Thanksgiving Week School Work....

We didn't really do school this week and I'm not counting it as a week of school.  However, several of my son's outside classes still met (or had earlier assigned homework that we'll have to get done this week, sometime).

So he had algebra on Monday, as well as his piano lesson.  His teacher added a duet by Handel that he'll do with her, so that will be nice.  His father has been expressing a desire to hear him play more in the recital (but there's just not time for everyone to play multiple songs)....

His main piece is going to be a nice arrangement of Pachelbel's Canon.

We'll have to see that he gets his homework done some time over the weekend....

He had Spanish on Tuesday morning and his teacher wants him to check out another book in Spanish to read, so we'll have to pick that up some time....

His LEGO League also met (they missed last week) to practice their skit.  I'm hopeful that they're ready for their competition.

And his Soccer Clinic met.  He's really enjoying it!

During the middle of the day on Tuesday, we traveled to Centre (where my older son attends school) to see Blue Man Group at Norton Center (one of the only accoustically perfect buildings in the U.S.).  It was terrific!

And here is a You Tube video of the same finale that we got to see:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LSQK-ZDdM8&feature=related

Did I mention it was terrific fun?

We're going there to see the State Ballet of Russia doing the Nutcracker Suite next week - can't wait!

We've got to get him working on his presentation for Lit class over the weekend, too....

Fourth Grade History and Literature - Modern World

Fourth Grade History and Literature

Modern World

　

　

This was based around the SOTW IV spreads. If you need more details on the history books I used as spines, I can provide authors, etc. for those. With this time period, a lot of our reading didn’t really mirror the history subject under study (as it did with earlier time periods). Instead, we read from authors whose writings were basically contemporaneous with the time period we were studying in history.

Week 1

SOTW Ch. 1, Britain’s Empire: Victoria/ Sepoy Mutiny

History:

Read about Victorian England from Barnes and Noble World; Complete Book of World History; How Children Lived; A Child’s Eye View of History.

Read about India under the East India Company from Haywood’s Historical Atlas (19^th Century).

Lit.:

Read from Tom Brown’s School Days, Hughes
At Her Majesty’s Request
Wolves of Willoughby Chase
Watched video of A Little Princess, WB Family Entertainment 
Watched “Kim”, adapted from Rudyard Kipling’s book (Public Media Video w/ Peter O’Toole)

Student reading:

Florence Nightingale, Lucy Lethbridge (Usborne Famous Lives)
Bullseye Step Into Classics: A Little Princess (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
A Drummer Boy’s Battle: Florence Nightingale, Dave and Neta Jackson

SOTW Ch. 2, West Against East: Japan Re-Opens/ Crimean War

History:

Read from Haywood’s Atlas regarding both Japan and Russia
Read from Complete World and Usborne’s Last 500 Years re: Japan
Read excerpts from The Crimean War, Deborah Bachrach
Read from Commodore Perry in the Land of the Shogun, Rhoda Blumberg.

Lit:

Read from Russian Fairy Tales, Marie Ponsot

Student reading:

Salt: A Russian Folktale, Jane Langton
The Month-Brothers: A Slavic Tale, Samuel Marshak
The Magic Goldfish: A Russian Folktale, Aleksandr Pushkin
　

Week 2

SOTW Ch. 3, British Invasions: Great Game/ Wandering through Africa

History:

Haywood Atlas re: Africa

Read more on African Explorers and the scramble for Africa from: Complete World; Last 500 Years; Barnes and Noble World; Exploration and Discovery, Simon Adams.

Read more about areas in Africa Livingstone explored using Mozambique, R. S. James
Read from Botswana, Enchantment of the World, Jason Laure’
Read from Faces re: life in the Kalahari, among the San

Student reading:

Read from Exploring Africa, Hazel Martell and Gerald Wood (re: Stanley, Livingstone, Caillie, Barth, Richardson, Burton, Speke, Grant, etc.)

Buried in Ice: The Mystery of a Lost Arctic Expedition, Owen Beattie, et al
　
SOTW Ch. 4, Resurrection and Rebellion: Italy/ Taiping Rebellion

History:

Read about Italian unification from Barnes and Noble World
Read about the Taiping Rebellion in Complete World History and Last 500 Years　

Lit.:

Rebels of the Heavenly Kingdom, Paterson (I would hold off on this until the teen years in doing it again - or pre-read, at least)

The Life and Times of Giuseppi Verdi, Jim Whiting
　

Week 3

Civil War, SOTW Ch. 5

History:

Read from Barnes and Noble World; Complete World; Last 500 Years.
Read the Civil War section from The U.S. at War, June English and Thomas Jones (Scholastic)
Shattered Dreams: The Story of Mary Todd Lincoln, David R. Collins
Watched “Gods and Generals”, two part movie
The Boys’ War, Jim Murphy 
Looked through Civil War Days, John Bowen
Listened to part of eyewitness account by Frank Haskell of The Battle of Gettysburg
Used Haywood’s Historical Atlas
Read from Petersburg, Bruce Brager (Seiges that Changed the World series)

Read from Brown Paper School U.S. Kids’ History: Book of the American Civil War, Howard Egger-Bovet, et al

Read from The Civil War: Ulysses S. Grant, David King
Read from The Civil War: Abraham Lincoln, Deborah Kops

Lit.:

Rifles for Watie, Harold Keith
The Yearling, film version

Student Reading:

Just a Few Words, Mr. Lincoln, Fritz
The Red Badge of Courage (Great Illus. Classics)
Little Women, Bullseye Step into Classics (adapted by Monica Kulling)
Abraham Lincoln, D’Aulaires
The Value of Respect: The Story of Abraham Lincoln, Ann Donegan Johnson
Yankee Blue or Rebel Gray? The Civil War Adventures of Sam Shaw, Kate Connell
Mr. Lincoln’s Whiskers, Burke Davis

　　
Week 4 continuing Civil War readings from last week…….

