Once and Future King as a unit study?

[swimmermom3]

For those of you that read Once and Future King this year, what do you think of the book as the base for a unit study? Yes, I know this defies the four-year history cycle, but bear with me. I may be teaching my nephew for 7th grade next year. It would be better for 8th grade but who knows what will happen by then. I am thinking of something that is a cross between LLfLOTR and Further Up and Further In. I want vocabulary development, literary analysis, nature studies, medieval history studies, and hands-on projects. I am hoping that Abbey weighs in with some of her ideas for the 20th century. Anyone care to throw out some more topic ideas?

[8filltheheart]

I really had to add tons to FUFI. We didn't use it as a full-fledged unit study b/c I didn't even attempt to incorporate science.

 

She really enjoyed it. We didn't spend as much time on the vocab with her (I used it with my 3rd grader) b/c she was doing CE2. But since I am completely dropping all MCT, we will be depending more on the Anne units.

 

As far as developing your own, it really isn't that hard. I have done it multiple times in the past. I actually like the ones I did on my own better. I am just not as disciplined as I used to be (and I have lost a large % of my brain cells!!) So, using someone elses product and expanding on it is easier to keep me directed. I'm sure you'll be able to generate something wonderful!! I would recommend a book like "Let the Authors Speak" (I don't think it is in print anymore, but there is a title that does something similar). It really helps to get things organized more easily.

 

ETA: Ohhhh, I forgot.....I actually did create a pseudo-unit study this semester for my older 2. We dropped their regular lit programs. I needed some umph to get through the rest of the yr. So I actually did what Paula had talked about; I created a study around the movie Inception. We focused on perception and philosophy. They have enjoyed it, read books that I would normally never assign, and are creating some really cool projects. (I am NOT a project person. My 11th grader is going way overboard on it. She told me......you never let us do projects. THis is my first real project so I am going to have fun with it. Trust me, she is!!)

Edited April 30, 2011 by 8FillTheHeart

[swimmermom3]

You know that when you tell me something "isn't too hard" I tend to roll my eyes, smack my forehead, and mutter, "If you have as much experience as Eight," right? I'll come watch the little ones for you if you will map this out for me.:D

[Skadi]

Get vocab lists from vocabulary.com. Here's the one for The Once and Future King.

 

Create a piece of fiction incorporating characteristics of Arthurian literature.

 

Play a roleplaying game like Legends of Excalibur: Arthurian Adventures. This is actually one of my favorite RPG books.

 

Learn about what daily life in a medieval castle was like, with books like this.

 

Play a board game like Days of Wonder: Shadows Over Camelot.

 

Ask them to choose one person they know who exhibits the qualities of chivalry. They could write a paragraph or two on why they chose that person, and if you wanted to go the extra mile, you could ask them to interview the person about how they might define honor and virtue.

 

Write a short poem on one of the characters from Arthurian legend.

 

Write an essay on a virtue that you admire but have trouble manifesting in your daily life.

 

Listen to a King Arthur audiobook, like this one narrated by Sean Bean.

 

Watch a documentary style film about King Arthur, such as this A&E film.

 

Visit a Renaissance Fair or (even better!) a SCA event.

 

Design your own coat of arms, using this helpful book.

 

Cook your own medieval feast, including cider, brie, makerouns, glazed carrots, meat pies and apple tarts. You could eat it outdoors under a canvas tent.

 

That's all I can think of. :)

[8filltheheart]

You know that when you tell me something "isn't too hard" I tend to roll my eyes, smack my forehead, and mutter, "If you have as much experience as Eight," right? I'll come watch the little ones for you if you will map this out for me.:D

 

It really isn't that hard.

 

I would probably include the following:

 

*a study of the role and history of the monarchy in England.

*research the code of chivalry

*a study on the Knight's Templar (EWTN has quite a bit if you search their website. Here are just a couple: http://www.ewtn.com/vnews/getstory.asp?number=94837

http://www.ewtn.com/vondemand/audio/dload1.asp?audiofile=cathhh03.mp3&source=frmselectseries.asp&seriesID=&T1=knights%20templar

http://www.ewtn.com/vondemand/audio/dload1.asp?audiofile=milorders_05.mp3&source=frmselectseries.asp&seriesID=&T1=knights%20templar

http://www.ewtn.com/vondemand/audio/dload1.asp?audiofile=milorders_08.mp3&source=frmselectseries.asp&seriesID=&T1=knights%20templar

*research on weaponry, armor, blacksmithing

*role of jousting, tournaments

*research on the truth/legend of Arthur (my 11th grade dd went through a huge Arthur phase in middle school. She read Arthur: The King in the West by R W Dunning. http://www.amazon.com/ARTHUR-King-West-Robert-Dunning/dp/1848682425/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_11)

*LISTEN (not read since it is a 7th grader) to Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (my ds absolutely LOVED it in 6th or 7th) Our library had this version which we enjoyed: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight [compact disc] / Simon Armitage. North Kingstown, R.I. : BBC Audiobooks America, p2007.

