Colonial New England Teacher Pass

Bonnets optional.

When teaching colonial New England, you need to take students back in time to when things were a little more dramatic than Red Sox/Yankees rivalries. (And yes, we know New York isn't in New England). Colonists had bigger fish to fry, like smallpox and alleged witches.

In this guide you will find

  • activities and resources exploring everyone's second-favorite trial, the Salem Witch Trial. (O.J. Simpson took over the top spot in the 1990s.)
  • assignments to help students experience the religious fervor of the time, like the fiery sermons of Jonathan Edwards.
  • literary connections to books like The Crucible and The Scarlet Letter.

There's no reason to feel like you're about to be burned at the stake. Our guide is all the magic you'll need.

What's Inside Shmoop's History Teaching Guides

Shmoop is a labor of love from folks who love to teach. Our teaching guides will help you supplement in-classroom learning with fun, engaging, and relatable learning materials that bring history to life.

Inside each guide you'll find quizzes, activity ideas, discussion questions, and more—all written by experts and designed to save you time. Here are the deets on what you get with your teaching guide:

  • 3-5 Common Core-aligned activities (including quotation, image, and document analysis) to complete in class with your students, with detailed instructions for you and your students. 
  • Discussion and essay questions for all levels of students.
  • Reading quizzes to be sure students are looking at the material through various lenses.
  • Resources to help make the topic feel more relevant to your 21st-century students.
  • A note from Shmoop’s teachers to you, telling you what to expect from teaching the topic and how you can overcome the hurdles.

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