Lit:

The Civil War, Marc Frey (pop-up, interactive book)

Student reading:

Bull Run, Paul Fleischman
He also read parts of Frey’s Civil War (above) on his own

The Journal of James Edmond Pease: A Civil War Union Soldier, Virginia, 1863, Jim Murphy (My Name is America series) 

　　
Week 5

SOTW Ch. 6, Two Tries for Freedom: Paraguay/ Canada

History:

Read from Last 500 Years; Barnes and Noble World; Complete World re: struggles of all South America during the 1800’s

Read from Cultures of the World: Paraguay, Leslie Jermyn
Read from Paraguay in Pictures, Lerner Publications
Read from The History of Nations: Canada, Nick Treanor, editor
Read from Canada, Star of the North, Shelley Sateren
Read Canada: Globetrotters’ Club, Janice Hamilton

Lit.:

The Call of the Wild, London 

Student reading:

The Last Safe House, Barbara Greenwood (re: underground railroad into Canada)

SOTW Ch. 7, Two Empires, Three Republics/Kingdom: 2&3/ Second Reich

History:

Read from encyclopedia regarding Napoleon III and Bismarck as our library had no books on either of them……

　
Week 6

SOTW Ch. 8, Becoming Modern: Rails, Zones and Bulbs/ Japan’s Meiji Restoration

History:

Read Across America on an Emigrant Train, Jim Murphy (re: Robert Louis Stevenson - good, but mature theme so you may want to pre-read)

Railroad Fever, Monica Halpern
Women of the Old West, Judith Alter
Read from Full Steam Ahead: The Race to Build a Continental Railroad, Rhoda Blumberg
Recapped historical period with readings from Complete World and Last 500 Years

Lit.:

The Sea Maidens of Japan, Lili Bell (simple)

Student reading:

A Picture Book of Thomas Alva Edison, David Adler
The Journey of Sean Sullivan, William Durbin (Dear America series) 

　
Week 7

SOTW Ch. 9, Two more Empires, 2 Rebellions: Dutch East Indies/ Sick Man of Europe

History:

Haywood’s Atlas re: Ottoman Empire
Listened to part of Krakatoa, Simon Winchester, on tape

Read from Bulgaria in Pictures about the land and its people up through independence in the late 1800’s from the Ottomans (Margaret J. Goldstein)

Lit.:

Read two more Jack London short stories: Brown Wolf and That Spot
White Fang, London

Student reading:

The 21 Balloons, William Pene Du Bois
Secret of the Andes, Ann Nolan Clark
Selections from a Child’s Garden of Verses, Robert Louis Stevenson (Dandelion Library)

SOTW Ch. 10, Canal to East and Very Dry Desert: War of Pacific/ Suez Canal

History:

Read about the Pacific War from Bolivia in Pictures, Lerner Publications　

　
Week 8

SOTW Ch. 11, Far Parts of the World: Iron Outlaw/ Carving up Africa

History:

Read more about Australia from Complete World
This Our Dark Country, The American Settlers of Liberia, Catherine Reef

Watched Wonders of the African World: Black Kingdoms of the Nile and The Swahili Coast, with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.; PBS film

Read from Building the Suez Canal, S. C. Burchell (Horizon Magazine)

Lit.:

The Shadows of the Ghadames, Joelle Stolz

Student Reading:

Captains Courageous, Rudyard Kipling (Great Illus. Classics)
　
SOTW Ch. 12, Unhappy Unions: Ireland’s Troubles/ Boers and British

History:

Read more on Ireland from Complete World
Feed the Children First, Irish Memories of the Great Hunger, editor Mary E. Lyons
Read from Black Potatoes, Susan Bartoletti

Lit.:

Nory Ryan’s Song, Patricia Reilly Giff - book on tape
Maggie’s Door, Giff - book on tape

　
Week 9

SOTW Ch. 13, Old Fashioned Emperor and Red Sultan: Brazil’s Rep/Abdul Hamid the Red

History:

Read from Faces: Armenia, Cobblestone

Read from Armenia: Enchantment of the World, Martin Hintz and from Cultures of the World, Armenia, Sakina Dhilawala

Listened to selection of Armenian music from “Armenia, Armenia”, a Monitor Music of the World CD
Read from Countries of the World, Brazil, Leslie Jermyn

Student reading:

So Say the Little Monkeys, Nancy Van Laan (Brazilian folklore)

SOTW Ch. 14, Two Czars and 2 Emperors: Next to last Czar of Russia/ Ethiopia and Italy

Student reading:

The Lion’s Whiskers and Other Ethiopian Tales, Brent Ashabranner, et al

　
Week 10

SOTW Ch. 15, Small Countries w/ Large Invaders: Korea/ Spanish-American War

History:

Read more about the Spanish-American War from The U.S. at War (Scholastic)

Read more about the war, Presidents, acquisition of countries and related matters (General Dewey, et al) from The Young Reader’s Companion to American History, John Garraty

Read more on Roosevelt from Teddy Roosevelt, Rough Rider, Louis Sabin and from Carry a Big Stick: The Uncommon Heroism of Theodore Roosevelt (life portion only), George Grant

Under the Royal Palms, A Childhood in Cuba, Alma Flor Ada

Lit.:

Typhoon, Joseph Conrad (Reader’s Digest Best Loved Books for Young Readers)　

Student reading:

Black Beauty, Anna Sewell (DK Eyewitness Classics)
Korean Children’s Favorite Stories, Kim So-un
　

Week 11

SOTW Ch. 16, Expansion of the U.S.

