The Trails and Tales of Boston

1760 to 1860

Travel along Boston’s Freedom Trail and the Black Heritage Trail and meet some famous, and some not so famous, Bostonians whose contributions helped to bring the United States from British colonies to an independent country to a nation on the brink of Civil War. Experience in depth tours  of the sites themselves, explore primary source documents, examine replica artifacts, and listen to lectures by scholars in their fields. Learn from National Park rangers and site educators exciting ways to make this time period come to life in elementary school classrooms. 

Since the course will address skills and content the Massachusetts Frameworks for History and English Language Arts require for these grades, preference will be given to teachers of grades 3 and 5. Special needs teachers, ELL teachers, and school librarians, as well as teachers who have never attended a Boston People and Places Summer Teacher Institute before, are also encouraged to apply. 

• 30 Professional Development Points available with submission of a lesson plan by email or on disk.

• 2 graduate credits available from Framingham State College (45PDP’s) with payment of an additional fee and submission of a final project.

• The institute is limited to 20 participants. Please note that some of the sites in the institute are not fully accessible.

• The fee, which includes materials and lunch on Friday has not yet been determined.

• Participants are responsible for their lunches Monday - Thursday.

• All sites are accessible by public transportation. Participants must be able to walk up to 1 ½ miles per day and participate in outdoor sessions in hot weather.

• Preference given to Boston Public School 3rd and 5th grade teachers. Teachers who have never attended a Boston People and Places workshop are encouraged to apply.

• Participants will be expected to complete reading assignments before and during the institute.

• Bilingual and special needs teachers are encouraged to apply.

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