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Summary and Objective
Third graders at the William E. Norris School study the geography and history of Massachusetts. The objective of this lesson is to teach them about an important event in the history of Massachusetts, the flooding of the Swift River Towns to supply drinking water for the growing city of Boston during the early part of the 20th century.
The students will understand that four towns were flooded in order to create the Quabbin Reservoir. The students will compare the general sentiment of today's population to notions of sacrificing your home to the greater good with an earlier generation. The students will locate the Quabbin Reservoir geographically in relation to where they live.
Teaching Plan
Step 1.
Read "Letting Swift River Go" by Jane Yolen.
Step 2.
Discuss historical fiction : a fictional story based on historical fact.
Tell kids that four real towns: Dana, Greenwich, Prescott, and Enfield were flooded in order to provide drinking water to the growing city of Boston 100 miles away. Ask "Would you have been willing to give up your home so that others might drink?"
Step 3.
Digitally travel to the Quabbin reservoir using Google Earth. Show where the towns would have been. Have kids locate and placemark their homes, the Quabbin and Boston. Have kids calculate the approximate miles of the pipeline.
Step 4.
Discuss primary documents: documents and photos created at the time an event took place. Give examples of primary documents: (ie photos, newspaper clippings, journal entries.
Step 5.
From the online collection, show the Witt Residence and the "Old Buildings are Moved out of Quabbin Area" article from the scrapbook on the Quabbin. Mention that these are primary documents. Ask: What do you notice about these buildings? Who do you think lived here? What type of work did they do?
Share population figures on pages 6 and 12 of the document "An Atlas of the Quabbin Valley Past and Present" and the "Quabbin Reservoir Water Starts Flowing" article from Quabbin Reservoir scrapbook. Explain that it took many years for the reservoir to be filled to capacity.
Step 6.
Using the Haunted Quabbin website, listen to several podcasts from people who left their Quabbin town behind.
Step 7.
Discuss the people who lived in these towns. Ask "Do you think it was brave of them to leave their towns behind?" Students will write a short personal narrative as if they were a child who lived in one of the towns. In art, students will make a 3D model of their Quabbin Home. These will be displayed throughout the school along with the written narrative.
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