Discrimination and the Great Molasses Flood

In 1919 in a busy neighborhood of Boston a tank holding 2 million gallons of molasses burst open and flooded the streets. An author has written a children’s story about the incident and what happened after the tank exploded. Listen to hear the author talk about and read from her book.

Medium

Language Challenge

Scaffolding

Tweet Share on Facebook

Want to Listen?

TEACHERS: Access our entire library of lessons and current events!

With a free teacher account, you get:

Our lesson collections for Social Studies, ELA, and Science
Authentic audio news stories curated for the classroom
Teaching resources to check for understanding
And new Current Events every school day

Teachers Join Free

Already a Member? Login Now

Story Length: 5:31

Listen to the Story:

Listening Comprehension Questions

In what ways did Andrew Carnegie’s libraries serve their communities?
How did Carnegie benefit from a library when he was growing up?
Which personality traits helped propel Carnegie from poverty to riches? Bring specific details from the story to support your ideas.
According to Carnegie, what should rich people do with their money and why? Why was Carnegie known as both generous and “brutal”?

Discussion Themes

In your opinion, what should really rich people do with their fortunes?
What does it take for a person to rise from “rags to riches”?

Socrative users can import these questions using the following code: SOC-1234

Listening Organizers

Fact, Question, Response
Language Identification Organizer
Deeper Meaning Chart

Related Lessons

Social Studies • ELL

Coming to America: Modern Day Immigration

Throughout time, the American dairy industry has been in desperate need of workers and this attracts immigrants from all over the world. This story begins in the home of an immigrant family as they start their workday. Listen to learn about the experiences of new immigrants to the United States, from Guatemala, who work on dairy farms in northern New York and Vermont.

Social Studies • ELL

Bread and Roses Strike

The two-month Bread and Roses strike of 1912 carried out by textile factory workers in Lawrence, Massachusetts marked the beginning of the labor movement. The workers, made up overwhelmingly of immigrant women and children, walked off the jobs they had risked everything to travel to America to take. This public radio story looks back at the strike and what themes resonate today.

Social Studies • ELL

Old Ironsides: Tribute to an American Legend

The U.S. warship the USS Constitution is docked in Boston Harbor. It's the oldest commission warship in the world. The USS Constitution played a key role in the War of 1812. This Public Radio Story describes how the warship Constitution got its nickname “Old Ironsides” during the War of 1812 as it battled British warships off the U.S. coast.

Social Studies • ELL

The Human Impact of the Chinese Exclusion Act

The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 prevented all immigration of Chinese laborers. Chinese immigrants were detained at Angel Island in San Francisco Bay at the turn of the 20th century because of the Exclusion Act. This audio story describes the Chinese poetry carved on the walls of a detention barracks by Angel Island detainees. Their poetry tells a story of humiliation and mistreatment of innocent Chinese people trying to start a new life or join loved ones already in the United States.