Salem Witch Trials Resources and Supplements
Dates covered: 1692-1693, Massachusetts
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Sonlight Selection:
- The Landmark History of the American People, Volume I
- American History: A Visual Encyclopedia
- The Beginner’s American History
- The Witch of Blackbird Pond (with worksheets)
Arts and Crafts:
Books (All Ages):
1692
A Break with Charity Susanna desperately wants to join the circle of girls who meet every week at the parsonage. What she doesn’t realize is that the girls are about to set off a torrent of false accusations leading to the imprisonment and execution of countless innocent people. Susanna faces a painful choice. A Story about the Salem Witch Trials. Level 4.7, but longer for more mature students. Older students.
Accused of Witchcraft From 1692 through 1693 neighbors were accusing neighbors of witchcraft and sentencing one another to death. Follow along with the true story of a doomed town amid some of the world’s most famous witch trials. Level 5.4. Massachusetts.
Beyond the Burning Time When young Betty Parris contracts a mysterious ailment that spreads to other girls in her Puritan village of Salem, Betty and her family must confront the deadly superstitions that will change their lives. Level 5.6. Mature Older students.
Fire and Brimstone: Salem Witch Trials (Behind the Curtain) A Play. The events surrounding the Salem Witch Trials did not look the same to everyone involved. Step back in time and into the shoes of a minister, an accused witch, and an accuser as readers act out the scenes that took place in the midst of this historic event. Written with simplified, considerate text to help struggling readers, books in this series are made to build confidence as readers engage and read aloud. Middle students.
I Walk in Dread: The Diary of Deliverance Trembly, Witness to the Salem Witch Trials, Massachusetts Bay Colony A Dear America book. Deliverance Trembley lives in Salem Village, where she must take care of her sickly sister, Mem, and where she does her daily chores in fear of her cruel uncle’s angry temper. But when four young girls from the village accuse some of the local women of being witches, Deliverance finds herself caught up in the ensuing drama of the trials. Older students
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Salem Witch Trials: Colonial Life What was life like in the colonies back in 1692? It was pretty scary if you lived in Salem, Massachusetts! That year, the town of Salem seemed to think everyone was a witch. Even children as young as four years old were accused of being witches! These witches were harshly punished, too. It was even worse for them if they didn’t confess. Why did the witch hunt happen? How did it finally come to an end? Younger to Middle students.
The Crucible: A Play in Four Acts Based on historical people and real events, Arthur Miller’s play uses the destructive power of socially sanctioned violence unleashed by the rumors of witchcraft as a powerful parable about McCarthyism. Older students.
The Devil’s Door: A Salem Witchcraft Story Sarah Wright and her father came to Salem Village to start a new life. But a strange affliction began tormenting some young girls in the village. Set in colonial America, follow Sarah Wright on her journey in this terrifying tale of the Salem witchcraft trials. Level 4.9. Massachusetts. Middle to Older Students.
The Sacrifice In the year 1692, life changes forever for ten-year-old Abigail Faulkner. In Salem, Massachusetts, witches have been found, and widespread fear and panic reign mere miles from Abigail’s home of Andover. When two girls are brought from Salem to identify witches in Andover, suspicion sweeps the town as well-respected members of the community are accused of witchcraft. It isn’t long before chaos consumes Andover, and the Faulkners find themselves in the center of it all. Historical fiction, with lots of intense scenes. Level 4.6. Massachusetts. Older students.
The Salem Witch Trials: An Unsolved Mystery from History
When a group of girls came down with a horrible, mysterious bout of illness, they pointed the finger at people in their community they claimed were witches. Soon, the whole town was convinced they were in danger from supernatural forces. Today, we have details about the accusations, trials, and those who lost their lives, but the question remains: What caused the mass hysteria? Become a detective, study the clues, and see if you can help solve this chilling mystery from history! Younger to Middle students.
The Salem Witch Trials: An Interactive History Adventure A Choose-Your-Adventure Book. The colony of Massachusetts in 1692 was a harsh place. Disease, hunger, and the threat of war made life stressful. Colonists clung to their religious faith and looked for someone to blame. Some accused their fellow colonists of causing the troubles through the practice of witchcraft. The hysteria spread until no one was safe. Will you: Attempt to defend yourself against charges of witchcraft? Try to keep your family together as your mother is put on trial? Accuse someone else of being a witch?
The Salem Witch Trials (Cornerstones of Freedom) Even before the first glorious ring of the Liberty Bell, America was a land of freedom and promise. The Cornerstones of Freedom series explores what inspires people from all over the world to start life anew here, endure the economic and social upheavals, and defend the land and rights that are unique to the United States of America. Readers will find out why the people of Salem had such a powerful fear of witches, why certain people were more likely to be accused, and how innocent people were tried and found guilty in a long string of court trials. Middle to Older students.
The Salem Witch Trials (We the People) Describes the community of Salem, Massachusetts, its Puritan beliefs, and the troubles occurring in 1692 when accusations of people practicing witchcraft led to famous trials. Middle to older students.