History:

Read from Haywood’s Atlas; Last 500 Years; Barnes and Noble World; Complete World.

You Wouldn’t Want to be an American Pioneer, A Wilderness You’d Rather not Tame, Jacqueline Morley

Mr. Marleys’ Main Street Confectionery, a History of Sweets and Treats, John J. Loeper
Daily Life in a Covered Wagon, Paul Erickson
Kids’ Discover: Wright Brothers
Galloping Gertrude: By Motorcar in 1908, John J. Loeper
If You Lived at the Time of the Great San Francisco Earthquake, Ellen Levine

Student reading:

My Name is America: The Journal of Otto Peltonen, A Finnish Immigrant, William Durbin
　
　
Week 12

SOTW Ch. 17, Boxer Rebellion in China / Russo-Japanese WarSOTW Ch. 18, Europe and countries East/ Persia/ Balkans

History:

Read from Last 500 Years; Complete World; Historical Atlas

Read more on the Empress Cixi from Herstory: Women Who Changed the World, editor Ruth Ashby, et al

Read about the Russo-Japanese War battles from The Battle 100: The Stories Behind History’sMost Influential Battles, Michael Lee Lanning

Re: the Balkans, read pertinent portions of 19^th century histories from:

Czech Republic, Joann Milivojevic
Slovenia, Tamra Orr
Croatia, Martin Hintz
Life in War Torn Bosnia, Diane Yancey
Nations in Transition: Bulgaria, Steven Otfinoski

Lit.:

Tales of a Korean Grandmother, Frances Carpenter

Student reading:

Sweet and Sour, Carol Kendall, et al


Week 13

SOTW Ch. 19, China, Vietnam, and France

History:

Read more about this time period from Cultures of the World: Vietnam, Audrey Seah.

Lit.:

Caddie Woodlawn, Carol Brink
Ties that Bind, Ties that Break, Lensey Namioka
Rachel’s Journal, Marissa Moss
In the Face of Danger, Jean Nixon

Student reading:

The Young Collector’s Illustrated Classics: Moby Dick, Herman Melville
Aesop’s Fables, Illustrated Junior Library, Fritz Kredel, illustrator

　
Week 14

SOTW Ch. 20, Mexican Revolution / World War I

History:

Read more about WWI from Haywood’s Historical Atlas of the 20^th Century; Complete World; Last 500 Years; Barnes and Noble World; U.S. at War (Scholastic).

A Soldier’s Life, Andrew Robertshaw
Pioneers of Science: Louis Pasteur, Nina Morgan
Clara Barton, Kathleen Deady
Read about WWI, the Treaty of Versailles, and Wilson’s 14 Points from A Young Reader’s Companion

Read from American Women of Medicine, Russell Roberts, re: Elizabeth Blackwell and Clara Barton and the Red Cross

Listened to Clara Barton: founder of the American Red Cross, Christin Ditchfield

Lit.:

Poem: The Women who Went to the Field, Clara Barton

Student reading:

Elizabeth Blackwell, The First Woman Doctor, Francene Sabin
Louis Pasteur, Carol Greene (Rookie Biography)
Usborne Famous Lives: Winsto Churchill, Katie Daynes
In Flander’s Field, John McCrae (poem)

　
Week 15

SOTW Ch. 21, Russian Revolution / End of World War I

History:

Read more on the Russian Revolution from Haywood’s 20^th Century Atlas; Complete World; Barnes and Noble World; Last 500 Years.

Lit.:

The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame
The Singing Tree, Kate Seredy

Student reading:

The Great Migration, Jacob Lawrence
Ghost Canoe, Will Hobbs
Escape from the Ice, Shackleton and the Endurance, Connie and Peter Roop
Titanic, Mark Dubowski
Titanic, Victoria Sherrow
Antarctic Adventure, Meredith Hooper

　
Week 16

SOTW Ch. 22, Easter Uprising in Ireland / Home Rule for India

History:

Read more on above topics from Complete World and Barnes and Noble World
Places and People: The Indian Subcontinent, Anita Ganeri
The Panama Canal, Scott Ingram

Lit.:

Daughter of the Mountains, Louise Rankin

Student reading:

Gandhi, Demi

　
Week 17

SOTW Ch. 23, Peace of Versailles/ Rise of StalinSOTW Ch. 24, New King in Egypt / Rise of Fascism in Europe

History:

Read more on Fascism from Last 500 Years; Barnes and Noble World; Complete World.

The Truth About History re: “The Real Reason why the Lusitania Sank”; “The Comical Farce of the Russian Revolution”; “Typhoid Mary: The Cook with the Touch of Death”; “Scott of the Antarctic Should have Lived”; and “In the Deadly Care of Florence Nightingale”

Lit.:

Thornton Burgess: The Adventures of Grandfather Frog 

Student reading:

You Want Women to Vote, Lizzie Stanton? Jean Fritz
Anderson’s Fairy Tales, Illustrator: Arthur Szyk (Illustrated Junior Library)
The Day of Ahmed’s Secret　


Week 18

SOTW Ch. 25, Chinese Revolution and the Long March

History:

Read more from B&N World; Last 500 Years; Complete World
China’s Long March, Fritz

Lit.:

The House of Sixty Fathers, Meindert Dejong

Student reading:

