Collaborative Research for The Crucible
Formative Work
GOALS
Develop your skills as a communicator, collaborator, and problem solver.
Develop your skills as a researcher, as you create the background knowledge needed for an in-depth understanding of The Crucible.
Lay the groundwork for future success in summative assessments, your portfolio, and the semester-end assessment.
Step 1: Select a Research Topic
Here are some topics with questions to get you started on your research related to The Crucible. You also have the option of adding your own questions to your selected topic.
17th Century New England
The American colonies were populated by many different types of people, including the Puritans. Who were these people ? What were they like? What was their form government? What was daily life like in 17th century New England? What happened if a person broke the law?
Ergot Poisoning
What is ergot and what is ergot poisoning? What's the connection between ergot poisoning and the Salem Witch Hysteria of 1692?
Witch Trials: 16th & 17th Century
The infamous Salem Witch Trials of 1692 were not the only witch trials. Where else did witch trials and executions occur in the 16th and 17th century? (Look in the American colonies as well as Europe and Great Britain.)
McCarthyism
Explore American politics of the early 1950s. What was McCarthyism? Why did some people consider this a modern-day version of a witch hunt?
Arthur Miller
Who was Arthur Miller? What inspired him to write The Crucible? When was it on Broadway and how was it received? Has it been revived since its initial run? Why did Miller write the screenplay version of his original play?
Step 2: Research- Go with the Flow!
As you you research your selected topic (see above) and begin to dig-in to some research sources, you may get sidetracked by some interesting information you hadn't expected to find. That's great! Go with it.
This process of exploration may lead you to something that intrigues or inspires you. That's important. It will help you become invested in your topic which will help you create a fabulous summative assessment.
You are looking for ONE valid, reliable and accurate source from the following:
our class website
text resources (our lit. book, classroom resources etc. )
Step 3: Once You Have Found a Great Source...
Read and respond to your research article - adding questions, comments, connections, and highlighting interesting passages directly on the article (or on a Google Doc with a link to the article.)
Create a sub-folder for this research in your Course Folder (saved in Google Drive.)
Name this folder: Research_The Crucible
Download digital research articles and add them to your course folder. (See Mrs. Juster for how to handle print resources.)
Step 4: Collaborate!
Once you are in your collaborative research groups, you will share and discuss your research. You will also prepare to present your findings via Google Slides. Follow these steps:
Have one person in the group click here to download the Collaborative Research Notes Google Slides and then click "File" and select "Make a Copy" of "Entire Presentation".
Rename the Google Slides to include The Crucible.
Share this Google Slides file with each person in the group - making each person an editor.
Each person in your group adds their research to their slide. (See slides for specific instruction.)
Prepare to present your group's research notes to the class.
Step 5: Present
Each collaborative group will share their slides with the whole class - taking questions from the audience and elaborating on their research when needed.
When not presenting, each collaborative group will ask follow-up questions of the presentations of other groups.
All done? Not yet.
Every person in the group should have a copy of the group's completed Google Slides. Place YOUR copy in your course folder.