Students role playing at the Museum of Work and Culture

The Heritage Corridor Commission is committed to working with our many educational partners to find the most effective ways to bring the themes of the Blackstone River Valley into the classroom. To this end, the Corridor Commission has undertaken to develop some curriculum based lesson plans for classroom use.

The first plan discusses Immigration in the Blackstone Valley, focusing on the French Canadian experience in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. It is designed for grades 8-12.

Special thanks to Pat Jarvis and Ray Bacon from The Museum of Work and Culture in Woonsocket for providing the materials for this lesson plan.

(PDF: 23 pages/2.31 MB) Immigration Lesson Plan

The Corridor Commission also sponsored the creation of a Blackstone Canal Curriculum as part of the commemorative activities marking the 175th Anniversary of the opening of the Blackstone Canal, in October 2003.  This collection of lessons, designed to introduce students to the use of primary sources, tells the story of the canal and its impact on Worcester, Massachusetts.

The curriculum was written for grades 3 through 8; however, they can easily be adapted up or down. The curriculum follows the Massachusetts Department of Education Curriculum Frameworks for the following subject areas:

• English Language Arts
• History and Social Science
• Mathematics
• Science and Technology/Engineering

The curriculum was developed by the following Worcester Public School teachers: Linda Eskola Forte, Beth Harding, Lois Thomas, Katherine Starczewski, and John Carter, of the New Start Center for Learning in Worcester.

Canal curriculum can be downloaded here