Was Puritan society governed as more of a theocracy or democracy? After comparing and contrasting a series of primary source documents, middle and high schoolers form small groups and debate the question.

Scholars learn all about the Puritans in the third installment of a 16-part lesson series. After watching a video, they read and discuss biographies of Puritans and Quakers from American history, write journal entries and poetry, and...

The Scarlet Letter may be a classic, but keeping high schoolers engaged in the reading of Hawthorne's vocabulary, syntax, imagery, and historical references presents it own set of challenges. Here's a guide that offers readers...

To further their understanding of the basis of the conflicts between the Pocumtucks and the English settlers, class members research the religious beliefs and attitudes of the Puritan farmers that settled in Deerfield, Ma.

How does or society punish people who break the law? What effect does guilt have on a person's life? In what way does or society demand we conform to certain conventions? Such questions, found in this study guide, are sure to...

Students explore the historical drama, "The Crucible" by Arthur Miller looking for examples of society's mistrust of nonconformity and the injustice that can as a result of fear.

Students examine portraits by John Singleton Copley and discuss how the subject's appearance communicates important information about his or her life. They write a diary entry from the point of view of a portrait subject.

Learners label blank maps with the names of the New England Colonies. They explain the difficulties that the Pilgrims had and how hard they worked to survive in Plymouth.

Students use maps, the Internet, graphic organizers and discussion to explore the history of the Middle American Colonies. They consider how the colonies were founded and the ideas of religious freedom and self-government they embodied.

Young scholars examine Nathaniel Hawthorne's style of humor and compare it to other humorists. They discuss the purpose of literary humor and determine how it develops characters and plots in stories. They analyze the use of different...