Teacher's guide for Echoes from Salem

by Janice Cooper

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Introduction

Use this Insight Reflector to help 10 - 12 Interdisciplinary students reflect on the Salem Witchcraft Hysteria and Trials, but moreover, to reflect on story and history, truth and lies, interpretation and misinterpretation.

This Insight Reflector is intended to be a follow-up activity to a close reading of The Crucible by Arthur Miller and a companion activity to the Knowledge Hunt, 'Voices of Salem.'

Overview

Main Topic:	Salem Witchcraft Trials
Subtopics:	English, Social Studies, Science,
Grade Level:	10 - 12
Subject(s):	Interdisciplinary
Learning Goal:	prompting open reflection

Vision and Reality

If the learning goal were achieved in the most ideal of perfect worlds it would look something like:

Students will be working independently upon the completion of a group project on the same topic.

Students will be demonstrating mastery of familiar technologies.

This activity will encourage students to emotively connect with the topic.

This activity will try to perturb students into new thinking.

Students will be writing: creatively and analytically.

Students will be reflecting.

However, what I anticipate probably looks more like:

Based on the Vision set for this activity, the actual reality is more likely to be a superficial attempt to answer the questions rather than reflect deeply upon their understandings and assumptions.

The What - If Inventory

To give the activity its best chance at helping students learn, I assembled this list of possible resources:

Technology Resources

You will need access to a lab where each students will have the use of a computer, unless this Insight Reflector is assigned as homework. Remind students to save or copy & paste it into a word processor as their work will disappear into the ether as though it never existed if they don't.



Internet Potential

Two very interesting and distinct ways to approach this timeless topic are linked to in this activity.



Possible Collaborations




Special Events

Halloween is, again, the perfect time to discuss witches and self-deception and things that go bump in the night.



General Resources

Students will need access to the Internet somewhere in their live to complete this project.



Standards

New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards
Language Arts Literacy
3.1.12.G. Comprehension Skills and Response to Text
4. Compare and evaluate the relationship between past literary traditions and contemporary writing.
5. Analyze how works of a given period reflect historical and social events and conditions.
10. Differentiate between fact and opinion by using complete and accurate information, coherent arguments, and points of view

3.2.12.A. Writing as a Process
5. Use the computer and word-processing software to compose, revise, edit, and publish a piece.
6. Use a scoring rubric to evaluate and improve own writing and the writing of others.
7. Reflect on own writing and establish goals for growth and improvement.

3.5.12.A. Constructing Meaning from Media
1. Understand that messages are representations of social reality and vary by historic time periods and parts of the world.
2. Identify and evaluate how a media product expresses the values of the culture that produced it.

Conclusion

We all benefit when we help each other. If your students use this activity, please email me with their observations, suggestions, questions, and concerns. cooper_j@nvnet.org

Graphic, imbedded citation: http://www.hawthorneinsalem.org/images/image.php?name=MMD730

created by Janice Cooper email: cooper_j@nvnet.org ; jj71688@optonline.net http://web-and-flow.com/members/jcooper/swt2/reflector.htm