historical Period (pages 21 – 32)
- Historical Figures Biographies (page 33 – 37)
Primary Source Collection: The primary sources are fantastic. The Mission US team has included some of the most studied documents during the time period of the Boston Massacre. They are careful to include many perspectives. The collection includes 20 primary sources. A teacher could select from these sources to create a packet. Teachers also could create questions and worksheets for more directed instruction.
Complete the Interactive Independently: It is best if you can familiarize yourself with game before using it with a class. . By completing the activity a teacher can see the choices the students will face and the possible options. It is important to understand how the game works. STaying at least a section ahead of the students will make you better able to answer student questions.
Complete the Prologue as a Class: When reviewing the prologue, explain how the map works. Also review the settings, ABC (vocabulary) and badges. Have students select the reponses. Explain that the responses will be very important to the interactions with other characters.
Badge Tracker (page 191 – 192) & Character Observations (page 189 – 190): These two handouts found in the teacher’s guide are excellent tools for students. Students will take notes on the reasons why they earn a start toward each badge and also make observations about the other characters.
Mission #1: For Crown or Colony US
Below is a detailed account of the teacher’s guide.
(1) Cover Page
(2) Welcome, Why the Remake, What’s New? Key New Content
(3) Key New Content, New Features and Support, New Editions to the Educators Guide
(4) New Technology
(5) Teacher’s Guide Table of Contents
(1)
(2)
(3) Indentured Servant
(4) Poor Richard’s Almanack
(5) No Stamp Act Tea Pot 1766
(6) The Townshend Acts, 1767
(7 & 8) “The Liberty Sons” by John Dickinson, 1768
(9 & 10) Letters of a Loyalist Lady, June 1768 – July 1770
(11) Poem on the Spinning Be, 1769
(12) Handbill from Boston’s Non-Importation Protest c. 1768 – 1770
(13) Boston Gazette’s List of Importers 1770
(14) Transcript Boston Gazett’s List of Importers 1770
(15) Boston Gazette’s, Lady’s Agreement against Drinking Tea 1770
(16) Boston Gazette’s, Advertisements, February 19, 1770 – March 12, 1770
(17 & 18) Boston Gazette’s, Article on the Murder of Christopher Seider
(19) Thomas Hutchinson’s Diary Entry on the Seider Murder
(20) Portait of Craftsman Paul Revere, c. 1770
(21) Letter by Theophilis Lillie Opposing the Non-Importation Agreement 1770
(22 – 24) Eye Witness Accounts of the Boston Massacre, 1770
(25) Paul Revere’s Engraving Depicting the Boston Massacre
(26) Transcript
(27) Phillis Wheatley, “To the Roght honourable William, Earl of Dartmouth.” 1773
(28) Slaves Petition the Massachusetts Legislature, 1777
(29) Thomas Paine, Common Sense, 1776
(7 & 8) Models of Instruction
(9) Essential Questions
(10 – 16) Glossary of Key Terms
(17) 5 Things to Know Before You Play
(18 – 20) – Timeline of Important Historical Events Before, During, and After the Mission.