The Salem Witch Trials Follow the beginnings of the witchcraft hysteria that led to the Salem witch trials and learn about the impact of these trials on the people and community. Nonfiction. Level 5.7. Massachusetts. Middle to Older students.
The Salem Witch Trials Tells the story of the 1692 witchcraft trials in Salem, Massachusetts. Written in graphic-novel format. Some of the pictures are graphic (hangings, etc.). Level 4.2. Middle students.
The Salem Witch Trials Graphic Novel. The time of the Salem Witch Trials is fascinating. Traditional history books cannot possibly capture the aura of fear and paranoia in the way that illustrated art paired with captions and speech balloons can. Learners will come away with a richer understanding of history and a greater enjoyment of reading, too!
The True Story of the Salem Witch Hunts The story of the Salem witch hunts in Massachusetts in 1692 describes social conditions, the first accusations, the trials, the spread of accusations and accusers through the area, and the end of the crisis, and discusses possible explanations. Nonfiction. Level 4.8. Massachusetts. Middle students.
The Witchcraft of Salem Village Stories of magic, superstition, and witchcraft were strictly forbidden in the little town of Salem Village. But a group of young girls ignored those rules, spellbound by the tales told by a woman named Tituba. When questioned about their activities, the terrified girls set off a whirlwind of controversy as they accused townsperson after townsperson of being witches. Author Shirley Jackson examines in careful detail this horrifying true story of accusations, trials, and executions that shook a community to its foundations. Landmark series. Middle students.
What Were the Salem Witch Trials? Part of the Who Was series. Nonfiction. Level 5.3. Middle students.
Who Were the Accused Witches of Salem?: And Other Questions about the Witchcraft Trials In June 1692, a jury in Salem, Massachusetts, found Bridget Bishop guilty of performing witchcraft. The only evidence against her was the villagers’ testimony. As punishment, she was publicly hanged. Meanwhile, local girls had been behaving oddly for months. They cried out of being pinched or choked by a witch’s spirit. The girls accused neighbors, outcasts, and respected community members of tormenting them. As fear spread through Salem, jails filled with the accused. In the end, nineteen people were hanged for witchcraft in one of the darkest moments in U.S. history. Younger to Middle students.
Witches! The Absolutely True Tale of Disaster in Salem The riveting, true story of the victims, accused witches, crooked officials, and mass hysteria that turned a mysterious illness affecting two children into a witch hunt that took over a dozen people’s lives and ruined hundreds more unfolds in chilling, novelistic detail. NOT for sensitive students, and has unsettling pictures. Level 7.8. Middle to Older students.
Witch Hunt: It Happened in Salem Village A Step Into Reading book. It is 1692. In a small village in Massachusetts, strange things are starting to happen. One girl cries out for no reason. Another shakes and falls to the ground. Are witches at work? Soon everyone suspects neighbors, friends–even relatives! Here is the terrible but true story about the time in America when people were condemned for witchcraft. Younger to Middle students.
Witch Hunt: Mysteries of the Salem Witch Trials Salem, Massachusetts, 1692. In a plain meetinghouse a woman stands before her judges. The accusers, girls and young women, are fervent and overexcited. The accused is a poor, unpopular woman who had her first child before she was married. As the trial proceeds the girls begin to wail, tear their clothing, and scream that the woman is hurting them. Some of them expose wounds to the horrified onlookers, holding out the pins that have stabbed them — pins that appeared as if by magic. Are they acting or are they really tormented by an unseen evil? Whatever the cause, the nightmare has begun: The witch trials will eventually claim twenty-five lives, shatter the community, and forever shape the American social conscience. If you have an older student who wants to delve into the history and causes of the witch trials in more detail, this is a great starting point. Level 8.8 .Older students.
You Wouldn’t Want to be a Salem Witch: Bizarre Accusations You’d Rather Not Face Nonfiction, part of the You Wouldn’t Want To series. Level 5.1. Massachusetts. Middle students.
1660
A Bit of Lovilness among the witchcraft.
The Tinker’s Daughter This is the story of Mary Bunyan, daughter of John Bunyan who would later write Pilgrim’s Progress. While this book has little, if anything to do with American history, I wanted to add it in here as it is a great Christian book with a great message. Level 4.3
1680
The Witch of Blackbird Pond Sixteen-year-old Kit Tyler is marked by suspicion and disapproval from the moment she arrives on the unfamiliar shores of colonial Connecticut in 1687. Kit struggles to survive in a hostile place. Just when it seems she must give up, she finds a kindred spirit. But Kit’s friendship with Hannah Tupper, believed by the colonists to be a witch, proves more taboo than she could have imagined and ultimately forces Kit to choose between her heart and her duty. Connecticut. Older students.
Coloring Pages/Drawing:
Documentaries and Videos
- Witch Hunt in Salem: One of the Darkest Chapters of the History of the United States Note: Contains sensitive content, may be hard for younger students to watch
- What really happened during the Salem Witch Trials – Brian A. Pavlac Sensitive viewers may find some of the images and content troubling.
- The Salem Witchcraft Trials (1692) | A Witch-Hunt in Massachusetts
Museums/Field Trips (including virtual):
Songs:
