ADAPTED VERSION · dyslexia and neurodiverse students · B1

Session 1: Salem, 1692

Question: What happened in Salem in 1692?
Step 1

Goals

Step 2

Warm-up

Image analysis: a mysterious American couple. Who are these people? What do they value? What might they fear? What links can you see with the strict world of Salem?
Grant Wood, American Gothic, 1930, Art Institute of Chicago
Grant Wood, American Gothic, 1930, Art Institute of Chicago. Public domain, Wikimedia Commons.

What is a witch hunt? Say one idea.

Step 3

Read

Short text. In 1692, in Salem, Massachusetts, some girls started to have strange fits. People said it was witchcraft. The girls accused their neighbours. A special court judged them. More than 200 people were accused and nineteen were hanged. Later, the colony said the trials were wrong.
Easy to find: "What really happened during the Salem Witch Trials", Brian A. Pavlac, TED-Ed (subtitles on).
Step 4

Tasks

Task a. True or false: six sentences about the text.
Task b. Past simple: accuse, accused / hang, hanged / start, started.
Task c. Small task: a 30 second radio flash from Salem.
Step 5

More tasks

Before reading: a Puritan sermon

Jonathan Edwards gave this sermon in 1741.

"his wrath towards you burns like fire"
Jonathan Edwards, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God", 1741 (public domain)
  1. Which element is in the sentence: water, fire or air?
  2. How does the listener feel: happy, afraid or bored?
  3. Quickwrite: three sentences. Why were Puritans afraid?
Sentence starters
  • The image is...
  • People feel...
  • Puritans were afraid because...
Answer key
  1. fire
  2. afraid
  3. Open answer

Game: How Puritan are you? (Salem, 1692)

Imagine you are a villager in Salem in 1692. This quiz is about the period, not about your own life. Answer yes or no for your character, then count the points.

  1. Your character works hard six days a week and rests on the Sabbath.
  2. Your character goes to the meeting house every Sunday for a sermon of several hours.
  3. Your character dances in the forest at night.
  4. Your character reads the Bible at home with the family.
  5. Your character wears bright colours and lace to show off.

Score: one point for each yes to questions 1, 2, 4 and for each no to questions 3 and 5. The higher the score, the more your character fits the strict rules of Salem. Then discuss: was it easy to be a good Puritan? What happened to people who did not fit?

Puritanism stations

Groups move around four tables, five minutes each, and fill in a note sheet: one fact, one keyword, one question.

  1. Faith: Puritans wanted to purify the Church of England. Many sailed from England to build a godly community in New England; the Massachusetts Bay Colony was founded in 1630.
  2. The Sabbath: Sunday is a day of rest and prayer. Work, games and travel are forbidden. Absence from church is noticed.
  3. Community and control: the church and the law are closely linked. Neighbours watch each other, and sin is a public matter.
  4. Punishment: public punishments such as the stocks shame wrongdoers in front of everyone. Reputation is everything.
Sentence starters
  • At this station, we learnt that...
  • The keyword is... because...
  • Our question is...
  • This explains why, in the play,...
Step 6

Sentence starters

  • This is Radio Salem.
  • Today, in Salem,...
  • The girls said that...
  • People are afraid because...
Step 7

Role play

Pairs: a reporter and a villager. The reporter asks: What happened? Who is accused? Are you afraid?

Step 8

Gap-fill worksheet

QR code to this worksheet
Word bank: witch · accused · court · hanged · fits · afraid
  1. People thought she was a .
  2. The girls had strange .
  3. Many people were .
  4. A special judged them.
  5. Nineteen people were .
  6. The villagers were .
Answer key
  1. witch
  2. fits
  3. accused
  4. court
  5. hanged
  6. afraid
Step 9

Homework

Write your radio flash (60 words) in the past simple.

Watch the film at home

The Crucible (1996), directed by Nicholas Hytner. In France, the film is called La Chasse aux sorcières.

  1. Where to watch: see the list of streaming and rental options on JustWatch France.
  2. DVD: ask at your local library or médiathèque.
  3. Official trailer: on the Apple TV page of the film.
  4. Scenes to watch: Act I: the girls dance in the forest at night (the opening of the film). Act II: the officers arrest Elizabeth at home. Act III: in court, the girls turn against Mary Warren. Act IV: Proctor tears his confession and walks to the gallows.

Watch with English subtitles if you can.

Step 10

Assessment grid

CriteriaLevel 1Level 2Level 3Level 4
FactsWrongSomeCorrectCorrect and precise
Past simpleNot correctSometimesMostly correctCorrect

Links reminder