The Cocoanut Grove fire
Choose a PDF, read on screen, and try the word game.
Teacher preview: this event includes loss, violence, discrimination, or a criminal case. Choose a suitable reading together. No reenactment of harm is needed.
Choose your PDF reading
All four include an image, vocabulary, comprehension questions, a follow-up reading, and teacher guidance. These English PDFs have selectable text; use the reading below for adjustable text and listening tools.
Read on this page

Words to know
- protect
- keep someone or something from harm
- damage
- harm that makes something less safe or useful
- change
- become different
A terrible fire struck the Cocoanut Grove nightclub in Boston. Four hundred ninety-two people died. The disaster led to changes in fire safety and advances in caring for burn injuries.
Talk about the reading
What happened? Point to a detail that supports your answer. What does the picture help you understand? What would you like to investigate next?
Follow-up: Jackie Robinson’s Boston tryout
Jackie Robinson tried out for the Boston Red Sox in 1945, but the team did not sign him. In 1947 he broke modern Major League Baseball’s color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers.
How are the two events connected or different? Their order does not prove that one caused the other.
Read the follow-up event →Word match: use the reading
Select a word, then select its meaning. You can use a keyboard or tap. Read the word bank if you need a clue.
Choose a word to begin.
Check the evidence
Research source for this event ↗
Original site illustration. Image source and rights ↗
Historical images, later portraits, reconstructions, and modern topic illustrations are identified in their captions. They are different kinds of evidence.
Try a source investigationVisit a Massachusetts place
Try a source investigation