Homesick, Jean Fritz (autobiographical)

　
Week 19

SOTW Ch. 26, U.S. Stock Market Crash and Great Depression

History:

Read more from Last 500 Years; B&N World; Complete World.
Chapter 6 in Making of America
Read from The Great Depression, R. G. Grant

Lit.:

The Amazing Thinking Machine, Dennis Haseley
Esperanza Rising, Pam Munoz Ryan

Student reading:

Bud, not Buddy, Christopher Paul Curtis
Flying Ace: The Story of Amelia Earhart, Angela Bull

　
Week 20

SOTW Ch. 27, Spanish Civil War / Rise of Hitler

Lit.:

My Friend, the Enemy, J. B. Cheaney 

Student reading:

Toro! Toro! Michael Morpugo
Peter Pan, J. M. Barrie (Dandelion)
　

Week 21

SOTW Ch. 28, WWII / Holocaust

History:

Read from Complete World; Last 500 Years; B&N World; 20^th Century Atlas.
Jesse Owens, Champion Athlete, Rick Rennert

Lit.:

Number the Stars, Lois Lowry

Student reading:

Anne Frank: A Life in Hiding, Johanna Hurwitz
Usborne Famous Lives: Adolf Hitler, Katie Daynes
Twenty and Ten, Claire Bishop
　

Week 22

Continuing with WWII

History:

Life in the Hitler Youth, Jennifer Keeley
Hiding from the Nazis, David Adler
Auschwitz, the Story of a Nazi Death Camp, Clive Lawton
Hiroshima, the Story of the First Atom Bomb, Clive Lawton
Read from Nazi Germany: The Face of Tyranny, Ted Gottfried

Lit.:

Anne Frank, Josephine Poole

Student reading:

Hiroshima, Laurence Yep
Mieko and the Fifth Treasure, Eleanor Coerr
Hitler’s Daughter, Jackie French


Week 23

SOTW Ch. 29, End of WWII

History:

Read from Historical Atlas
The United Nations, Ann Armbruster

Watched parts of “Jehovah’s Witnesses Stand Firm Against Nazi Assault” and “Purple
Triangles” (JW’s had to wear these; like the Jewish stars)

Read about WWII soldier from A Soldier’s Life, Andrew Robertshaw

Lit.:

Rhymes and Verses, Collected Poems for Young People, Walter de la Mare

Student reading:

World War II Heroes, Ten True Tales, Allan Zullo
The Gadget, Paul Zindel
　

Week 24

SOTW Ch. 30, Partitioning of India / Palestine

History:

Read from Last 500 Years; Complete World; B&N World; Historical Atlas.
Read from People at Odds: India and Pakistan, Heather Wagner
Read from People at Odds: Israel and the Arab World, Heather Wagner

Lit.:

Habibi, Naomi Shihab Nye (Palestinian-Americans who move back to Israel in about 1970’s)

Student reading:

Neela, Victory Song, Chitra Divakaruni
Memories of Survival, Esther Krinitz, et al

Shin’s Tricycle, Tatsuharu Kodama (this is a “simple” picture book about the very complex subject of the bombing of Hiroshima - it’s hard for me to read it; you should pre-read)
　
　　
Week 25

SOTW Ch. 31, Suez Canal/Crisis / Berlin Wall/Airlift/Iron Curtain

History:

Read from New Perspectives: The Berlin Wall, R. G. Grant
Read from Historical Atlas
Suez Canal, Modern Wonders of the World, Valerie Bodden

Lit.:

Peter Rabbit Stories, Thornton Burgess
The Classic Treasury of Children’s Poetry, Egan, editor

Student reading:

Pinocchio (Dandelion)
Alice in Wonderland (Dandelion)

　
Week 26

SOTW Ch. 32, Africa After WWII / Communist China

History:

Read from Enchantment of the World: Swaziland
Witness to History: Apartheid in South Africa, David Downing

Lit.:

Warriors, Warthogs, and Wisdom, Growing up in Africa, Lyall Watson
Journey to Jo’burg, Beverley Naidoo
Out of Bounds: Seven Stories of Conflict and Hope, Beverly Naidoo

Student reading:

Heidi (Dandelion)
Rookie Biography: Nelson Mandela, Karima Grant
Nelson Mandela and the Quest for Freedom, Brian Feinberg
　
　　
Week 27

SOTW Ch. 33, Korean and Vietnam Wars　

History:

Looked through info. in The U.S. at War (Scholastic).
The Korean War, Carter Smith.
We the People: The Korean War, Andrew Santella.

Student reading:

Reader’s Digest Best Loved Books for Young Readers: Great Cases of Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Spies and Spying, Mike Potter
　

Week 28

SOTW Ch. 34, Argentina under Peron / Freedom for Belgian Congo

History:

Read from Lives of Extraordinary Women, Kathleen Krull, re: Eva Peron
Read about Eva Peron from Herstory, Ruth Ashby and Deborah Ohrn
A Walk through a Rain Forest, David and Mark Jenike (Life in the Ituri Forest of Zaire)

Lit.:

Tuck-me-in-Tales, Margaret MacDonald, read stories from Chile and Argentina
The Barefoot Book of Fairytales, Malachy Doyle, read story from Argentina
Traveling to Tondo, a tale of the Nkundo of Zaire, Verna Aardema
Rickie and Henri, Alan Marks (Jane Goodall Society)
Monkey for Sale, Janna Stanley
Monkey Business, Shirley Climo, read select stories from the Congo region, and others….

