This lesson plan is anchored by the text "A Brief History of the Salem Witch Trials" from Smithsonian.com. Today, readers will dive even deeper into the text to build a fuller understanding of how prejudice, suffering, paranoia, and injustice played a role in the Salem Witch Trials. Since students have been working with the article for three days already, they are ready for a more demanding analysis. Skills that will come into play include: analyzing the interactions between individuals, events, and ideas; determining an author's point of view; and citing several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of the text.
Special Materials:
Student guided notes sheet
Copies of the anchor text for all students
Lesson plan