The Case of the Boston Massacre

Today our 4th grade detectives were presented with a new case to investigate! During the Boston Massacre, British soldiers shot and killed five colonists! BUT, was it self-defense or murder?!? It was up to our detectives to study the crime scene and evidence to find out!! They studied primary source documents of illustrations of the Boston Massacre from a variety of viewpoints, investigated different pieces of evidence such as snowballs and clubs, and took into consideration the scene of the crime (winter, night time). After close investigation at the scene of the crime, they came back to the station to listen to four eye witness accounts. Each account had a slightly different take on what actually happened, so students had to look for similarities and differences between the stories. Throughout the entire process, students kept notes in their detectives notebooks for both sides. At the end, they analyzed their evidence and made their decision.

What do you think- did the British soldiers commit murder, or was it an act of self-defense?!

The Crime Scene:

 

 

Ready to investigate!

 

Analyzing the eye witness accounts

 

 

 

Listen to one of our eyewitness accounts here!