Student reading:

The Amelia Bedelia Treasury, Peggy Parish
Tuck Everlasting, Natalie Babbit
　
　　
Week 29

SOTW Ch. 35, Space Race/Cold War/ Cuban Missile Crisis

History:

On the Front Line: Spying and the Cold War, Michael Burgan
The Cuban Missile Crisis, Fred Cook
Cuba: After the Revolution, Bernard Wolf

Lit.:

The Fire-eaters, David Almond (Cuban Missile Crisis, sorta…..)

Student reading:

Horrible Harry Goes to the Moon, Suzy Kline
The Incredible Journey, Sheila Burnford
Footprints on the Moon, Alexandra Siy
I Want to be an Astronaut, Maze Productions

　
Week 30

SOTW Ch. 36, Kennedy Assassination / Civil Rights Movement

History:

Read more from Last 500 Years; B&N World
Chapter 7 of The Making of America
Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Teresa Gelsi
If You Lived at the Time of Martin Luther King, Ellen Levine

Read From The Assassination of MLK, Jr., Jacqueline Ching (re: Ray and conspiracy theories; aftermath for movement)

Lit.:

Remember: The Journey to School Integration, Toni Morrison
Linda Brown, You are Not Alone, Joyce Carol Thomas

Student reading:

DK, Free at Last! The Story of Martin Luther King, Jr., Angela Bull
Great African Americans: Martin Luther King, Jr., Man of Peace, Patricia and Fredrick McKissack
Rosa Parks, Muriel Dubois
A Mouse called Wolf, Dick King-Smith
Meet Martin Luther King, Jr., James T. Dekay
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., David A. Adler

　　
Week 31

SOTW Ch. 37, Wars re: Israel / Vietnam War

History:

Read more from Last 500 Years; B&N World; Complete World; Historical Atlas; continued Making of America, Ch. 7.

Read about the Vietnam War from The U.S. at War (Scholastic)
African Americans in the Vietnam War, Diane Canwell and Jon Sutherland
Places and People, Southeast Asia, Anita Ganeri
Voices From the Past, Vietnam War, Kathlyn and Martin Gay
Read from Israel, An Illustrated History, Daniel Schroeter

Lit.:

Water Buffalo Days, Huynh Quang Nhuong

Student reading:

Patrol, An American Soldier in Vietnam, Walter Dean Myers
The Land I Lost: Adventures of a Boy in Vietnam, Huynh Quang Nhuong

　
Week 32

SOTW Ch. 38, End of Cold War Conflicts / Rise of Terrorism

History:

Ch. 8, Making of America
Read from Enchantment of the World, Afghanistan, re: its attempted takeover by Russia and events since
Read Chapter on Brezhnev Era from The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union, John Matthews
Hamas: Palestinian Terrorists, Maxine Rosaler

Lit.:

The Breadwinner, Deborah Ellis
Parvana’s Journey, Deborah Ellis 

Student reading:

Afghanistan, Bob Italia
Afghanistan, Many Cultures, One World, Barbara Knox

　
Week 33

SOTW Ch. 39, India / Iraq

History:

Read from Cultures of the World: Iraq, Susan Hassig, et al re: independence in 1932; military coups; Iran-Iraq War; Gulf Wars; terrorism and government.

Indira Gandhi, Trevor Fishlock

Student reading:

Great Illustrated Classics: The War of the Worlds, H. G. Wells

　
Week 34

SOTW Ch. 40, Nuclear Power / Chernobyl / Three Mile Island / Reagan

History:

Ronald Reagan: From Silver Screen to Oval Office, Time for Kids, editor Denise Patrick
The Picture Life of Ronald Reagan, Don Lawson
The Chernobyl Catastrophe, Graham Rickard
Read from Last 500 Years; B&N World; Complete World; Historical Atlas.

Student reading:

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Mark Twain, Reader’s Digest Best-loved Books for Young Readers

　
Week 35

SOTW Ch. 41, Cultural Revolution in China / End of Communism in Russia

History:

Read more on Afghani people and culture from Enchantment of the World: Afghanistan
Red Land, Yellow River, Ange Zhang 
Read from Historical Atlas re: end of communism, etc.　

Student reading:

Swiss Family Robinson, Illustrated Junior Library

　
Week 36

SOTW Ch. 42, End of 20^th Century and issues

History:

Read from B&N World; Complete World; Last 500 Years re: end of 20^th century and issues: computer tech, satellites, International Space Station, UN policing of the world, Saddam Hussein, first Gulf War, etc.

Persian Gulf War, Kathlyn and Martin Gay

Meltdown: A Race Against Nuclear Disaster at Three Mile Island, A Reporter’s Story, Wilborn Hampton (includes section on Chernobyl)

Student reading:

Getting to Know the U.S. Presidents: Ronald Reagan, Mike Venezia

　

Sixth Grade Earth and Space Science Study....

Sixth Grade Earth and Space Science

KEY: 

MSN = MSNucleus website                                                 

HEW = Reader’s Digest How the Earth Works

HWW = How the Weather Works                                

HUW=How the Universe Works

Used MS Nucleus site on earth and space science as my “spine” for the year.  Slightly reordered their topics for the year.  Their stuff includes plenty of activities and labs. 

Even though we covered space for only the last ten weeks in depth, we followed current events in space using NASA and SpaceWeather.com all school year. 

Although I listed HEW, HWW, and HUW, I really did not end up using them for the year as the MSNucleas website, along with Oregon State's Volcano World (and an outside class I taught using that site) were enough.  He also did an outside astronomy class for 8 weeks in the fall.

