Lesson Plan - "I Am No Witch!"

Build Background Knowledge

Play the video “The Untold Salem Witch Trials” twice. The first time, ask students to focus on understanding the main events. Then have them complete this 3-2-1 task as they watch the video a second time: Record 3 important facts, 2 possible causes of the girls’ behavior, and 1 question you have.

Preview Vocabulary

Use the online Skill Builder Words to Know to preteach the domain-specific terms exonerate, hysteria, paranoia, and tolerant. Have students refer to the Skill Builder as they read.

Read the Article

Read the article aloud or have students read it independently or in pairs. As students read, direct them to underline or highlight details that reveal Governor William Phips’s perspective and how it changed.

Answer Close-Reading Questions

Have students write their responses, or use the Close-Reading Questions to guide a discussion.

• Who was Bridget Bishop? What happened to her in 1692? (Key Details)
Bridget Bishop was an apple orchard owner who lived in Salem, a village in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. In April 1692, she was accused of practicing witchcraft. At a public hearing, five girls screamed, twisted in pain, and said that Bishop had tried to tempt them to worship the devil. Although Bishop said she was innocent, she was charged with witchcraft and jailed. After dozens of other people were similarly jailed, she was the first to face trial, on June 2. At the end of the one-day trial, she was sentenced to death. Eight days later, she became the first of 20 people to be executed in the Salem witch trials.

• How did the Puritans’ beliefs and background contribute to the panic of the Salem witch trials? (Cause and Effect)
The Puritans, who had left England and come to the colonies seeking religious freedom, followed strict religious rules. They valued hard work, and their children had few opportunities to have fun. The Puritans believed that forces of evil were responsible for their troubles and often blamed illnesses and other problems on witchcraft. After some girls in Salem started acting strangely, the Puritans decided that witches had been sent as a test and fear spread throughout the community.

• Why might Tituba have confessed to practicing witchcraft? (Making Inferences)
Tituba might have confessed because of the pressure of Reverend Samuel Parris’s demands that she do so. As a religious leader, he had much more power and influence than Tituba, an enslaved woman who worked in his home, did. Sometimes people might make a false confession just to get an ordeal over with.

• Summarize the section “A Growing Outcry.” (Summarizing)
As more people were accused of witchcraft in Salem and other towns, some people began to have doubts and question the so-called evidence that the accusers relied on. In August 1692, villagers were shocked when a minister said a prayer before being hanged for witchcraft. In October, Governor William Phips’s own wife was accused of witchcraft and he dissolved the special court he had created. It was replaced by a new court, which had stricter guidelines. It couldn’t convict someone of witchcraft based only on rumors or visions. After a few more trials, almost all the people who had been jailed for witchcraft were set free by May 1693. Ultimately, more than 200 people were accused of witchcraft, 20 people were executed, and several died in jail.

• What has happened since the trials ended? (Analyzing Events)
Since the trials, the claims of witchcraft have been disproven. In the years afterward, some of the accusers apologized. In 1711, the courts began clearing the names of some people who were convicted, but Bishop wasn’t exonerated until 2001. The last convicted person was exonerated in July 2022. Today, a memorial at Proctor’s Ledge in Salem bears the names of the victims.

• How can the Salem witch trials “continue to serve as a warning for how suspicion and fear can overtake a community”? (Central Ideas)
The trials show how rumors and misinformation can spread in a community. Many villagers in Salem were quick to believe accusers and ignored victims’ claims of innocence. Historian Emerson Baker says that every generation has a moment when people “rush to judgment” and that the trials are a reminder to “look at the evidence and consider other people’s perspectives.”

• How do the illustrations support the article? (Visual Literacy)
The illustrations help show some of the emotions and tensions that took over Salem during the witch trials. The illustration of Bridget Bishop’s hearing shows her standing at the center of the scene, looking upset but calm. Young girls are on the floor, seeming like they might be in pain. Four formally dressed men at the front of the room seem to be in charge. Many people in the room are pointing at Bishop, showing how hysteria and panic were starting to take hold. The other illustration shows a younger woman who looks like she’s about to be executed for witchcraft. Her hands are bound with rope, and she looks scared. Two men seem to be leading her to her fate as people point and raise their fists at her.

• How does the sidebar “Reasons for the Hysteria” support the article? (Text Features)
The sidebar presents three common theories for why the girls in Salem might have started acting strangely. One that has mostly been dismissed is that the girls might have had food poisoning from a fungus called ergot, which can cause paranoia and a sensation of being pinched. A second theory is that the girls were faking the behaviors for attention because they were bored and might have been influenced by games or stories. The third theory, which many historians today believe, is that the girls became physically ill because of the stresses of daily life. Disease, starvation, and wars against Native Americans, whose land the Puritans had taken, were some of the stresses that worried many Salem villagers.

Summarize

Use the Skill Builder Organize a Summary to have students determine which statements belong in an objective summary and put them in order. You can extend the activity by having students use the summary as a model for writing an objective summary of another article.

Assess Comprehension

Assign the 10-question Know the News quiz, available in PDF and interactive forms. You can also use Quiz Wizard to assess comprehension of this article and three others from the issue.