(A One-Two Week Unit Plan)
Instructor: Megan Gredesky
Implementation
Overview
This unit is organized on the
assumption that students are
participating in a unit in which The
Crucible is core. It also assumes
that students have access to the
Internet at school--one computer
in the classroom or library--or will
have access at home.
Unit Rationale
In this Unit, students will read the play The Crucible. The
Crucible is a valued piece of literature that involves history
and politics, two rather large aspects that have influenced
our society. Students will experience firsthand the issues
of Salem Witch Trials of 1692 as well as the issues of the
McCarthy Witch Hunts in the 1950’s. Students will then be
able to identify the relationship between the literary text
and the events mentioned above.
Unit Objectives:
Students will research historical background of The
Crucible.
Students will use the research they learned to
identify political issues in the literary text.
Students will make assertions about a literary text
(The Crucible)
Students will structure and support ideas in a
sustained way.
Students will respond to literature through class
discussion.
Students will write a response to literature.
Lesson Plan 1
Introduction:
I.
II.
III.
The Crucible will be introduced as a piece of
literature that is historically accurate in
connection to the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 and
to the events surrounding McCarthy’s antiCommunist, RedScare witch hunt of the early
1950’s.
Students will identify these events and continue
to identify it’s connection to their reading which
will follow the historical research.
Students will first share any knowledge of these
events through a question and answer discussion.
Their knowledge will be furthered by the historical
research mentioned above. (10 minutes)
Objectives:
I.
II.
Students will identify historical events of the witch
trials.
Students will use the internet as a source for
researching the Salem Witch Trials.
Activities:
I. Students will first use the internet as a source of
learning about the setting and the historical background of
The Crucible and take a web tour of historical Salem,
including a visit to the Witch Trials Memorial. There, they
will read a chronology of the historical events of the witch
trials. This activity will be done as a class and as a matter
of discussion.(50 minutes)
Salem Tour
http://www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/score/cruc/salem/tour.h
tm.
Materials
I.
Internet
II.
Article to be handed out at the end of class.
Evaluation:
I.
II.
Students will be evaluated informally based
on their participation in the activity.
Students are expected to answer questions
raised by the Instructor.
Assignment: Read the article An Account of Events in
Salem by Douglas Linder, and write a two page paper
summarizing the article and short response to the article.
Lesson 2
Introduction:
I.
Students will be asked what happened in the witch hunts of
the McCarthy Era in the early 1950’s.
II.
Students will then be involved in an internet research of the
events that unfolded during this time.
Objective:
I. Students will compare the witch hunt events of 1692 with the "witch
hunts" of the McCarthy Era in the early 1950s.
Time Frame:
60 minutes
Activities:
I.
Students will research the events surrounding Senator Joe
McCarthy's anti-Communist, Red Scare witch hunt of the early
1950s. Students will take notes concerning McCarthy's
orchestration of fear, common beliefs of the time, and current
events to gain power and destroy the lives of innocent
people.The following URL’s will be used as a source of their
research and discussion.
The Fight For America: Senator Joseph McCarthy
URL: http://www.sirius.com/~mcjester/writings/joemccarthy.html
Students will research the people who were attacked by Joe McCarthy.
Students will find out who was blacklisted, and how these innocent
people had their lives ruined. Some were never able to work in their
field again. (20 minutes)
The Legacy of McCarthyism
URL: http://www.english.upenn.edu/~afilreis/50s/schreckerlegacy.html
Students will research the legacy of McCarthyism. The research will
give the students a chronological knowledge of McCarthyism.(20
minutes).
Students will use their notes as a method of discussing what they
researched; the political situation of the early 1950s. The war was
over, but the Soviet Union, which had been our ally during the war,
had become the enemy of America in what was known as the Cold
War. (10 minutes)
Students are ready to read The Crucible.
Materials:
I.
Internet
Evaluation:
I.
II.
Students will be evaluated informally through an oral
discussion.
Students will also be evaluated on their assignement due for
class which deals with reading and writing.
Assignment: Read Act One in The Crucible. Fill out
handout provided by Instructor.
Lesson 3
Objectives:
I. Students will identify historical connections to
literature.
II. Students will identify the events of Act I through
discussion.
