Introduction
Beginning in January of 1692, the citizens of Salem, Massachusetts and surrounding towns became convinced that their communities were being attacked by witches. The hysteria that overswept these small communities on the edge of the New World resulted in the execution of 19 innocent people over 18 months. The who, what, when, and where of the Salem witch trials hysteria are well-known. Our mission is to investigate the why.
For this part of the mission, you will spend time working with your team to "decode" primary source documents* from the hysteria and create an English-to-English translation to help us better understand the mindset of the people involved.
*English teacher goal for assigning this: We're practicing using context clue to figure out the meaning of unfamiliar words and phrases!
Task
Process
Tactician, Bard, Engineer Quest
Once your team has completed its tasks, I will unlock the assessment section which contains an actual translation of the 1692 document.
Evaluation
Click here to assess your progress in using context clues to decode a 17th. Century arrest warrant.
Conclusion
In your course journal, write a page (250-500 words) in which you reflect on how you've used context clues in the past to decode while you read. Next, discuss the ways in which this exercise with a very old piece of writing were helpful (or not, I'm open to your suggestions). Finally, predict how being familiar with how Puritans wrote about their world will help us answer are Big Question: What caused the Salem witch trials?
Credits
This content was created by Nancy Mades-Byrd, M.Ed. madesn@lynnschools.org