Salem Witch Trials Lesson Plan: Culture
Grade Levels: 6-8, 9-12
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This lesson accompanies the BrainPOP topic Salem Witch Trials, and supports students’ in analyzing the role of Puritanism in shaping the values of New England communities. Students demonstrate understanding through a variety of projects.
Step 1: ACTIVATE PRIOR KNOWLEDGE
Display the phrase “Salem Witch Trials.” Ask students:
- What do you know about the Salem Witch Trials? What do you wonder?
Step 2: BUILD KNOWLEDGE
- Read aloud the description on the Salem Witch Trials topic page.
- Play the Movie, pausing to check for understanding.
- Assign Related Reading. Have students read one of the following articles: “Quirky Stuff” or “Unsolved Mysteries.” Partner them with someone who read a different article to share what they learned with each other.
Step 3: APPLY and ASSESS
Assign the Salem Witch Trials Challenge and Quiz, prompting students to apply essential literacy skills while demonstrating what they learned about this topic.
Step 4: DEEPEN and EXTEND
Students express what they learned about the Salem Witch Trials while practicing essential literacy skills with one or more of the following activities. Differentiate by assigning ones that meet individual student needs.
- Make-a-Movie: Create a movie that explains the events that led to the Salem Witch Trials, and document its effects.
- Make-a-Map: Make a concept map identifying the causes and effects of the Salem Witch Trials.
- Creative Coding: Code a newscast from the time of the Salem Witch Trials with a headline about what’s happening.
More to Explore
Related BrainPOP Topics: Deepen understanding of culture in the American colonies with these topics: Regions of the Thirteen Colonies and Building the Thirteen Colonies.
Teacher Support Resources:
- Learning Activities Modifications: Strategies to meet ELL and other instructional and student needs.
- Learning Activities Support: Resources for best practices using BrainPOP.
Lesson Plan Common Core State Standards Alignments
Grade: 11-12
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.2
Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary that makes clear the relationships among the key details and ideas.
Grade: 06, 07, 08
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.2
Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of the source distinct from prior knowledge or opinions.
Grade: 06, 07, 08
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.7
Integrate visual information (e.g., in charts, graphs, photographs, videos, or maps) with other information in print and digital texts.
Grade: 09, 10
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.2
Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of how key events or ideas develop over the course of the text.
Grade: 09, 10
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.7
Integrate quantitative or technical analysis (e.g., charts, research data) with qualitative analysis in print or digital text.
Grade: 11-12
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.3
Analyze a complex set of ideas or sequence of events and explain how specific individuals, ideas, or events interact and develop over the course of the text.
Grade: 11-12
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.4
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze how an author uses and refines the meaning of a key term or terms over the course of a text (e.g., how Madison defines faction in Federalist No. 10).
Grade: 06
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.6.3
Analyze in detail how a key individual, event, or idea is introduced, illustrated, and elaborated in a text (e.g., through examples or anecdotes).
Grade: 06
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.6.4
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings.
Grade: 06
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.6.7
Integrate information presented in different media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively) as well as in words to develop a coherent understanding of a topic or issue.
Grade: 07
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.7.3
Analyze the interactions between individuals, events, and ideas in a text (e.g., how ideas influence individuals or events, or how individuals influence ideas or events).
Grade: 07
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.7.4
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the impact of a specific word choice on meaning and tone.
Grade: 08
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.8.3
Analyze how a text makes connections among and distinctions between individuals, ideas, or events (e.g., through comparisons, analogies, or categories).
Grade: 08
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.8.4
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including analogies or allusions to other texts.
Grade: 09, 10
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.4
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language of a court opinion differs from that of a newspaper).
Grade: 11-12
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.5
Make strategic use of digital media (e.g., textual, graphical, audio, visual, and interactive elements) in presentations to enhance understanding of findings, reasoning, and evidence and to add interest.
Grade: 06
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.6.2
Interpret information presented in diverse media and formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) and explain how it contributes to a topic, text, or issue under study.
Grade: 06
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.6.5
Include multimedia components (e.g., graphics, images, music, sound) and visual displays in presentations to clarify information.
Grade: 07
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.7.2
Analyze the main ideas and supporting details presented in diverse media and formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) and explain how the ideas clarify a topic, text, or issue under study.
Grade: 07
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.7.5
Include multimedia components and visual displays in presentations to clarify claims and findings and emphasize salient points.
Grade: 08
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.8.5
Integrate multimedia and visual displays into presentations to clarify information, strengthen claims and evidence, and add interest.
Grade: 09, 10
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.5
Make strategic use of digital media (e.g., textual, graphical, audio, visual, and interactive elements) in presentations to enhance understanding of findings, reasoning, and evidence and to add interest.
Grade: 11-12
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.2a
Introduce a topic; organize complex ideas, concepts, and information so that each new element builds on that which precedes it to create a unified whole; include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., figures, tables), and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.
Grade: 11-12
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.6
Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products in response to ongoing feedback, including new arguments or information.
Grade: 06
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.6.9b
Apply grade 6 Reading standards to literary nonfiction (e.g., “Trace and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, distinguishing claims that are supported by reasons and evidence from claims that are not”).
Grade: 07
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.7.9b
Apply grade 7 Reading standards to literary nonfiction (e.g. “Trace and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is sound and the evidence is relevant and sufficient to support the claims”).
Grade: 09, 10
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.6
Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products, taking advantage of technology’s capacity to link to other information and to display information flexibly and dynamically.
Grade: 06, 07, 08
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.6-8.6
Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and present the relationships between information and ideas clearly and efficiently.
Grade: 09, 10
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.9-10.6
Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products, taking advantage of technology’s capacity to link to other information and to display information flexibly and dynamically.
Related:
Filed as:
6-8, 9-12, BrainPOP, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.2, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.2, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.7, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.2, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.7, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.3, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.4
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.6.3, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.6.4, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.6.7, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.7.3, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.7.4, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.8.3, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.8.4, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.4, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.5, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.6.2, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.6.5, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.7.2, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.7.5, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.8.5, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.5, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.2a, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.6, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.6.9b, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.7.9b, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.6, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.6-8.6, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.9-10.6, Lesson Ideas, Lesson Plan, Salem Witch Trials, Social Studies, U.S. History
