Massachusetts

Summary
A lesson on the state of Massachusetts. The reading is accompanied by true/false questions.

Objectives
• To introduce students to salient features about the state of Massachusetts and its history.

Suggested Grades
4th Grade
5th Grade
6th Grade

Excerpt
Massachusetts, one of the six New England states, is located in the northeast corner of the United States. Massachusetts was one of the thirteen original colonies that became the first thirteen states. New Hampshire and Vermont are to the north; New York to the west; and Connecticut and Rhode Island are to the south. Massachusetts has an extensive east coast on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean due in part to a large peninsula extending into the ocean called Cape Cod. Two well-known islands in the Atlantic Ocean, Martha?s Vineyard and Nantucket Island, are part of Massachusetts.

Early History
Around three thousand years ago, Native Americans of the era migrated into the area of Massachusetts from Canada. The Algonquin tribes were the first permanent settlers in the area and they began farming the three essential crops of corn, beans and squash.

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