Witch-hunts Teacher Resources

Guilty until proven innocent? A short video tackles the question of why witch hunts occur by examining the history of these purges and the tests used to identify those suspect of working with the devil.

Spark interest in a historic phenomena that lasted over 1000 years. The topic, witch hunts throughout history! A timeline beginning in 1000 BC follows how various religious groups have persecuted those thought to be witches up through...

Students investigate what constitutes an "un-American" activity and why Soviet espionage was such an important issue in the 1940's and 1950's. Joseph McCarthy's impact on American anticommunism is examined in this lesson plan. There are...

Students investigate the goals and methods of the House Un-American Activities Committee and offer an opinion regarding whether their investigation of Hollywood was justifiable.

Who was Joseph McCarthy and why is his name synonymous with witch hunts? What were the factors that permitted the political repression of the 1950s to flourish? Could the same thing happen today? An intriguing video traces the rise and...

High schoolers gain comprehensive background knowledge of the Salem witch trials in preparation for reading Arthur Miller's The Crucible. They participate in a role-play activity designed to simulate a modern day witch-hunt.

Students read The Crucible in order to investigate the McCarthy era and the Hollywood Blacklist. Students watch video clips of the McCarthy witch hunts and investigate the time period through online research. Students recreate sections...

Students explore the concept of individual rights. In this McCarthyism lesson, students determine how government may affect the rights of individuals as they examine the Constitution, participate in class discussions, and research the...

Eleventh graders explore the historical events of the Salem witch trials. After completing research and reading a play on the witch trials, 11th graders compare and contrast the historical facts to the fictional play. In groups, students...

Understanding the historical context of Arthur Miller's The Crucible is an important part in understanding the play itself. Over 25 slides, the audience learns details of Miller's early childhood and some major events that were happening...

Explore legendary cartoonist Herb Block's bold challenge of McCarthy-era politics through this analysis activity. Two cartoons are included, along with talking points to prompt analysis and background information to help pupils "read...

Your learners will be very interested to learn about the Stop Online Piracy Act and how copyright infringement was challenged by a bill introduced into the United States Congress in 2012. The video provides an overview of the the bill's...

Does your class or do individual learners need more practice determining the main idea of a passage of informational text? Here is a worksheet containing seven exercises that asks kids to read short paragraphs, summarize the passage in...

Young scholars examine a document from the Berlin Airlift in order to research his important event in World History.

Students read and analyze the novel, 'The Witch of Blackbird Pond.' They list choices they have in society today, conduct a debate on freedom, role-play interviews with characters from the novel, create a timeline of a character, and...

In this literature analysis worksheet, students write a paragraph using quotes and specific examples as an essay test of The Crucible.

A witch hunt simulation that is based on events from the seventeenth century Roman Empire, and set in Germany in 1628. The participant makes choices after reading the text at each step along the way. At the end of the simulation, there...

This section of the web page has a collection of resources on early European witch hunts as well as some of the Salem witch trials.

A learning module that begins with "The Salem (and Other) Witch Hunts" by Mike Kubic, accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. The text can be printed as a PDF or assigned online through...

In Hartford, Connecticut in 1662, 30 years before the infamous Salem witch trials, a witch hunt hysteria took hold, resulting in seven trials and four executions. Find out about the accusations and trials that rattled Hartford,...

Detailed discussion of misunderstandings around what happened during the European witch hunts.

Brief summary of the European Witch Hunts that took place from the 1400s through to the 1800s. This summary also looks at the impact this had on women's history.

Discusses the history of the European witch hunts, and the misrepresentation of them as gender persecution.