Grade Level: Fifth Grade
Teacher Materials:
- Some type of gavel
- Movie clip with a courtroom scene, (To Kill A Mockingbird)
Student Materials:
-Paper
-Pencils

My goals for this lesson:
-The students will get a better understanding of the Salem Witch Trials.
-The students will be able to act out the material in which they have learned about through their literature circles.
-The class will get a better understanding of the United States judicial system.
-The students will be able to work together and discuss their views on how the women were treated in Salem, Mass. during the late 1600’s.

Related NC Standard Course of Study Goals/Objectives:
1.2 Describe similarities and differences among the people of the United States, and Latin America.
2.2 Evaluate the influence of beliefs, individuals, and practices associated with major religions in the United States, Latin America.
6.3 Judge how changes in the movement of people, goods, and ideas have affected ways of living in the Western Hemisphere.
8.1 Identify the three levels of government in the United States and describe their legislative, executive and judicial functions.
8.4 Compare forms of government in the United States, Canada, and Latin America and explain how they have changed over time.

Launch:
The class as a whole will have completed their literature circles for the Salem Witch Trials unit.  They will be able to share with one another what they have learned.  The class will watch a clip from a movie with a courtroom scene (To Kill A Mockingbird).  The students will be asked to pay special attention to the people in the courtroom.  What are their jobs?  How is this all working?  The teacher will explain to the students that our judicial system has changed from back in the days of the witch trails.

Explore:
The class will decide who will act out each character.  As a group activity, the class will recreate the Salem witch trials.  Instead of having the girls represent themselves, we will have lawyers.  The defense team, prosecutions team, judge and jury will all meet together.  The teams will have to brainstorm their different points of view.  The groups will need to take note to be sure they are coming up with logical stories.  Their cases need to be filled with factual information so that this will be a learning experience.  The rest of the class can act as witnesses for either side of the cases.  They can use characters from the books, or even create some of their own.  Once the groups have had enough time, the class will have the court case.  The teacher will monitor this.  It may be a good idea that the teacher is the judge in the case, so that he/she can have control over the situation.

Summarize:
The judge and jury can confer to see who they believe proved their cases the best.  After the ruling, the students can write why they believe the case ended the way it did.  The students who did not talk, as much will be able to express their ideas through their writing.  They will answer the following questions:\
1. What did the winning group do to win the case?
2. What are at least three points they used to express their case?
3. What do you think should have done differently in the group that lost the case?
4. If you were the judge how would you have decided the case? Why?

Assessment/Evidence of Learning:
The teacher will be able to monitor this activity throughout the entire process.  The teacher can walk around seeing which children are helping plan the discussion.  The journal writings will be another way to assess.  This lesson is not really meant to “teach” so much about the Salem witch trails.  It is a review and a fun activity for the students to prove how much they learned through the literature circle.

Resources:
http://school.discovery.com/schooladventures/salemwitchtrials/tips.html
Salem Witch Trials Literature Circles