Week 1

MS Nucleus:  “Type of Maps”

Possible extra reading/work projects for first two weeks:

HEW, Shape of the Earth, pgs. 22-31 - includes projects

The Amazing Pop-Up Geography Book, Kate Petty and Jennie Maizels (fun intro)

[Pages 295 through end of McGraw Hill’s Complete Book of Maps and Geography, dealing with mapping using lines of latitude and longitude, as well as time zones.]

Use The World in Maps books for practice using different types of maps: Northern and Western Asia; Australia, the Pacific, and Antarctica, both by Martyn Bramwell.

National Geo. Society: The Earth Pack, Ron van der Meer and Ron Fisher - last spread on mapping (pop-up book).

Son read:

Geography from A to Z, a picture glossary, Jack Knowlton (simple)

Reader’s Digest Explorer Guides, Way to Go! Finding Your Way with a Compass - includes projects

Magic School Bus book on Amazing Magnetism (simple)

My Town, Usborne (simple)

Land Masses, Fun, Facts and Activities, Caroline Arnold (simple) - includes projects

Field Trip: Visited Raven Run and did orienteering class (Also did another one in the spring at a Louisville area park)

Week 2

MS Nucleus: “Maps as a Tool”

HWW, Weather Mapping, pgs 166-183 - with projects

Also continued with readings and projects from last week.

Son began reading through Kids’ Survival Handbook, Claire Llewellyn

Field Trip: any stargazing 

Week 3-4

MSN: “Evidence of Plate Tectonics”

Additional readings/work:

HEW, Earth’s Structure, pgs. 34-53 - with projects

Nat. Geo Earth Pack, first spread on planet earth

Eyewitness Earth

Nature Company Guides: Rocks and Fossils, Arthur B. Busbey III, et al, pgs. 30-41

Science Nature Guides: Mountains and Valleys, The Changing World, Steve and Jane Parker

pertinent portions of Rand McNally’s Children’s Atlas of Earth through Time

Son read:

Wonders of the Seasons, Keith Brandt (simple)

Arctic Lights, Arctic Nights, Debbie Miller

Look Inside the Earth, Gina Ingoglia, Grosset and Dunlap pub.

Reader’s Digest Pathfinders, Rocks and Minerals, pgs. 6-11

(Did cave study here while we were talking about “what’s inside the earth”.  It might have been a better fit with weathering and erosion, but I covered soil studies at that time, so I thought that timewise it would fit better here.)

Regarding more specific study of caves:

Caving: Exploring Limestone Caves, Larry Dane Brimner

Caves, George Laycock

Caves: Facts, Stories, Activities, Jenny Wood, Scholastic

Kentucky Archaeological Survey handouts on caves

Son Read:

In the Dark Cave, Richard Watson (simple)

Caves and Caverns Activity Book, Kate Coder, Audrey Taylor and Ann Molosky (simple)

Field Trip: Visited caves in our area

Weeks 5-6

MSN: “Volcanoes”

Additional readings/work:

HEW, Volcanic Earth, pgs. 54-61 - projects

Nat. Geo Earth Pack, third spread

pertinent portions of Science and Nature Guides: Earthquakes and Volcanoes, The Changing World, John Stidworthy - includes activities

Nature Co. Rocks and Fossils, pgs. 42-43; 186-187

Son Read:

Magic School Bus Voyage to the Volcano (simple)

Volcano Alert! Paul Challen

Eye Wonder Volcano

Reader’s Digest Pathfinders: Earthquakes and Volcanoes, pertinent portions

Reader’s Digest Pathfinders: Rocks and Minerals, pgs. 12-13

Field Trip: any area stargazing happenings....

Week 7-8

MSN: “Earthquakes”

Additional readings/work:

HEW, Earthquakes, pages 62-73 - projects

Nat Geo Earth Pack, second spread

pertinent portions of Science Nature Guide: Earthquakes and Volcanoes (used above) - includes activities

Earthquake Games, Matthys Levy and Mario Salvadori

Nature Co. Rocks and Fossils, pgs. 44-45

continue Reader’s Digest Pathfinder from last week - Son read

Son Read:

Earthquake Alert!  Shilpa Mehta-Jones

Field Trip: Gem and Mineral show at Armory

Week 9

MSN: “Minerals”

Additional reading/work:

HEW, Rocks and Minerals, pages 74-79 - projects

Eyewitness Rocks and Minerals

Eyewitness Handbooks: Rocks and Minerals, Chris Pellant (field guide)

Nature Co. Rocks and Fossils, pgs. 46-47; 70-79; 86-87

Son Read:

Rocks and Minerals at Your Fingertips, Judy Nayer (simple)

Reader’s Digest Pathfinders: Rocks and Minerals, pgs. 24-29

Field Trip: UK Geology Dept. open house w/ Geological Survey

Week 10-11

MSN: “Igneous Rocks”

Additional reading/work:

HEW, pgs 80-81

Nature Co. Rocks and Fossils, pgs. 48-49; 138-142

Continue with:

Eyewitness Rocks and Minerals

Eyewitness Handbooks: Rocks and Minerals, Chris Pellant (field guide)

Rocks and Minerals at Your Fingertips, Judy Nayer (simple) - Son read

Reader’s Digest Pathfinders: Rocks and Minerals, pgs. 18-19 - Son read

Week 12-13

MSN: “Sedimentary Rocks”

Additional reading/work:

HEW, pgs. 84-87

Nature Co. Rocks and Fossils, pgs. 50-51; 143-149

Continue with:

Eyewitness Rocks and Minerals

Eyewitness Handbooks: Rocks and Minerals, Chris Pellant (field guide)

Son Read:

Rocks and Minerals at Your Fingertips, Judy Nayer (simple)

Reader’s Digest Pathfinders: Rocks and Minerals, pgs. 20-21

Field Trip: any fall sky viewing opportunities....