(21 – 32) Educator’s Primer on the Historical Period
(33) Benjamin Edes: Historical Figures Biographies
(34) Theophilus Lillie: Historical Figures Biographies
(35 – 36) Paul Revere: Historical Figures Biographies
(36 – 37) Phillis Wheatley: Historical Figures Biographies
(38 – 39) About Mission 1: “Crown or Colony”
(40 – 45) Character Overview
(46 – 51) Pre-Game Activity Was the Principal of Empire Middle Schhol Fair and Right / Exploring Point-of-View
(52) Note to Teacher: Document-Based Activity Translating “The Liberty Song” from English to English
(53-54) Document-Based Activity Translating “The Liberty Song” from English to English
(55 – 58) Part 1 Review Questions
(59 – 70) Vocabulary Activity
(71 – 73) Part 1: New in Town (February 21, 1770) Writing Prompts
(74 – 81) Part 2: Death in Boston (February 22, 1770) Document-Based Activity: Translating a Newspaper Account of Christophey Seider’s Murder
(82) Part 2: Death in Boston (February 22, 1770) Review Questions
(83 – 88) Part 2: Death in Boston (February 22, 1770) Vocabulary Activity
(89 – 91) Part 2: Death in Boston (February 22, 1770) Vocabulary Activity
(92 – 96) Part 2: Death in Boston (February 22, 1770) Document-Based Activity: Making Death Larger than Life:”On the Death of Mr. Snider Murdered by Richardson” by Phillis Wheatley
(97 – 101) Part 3: March of the Apprentices(February 23 – 36, 1770) Vocabulary Activity
(102 – 104) Part 3: March of the Apprentices(February 23 – 36, 1770) Writing Prompts
(105) Part 4: From Bad to Worse (March 5, 1770) Post-Game Document-Based Activity Who Started it? Two accounts of what happened on March 5 in King Street
(106 – 116) Part 4: From Bad to Worse (March 5, 1770) Post-Game Document-Based Activity Mr. Revere’s Engraving
(117 – 121) Part 4: From Bad to Worse (March 5, 1770) Discussion Activity: What are Rights? What is Freedom?
(122 – 123) Part 4: From Bad to Worse (March 5, 1770) Post-Game Discussion Questions
(124 – 129) Epilogue (April 1770 – July 4, 1776) Document Based Activity “A Decent Respect to the Opinions of Mankind” Interpreting the Declaration of Independence
(130 – 158) Epilogue (April 1770 – July 4, 1776) Chronology Activity”Countdown to Independence: A MISSION US Timeline Challenge.
(159 – 161) Epilogue (April 1770 – July 4, 1776) Writing Prompts
(162 – 165) Engaging Students in Multimedia Projects
(166 – 187) Political Perspective Activity
(188) Educator Notes Tracking Charts Character Observations
(189 – 190) Character Observations Chart (EXCELLENT a great tool)
(191 – 192) Character Observations Chart (EXCELLENT a great tool)
(193) Political Reputation Reflection
(194) Primary Source Document Collection Table of Contents
(195) James Franklin’s Indenture Contract to his Uncle Benjamin Franklin, 1740
(197) Selections from Poor Richard’s Almanac.
(198) “No Stamp Act” Tea Pot, 1766
(199) The Townshend Duties, 1767
(200) “The Liberty Song” by John Dickinson, 1768
(202) Letters of a Loyalist Lady, June 1768 – July 1770
(204) Poem on a Spinning Bee, 1769
(205) Handbill from Boston’s Non-Importation Protest, c. 1768 – 70
( 206) Boston Gazette’s List of Importers, 1770
(208) Boston Gazette, Ladies’ Agreement against Drinking Foreign Tea, 1770
(209) Boston Gazette Advertisements, February 19, 1770 – March 12, 1770
(210) Boston Gazette’s Article on the Murder of Christopher Seider
(212) Thomas Hutchinson’s Diary entry on the Seider Murder, 1770
(213) Portrait of Craftsman Paul Revere, c. 1770
(214) Letter by Theophilus Lillie Opposing the Non-Importation Agreement, 1770
(215) Eyewitness Accounts from the Boston Massacre, 1770
(218) Paul Revere’s Engraving Depicting the Boston Massacre, 1770
(220) Phillis Wheatley, “To the Right Honourable William, Earl of Dartmouth,” 1773
(221) Slaves Petition the Massachusetts Legislature, 1777
(222) Thomas Paine, Common Sense, 1776
Students will complete Mission U.S. Digital Learning Interactive. Students will register using school email and password. (Students may have to enable Adobe Flash to complete the activity. Click on “Think Fast About the Past” then download Adobe Flash) Before starting the activity, complete “Think Fast About the Past” to test your knowledge of the pre-revolutionary time period.
10 points for completion of activity.
Meet the Characters: Discuss as a class. This is the most effective way to introduce the characters. In years past, the students wrote brief identifications of the individuals. (It might be useful to have the students write definitions of the HISTORICAL characters and not the fictional ones.)
Think Fast About the Past: Complete the activity BEFORE starting the interactive.
“Crown or Colony Journal”
There will be a writing assignment at the conclusion of the activity.