Time Frame:
60 minutes
Activities:
III. Students will free write about what they
read in Act I. Students should use their
knowledge of the historical connections to
write about Act I. Students should use
examples from what they have read thus
far. (20 minutes).
IV.
In small groups students will be divided.
Each group will spend 20 minutes
comparing their thoughts regarding the
handout. Each group will be assigned to
discuss five different questions from the
handout. Each group will share their
comments and discussions regarding their
topic/question with rest of class. (10
minutes).
Materials:
I.
The Crucible
Evaluation:
I.
Students will be evaluated informally
based on their free writing.
II.
Students will be evaluated informally
through participation in small group
discussion.
III. Students will be evaluated informally
through participation in class discussion.
IV.
Students will be evaluated informally
based on the completion of the handout
for Act I.
Assignment: Students will read Act II for next class period. Fill
out handout
Lesson 4
Objective:
V.
Students will identify historical connections
to literature.
Students will identify the events of Act II
through discussion.
VI.
Time Frame:
60 minutes
Activities:
I.
Students will free write about what they
read in Act II. Students should use their
knowledge of the historical connections to
write about ACT II. Students should use
examples from what they have read thus
far.(20 minutes).
In small groups students will be divided.
Each group will spend 20 minutes
comparing their thoughts regarding the
handout. Each group will be assigned to
discuss five different questions from the
handout.(20 minutes). Each group will
share their comments and discussions
regarding their topic/question with rest of
class. (10 minutes).
II.
Materials:
I.
The Crucible
Evaluation:
I.
Students will be evaluated informally
through their free writing excercies.
II.
Students will be evaluated informally
based on their participation in discussion.
III. Students will be evaluated informally
based on the completion of their
handouts.
Assignment: Finish reading the Crucible. 300-500 word Essay:
Topic Use your knowledge from the internet research we
did in class. Discuss the impact of the Salem Witch
trials and/or the impact of the McCarthy witch hunts
on the play, remember to use text to support your
views. Students are encouraged to use ideas from
their free writes to write their papers.
Lesson 5
Objective:
I.
II.
Students will engage in peer-editing.
Students will identify peer’s use of support
and connection to the Salem Witch Trials.
Time Frame:
60 minutes
Activities:
I.
Divide students into small groups.
II.
Students will read each other’s papers and fill
out a checklist provided by the Instructor.
Checklist will keep the students on track for
editing the essays.(60 minutes)
Materials:
I.
Checklist provided by instructor
Evaluation:
I.
Students will be evaluated informally through
their participation in the peer-editing activity.
II.
Students will be evaluated informally through
their participation in discussion.
III. Students will be evaluated informally through
the completion of the checklist.
IV.
Students will be evaluated informally through
the improvement shown from rough draft to
final draft of their papers.
Assignment: Study for Test. Students should use
their free writing and handouts as a study guide for
the test.
Lesson 6
Objective:
I. Students will identify characters/analysis, plot,
historical/research through a test.
Activities:
I.
II.
Short discussion of students questions or
final thoughts of the play.(5 minutes).
Test: Students will answer the following
questions in essay form. should be 1-2
pages in length, times new roman, 12 pt.
Font. (55 minutes).
Materials:
I.
Test provided by instructor
Evaluation:
I.
Students will be evaluated informally through
an essay test.
Assignment:
Be prepared to watch movie.
Lesson 7 & 8(Two class periods)
Introduction to Movie:
Arthur Miller wrote the screen play for the 1996
version. The Crucible introduces the Salem
witchcraft trials of 1692, Puritan society, and the
anti-communist hysteria of the late 1940's and early
1950's in the United States. The films raise several
important moral questions. They include: 1) should
society, in order to preserve the status quo and its
sense of safety, impose tests of loyalty and require
protestations of faith; 2) should a person admit to
something he didn't do, even to save his life; and 3)
are social or political movements sometimes
motivated by the self- interest of the participants.
Materials: 1996 Version of The Crucible
Evaluation:
I. Students will be evaluated informally based on
their response to the movie. The response will show
some form of involvement and analysis of the movie.
Assignment: Students should keep some of these
points as well as their historical knowledge in mind
while viewing the movie, because students will be
expected to write a short response to the movie.
Possible minor problems:
In the 1996 version we briefly see a naked female
form in the forest and Abigail Williams gropes John
Proctor.