Week 14-15

MSN: “Metamorphic Rocks”

Additional reading/work:

HEW, pgs. 82-83

Nature Co. Rocks and Fossils, pgs. 52-55; 150-153

Continue with:

Eyewitness Rocks and Minerals

Eyewitness Handbooks: Rocks and Minerals, Chris Pellant (field guide)

Son Read:

Rocks and Minerals at Your Fingertips, Judy Nayer (simple)

Reader’s Digest Pathfinders: Rocks and Minerals, pgs. 16-17; 22-23

Week 16

MSN: “Gems”

Additional reading/work:

HEW, pgs. 90-91

Nature Co. Rocks and Fossils, pgs. 82-87; 154-183

Continue with:

Eyewitness Rocks and Minerals

Eyewitness Handbooks: Rocks and Minerals, Chris Pellant (field guide)

Son Read:

Rocks and Minerals at Your Fingertips, Judy Nayer (simple)

Reader’s Digest Pathfinders: Rocks and Minerals, pgs. 30-45

Field Trip: visit an area jeweler, if possible, to see gemstones being cut and talk to them about how they work....

Week 17

MSN: “Past Life”

Additional reading/work:

HEW, Fossils, pgs. 88-89

Guide to Progression of Life, Stephen Greb, UK Geological Survey

Utilized trilobite worksheets from UK Geological Survey

Nature Co. Rocks and Fossils, pgs. 14-27; 60-69; 90-131; 204-271

pertinent portions of Rand McNally’s Children’s Atlas of Earth through Time

Son Read:

Reader’s Digest Pathfinders: Rocks and Minerals, pgs. 60-61

Read any books on dinosaurs or other ancient life we had time for, such as:

Where are all the Dinosaurs? Mary O’Neill, Troll Assoc.

Graveyards of the Dinosaurs, Shelley Tanaka

Woolly Mammoth, Life, Death, and Rediscovery, Windsor Chorlton

The Magic School Bus in the Time of the Dinosaurs 

Let’s Dig a Dinosaur, Edmon J. Rodman 

Ice Age Cave Bear, Barbara Hehner

Field Trip: We visited a private fossil collection that had been put on temporary display to the public.  The trip included some art activities, too, as it was held at an art museum....

Week 18-19

MSN: “Stratigraphy”

Additional reading/work:

HEW, pgs. 92-103, including SOIL - with activities

Nature Co. Rocks and Fossils, pgs. 56-57; 188-201

USDA soil handouts

Continue with Eyewitness Rocks and Minerals

Son Read:

Usborne Starting Point Science: What’s Under the Ground? (simple)

Reader’s Digest Pathfinders: Rocks and Minerals, pgs. 14-15; 46-47; 56-57

Week 20

MSN: “Petroleum/Mining”

Additional reading/work:

Oil, Peter Murray

Oil Spills: Damage, Recovery, and Prevention, Laurence Pringle

Kentucky Coal Facts booklet

Calypso Log: Prestige Oil Spill: Predictable Disaster

After the Spill: The Exxon Valdez Disaster, Then and Now, Sandra Markle

Used Kentucky coal education website: http://www.coaleducation.org and samples of different types of coal

Son Read:

Reader’s Digest Pathfinders: Rocks and Minerals, pgs. 48-55

Week 21

MSN: “Water”

Additional reading/work:

HEW pgs. 104-139 - with activities

Nat Geo Earth Pack, fourth and fifth spreads, covering water and ice/snow

Our Vital Wetlands brochure and other activity books, etc. related to water from state fair

Sequences of Earth and Space: Rivers, Andres Llamas Ruiz

Niagara Falls, Nature’s Wonder, Leonard Everett Fisher

pertinent portions of Science Nature Guides: Oceans and Rivers, The Changing World, Dr. Frances Dipper

Quicksand, Kris Hirschmann

Water Cycle wristband activity

Week 22

MSN: “Oceanography”

Additional reading/work:

HEW, pgs. 140-149 - with activities

pertinent portions of Oceans and Rivers, from last week

portions of What Makes an Ocean Wave? Melvin and Gilda Berger

The Kingfisher Young People’s Book of Oceans

Bill Nye the Science Guy’s Big Blue Ocean - Son Read

Biomes/Atlases: Oceans and Beaches, Trevor Day

The Nature Company Discoveries Library: Under the Sea, portions

Reader’s Digest Pathfinders: Rocks and Minerals, pgs. 58-59

Usborne Storms and Hurricanes - Son Read

Tracking Trash: Flotsam, Jetsam, and the Science of Ocean Motion - Son Read

Week 23-24

MSN: “Atmosphere”

Additional reading/work:

HEW, pgs. 150-165 - with activities

Usborne Understanding Geography: Storms and Hurricanes, Kathy Gemmell

Tornadoes, Seymour Simon

Magic School Bus Inside a Hurricane, Son read

Week 25-26

MSN: “Weather”

Additional reading/work:

HEW, pgs. 166-181

Utilize How the Weather Works as much as possible

pertinent portions of Usborne Weather and Climate, continued from last week

Nat Geo Earth Pack, spread on winds and storms

use various posters and handouts on weather and storms

Explore!  Wild Weather (magazine)

Weather, Seymour Simon (Smithsonian)

Son read:

Magic School Bus Electric Storm (simple)

Kids Discover: Weather

Space Science

Week 27-28

MSN: “Stars and Beyond”

Additional reading/work:

