Your own town
📍 Gloucester
3 chapters on a 3D map of Gloucester, about 45 minutes in all. Students explore it with Scout, find a true story at each place, then use what they learned.
Chapter 1 plays in your browser on a computer.
City Hall · The Courthouse · Sawyer Free Library
Standards: 3.T1.3b · 3.T1.3c · 3.T1.3f
The Fire Station · The Police Station · A Canvas Hangar
Standards: 3.T1.3b · 3.T1.3f
The State Fish Pier · The Paint Factory · The Man at the Wheel · The Ones Who Waited
Standards: 3.T5.5a · 3.T5.5c · 3.T1.1
Word for word what students read, with the sources we checked them against.
1870
For more than two hundred years, Gloucester was a town. People met at town meetings to vote on everything. In 1873 it became a city, with a mayor and a city council. They meet right here. The tall tower can be seen from far out in the harbor. Inside, the walls hold the names of fishermen lost at sea.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · harborwalk.gloucester-ma.gov · gloucester-ma.gov · en.wikipedia.org · coastalbyway.org · gloucestertimes.com
day and night
Firefighters work here day and night. They take turns, so someone is always ready. When an alarm comes in, they grab their gear and roll out fast. They fight fires and rush to help when someone gets hurt. Gloucester has fire stations in different parts of the city, so help is never too far away. Everyone in the city pays for them together, with taxes.
Sources: gloucester-ma.gov · fire.fandom.com
the working waterfront
Big fishing boats tie up here to unload their catch. Workers lift the fish out and pack them in ice. Trucks carry them to stores and restaurants. The state of Massachusetts owns this pier. It keeps Gloucester’s oldest job going: fishing. When the boats have a good day, the whole city does a little better.
Sources: massdevelopment.com · en.wikipedia.org