HUW, pgs. 106-151

Starry Skies, Linda Rosenstock

Children’s Night Sky Atlas, Robin Scagell, DK

Do Stars Have Points? Melvin and Gilda Berger

Reader’s Digest Pathfinders: Space, pgs. 46-end

The Usborne Complete Book of Astronomy and Space, pertinent portions

The Stargazers Guide to the Galaxy, Q. L. Pearce

Usborne Spotter’s Guides: The Night Sky

Visual Factfinder: Stars and Planets, James Muirden, pertinent portions

A Guide to Skywatching, David Levy, pertinent portions

Our Solar System, pgs 30-37

Kingfisher Astronomy

Son read:

DK Picturepedia: Space, pgs. 6-9; 38-41

The Ultimate DK Night Sky, Glow in the Dark, Sticker Book

One Small Square: The Night Sky, Donald Silver

Discovering the Stars, Laurence Santrey (simple)

(Week 29-34: Solar System)

Week 29

MSN: “Solar System”

Additional reading/work, regarding primarily Earth:

HEW, pgs. 12-17- with activities

HUW, pgs. 16-31- with activities

Usborne Complete Astronomy and Space, pgs. 12-13; 22-23

A Guide to Skywatching, pgs. 230-231; 244-245

Pathfinders: Space, pgs. 22-25

Visual Factfinder

Kingfisher Astronomy

Son Read:

Picturepedia: Space, pgs. 26-27

Week 30

Additional reading/work, regarding primarily our Moon:

HUW, pgs. 38-53 - with activities

HEW, pgs. 20-21

A Guide to Skywatching, pgs. 234-239

Complete Book of Astronomy and Space, pgs. 24-25

Pathfinders: Space, pgs. 26-27

read article saved regarding the Blue Moon

Our Solar System, pgs 12-15

Visual Factfinder

Use Earth, Moon, and Sun Model

Kingfisher Astronomy

Son Read:

Kids Discover: Moon

listen to book on tape: Moon, Laurence Santrey, Troll Assoc.

Week 31

Additional reading/work, regarding primarily our Sun:

HUW, pgs. 90-105 - with activities

HEW, pgs. 18-19

Complete Book of Astronomy and Space, pgs. 14-17

A Guide to Skywatching, pgs. 232-233

Our Solar System, pgs 4-5

Visual Factfinder

Kingfisher Astronomy

Son Read:

Pathfinders: Space, pgs. 28-29

Kids Discover: Solar System

Week 32

Additional reading/work, regarding movement of the planets in our solar system, Mercury and Venus.

HUW, pgs. 58-67 - with activities

Pathfinders: Space, pgs. 30-31

A Guide to Skywatching, pgs. 240-243

Complete Book of Astronomy and Space, pgs. 18-21

begin reading through Don’t Know Much About the Solar System, Kenneth Davis

Our Solar System, pgs. 6-9

Visual Factfinder

Kingfisher Astronomy

Son read:

Picturepedia: Space, pgs. 28-29

Postcards from Pluto: A Tour of the Solar System, Loreen Leedy

Week 33

Additional reading/work, regarding primarily Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus.

HUW, pgs. 68-77 - with activities

Pathfinders: Space, pgs. 32-33; 36-40

Complete Book of Astronomy and Space, pgs. 26-33

A Guide to Skywatching, pgs. 246-253

Destination: Jupiter, Seymour Simon

Our Solar System, pgs. 16-17; 20-23

Visual Factfinder

Kingfisher Astronomy

Son Read:

Picturepedia: Space, pgs. 30-34

Week 34

Additional reading/work, regarding primarily Neptune, Pluto, Planet X, planetary probes, comets, shooting stars.

HUW, pgs. 78-89 - with activities

Complete Book of Astronomy and Space, pgs. 34-41

Pathfinders: Space, pgs. 34-35; 40-45

A Guide to Skywatching, pgs. 254-263

Comets, Meteors, and Asteroids, Seymour Simon

Our Solar System, pgs. 24-29; 18-19

Visual Factfinder

Kingfisher Astronomy

Son Read:

Picturepedia: Space, pgs. 34-35 

Week 35-36

MSN: “Space Exploration”

Additional reading/work:

HUW, pgs. 32-35; 54-55; 84-85

Complete Book of Astronomy and Space, pgs. 42-44

A Guide to Skywatching, pgs. 265-end

Pathfinders: Space, pgs. 6-19

Eyewitness: Space Exploration

I Want to be an Astronaut, Catherine Grace, Troll Assoc. - Son read

Heroes of Space, D. C. Agle (pop-up book)  - Son read

The Ultimate Space Sticker Book, DK - Son read

Can You Hear a Shout in Space? Melvin and Gilda Berger - Son read

Nat. Geo. Are We Alone? Scientists Search for Life in Space, Gloria Skurzynski

I Didn’t Know that You Can Jump Higher on the Moon, Kate Petty - Son read

utilize articles saved about space exploration and articles about Roger; articles on space

Our Solar System, pgs. 39-43

Visual Factfinder

Kingfisher Astronomy

Son Read:

Picturepedia: Space, pgs. 10-25; 36-37; 42-end

Field Trip:  Attended HS Day at the USAF Museum, Dayton

I created a big activity note book for the year with tabs for each topic we covered.  In it I placed work book pages from McGraw Hill's Complete Book of Science 5/6 that were applicable, as well as work sheets I found online from sites such as Enchanted Learning; teachers' resource pages for treasure hunts related to the Eyewitness books, etc.

When studying soil, we used our Science in a Nutshell kit: Soil Studies.