 

(Ok......that was about 10 mins worth of help! Does that get you pointed in the right direction. ;) My 12 yod will take an IOU on the watching our mischievous toddler!! :lol:)

[prairiegirl]

Lisa, I have made up my own unit studies before and they are not hard to do--really Once I got into that way of thinking, the ideas just kept flowing through. If you google Once and Future King with lesson plans or lit guide, you will be surprised what will come up and what rabbit trails will pop up from that.

[Carol in Cal.]

This is SO brilliant!

 

Do it!

 

One thing I would add that has not been mentioned--I wonder whether there is a fully annotated version of OAFK? There are so many references that could really enrich a unit study, and I'm not completely certain that I would catch all of them. I remember an allusion to 'winning on the playing fields of Eton' that I'm sure was a famous quote from somewhere else, and researching all of those would lead to great rabbit trails in English history and literature, I suspect.

[Matryoshka]

So, Swimmermom, that Duke study you have (and I bought but haven't really looked at yet...) isn't a good jumping off point at least for something like this?

[swimmermom3]

Skadi, thank you for taking the time to write out all those great suggestions and to provide the links. It's very helpful and much appreciated.

 

Eight and Julia, thank you for the moral support. You are probably right in that it won't be difficult to come up with ideas; it will be difficult to restrain myself from my usual course of making it too big manage. "Overkill" is my middle name.

 

Carol, you have voiced one of my concerns. I have the Duke King Arthur study in hand and Skadi gave me even more resources for the medieval portions, but O&FK is so much more than that and I don't want to miss the good stuff that is less obvious. I am sure once I have reviewed modern history, especially the early parts of WWII, this summer in preparation for ds's history, more ideas will come to me. I was surprised at how slim the pickings were for a really good guide to O&FK, but I also didn't think to look for an annotated version.

 

Some ideas that came to mind were:

 

Make an astrolabe

 

Explore some of the more subtle references about things such as killing all the giants "cubbin' " and Kay teaching Wart that "being different was wrong." Obviously, we'll need to study T.H. White and the time period he was writing in.

 

Raptor studies: owl pellet dissection, visit a raptor rehab center and identify some of the birds Wart visits in the mews, study falconry

 

Why is Archimedes an appropriate name for the owl? Who was Archimedes? Athene? Aristotle? Hecate? (My son knows this obviously, but it unlikely that my nephew will)

 

Do the experiment with connecting 5 dots to form a W while looking only in a mirror to do so. (Silly, I know, but it is not all that easy and we had a severe case of the giggles when we were done.)

 

What books would White have been reading and did they affect his writing? Yes, I still want to know if the scene with Morguese and the black cat came from Zora Neale Huston's anthropology book on Haiti that was written at the same time.

 

Dog boys - with an 8th grader, I would assign Rosemary Sutcliff's Knight's Fee as a reader. I was reading both O&FK and this one out loud at the same time, but they complimented each other well. Sutcliff's book is about a dog boy and the feudal system in general. I can't think of any book out of the dozens we read that showed more clearly how the feudal system worked, especially the transfer of land.

 

Study the fish mentioned in Wart's first lesson. Why did White choose those particular fish? The same exercise can be applied to several of Wart's "lessons" with animals.

 

There are several allusions to Shakespeare. We were glad we had read and watched Macbeth and Hamlet. Parallels can be drawn between all three works on the "Might is Right" theme. Allusion.

 

Sigh. So much to think about.

[NCMom]

This might be along the lines of overkill, an area I know well ;), but you might want to take a look at Ambleside Online Year 7. If I recall correctly, some of the selections from that AO year (including The Once and Future King) have very similar themes, so might be good extra readings. Kind of a book basket thing maybe?

 

hth,

Georgia

[swimmermom3]

So, Swimmermom, that Duke study you have (and I bought but haven't really looked at yet...) isn't a good jumping off point at least for something like this?

 

It's a great jumping off point for the projects for strictly medieval studies: chivalry, knighthood, rulers, questing, women in the middle ages, lifestyle etc. You could also utilize the comprehension questions if that floats your boat. However, there is zero literary analysis. Your could also utilize the instruction for annotating and writing the TCQC questions, but honestly, if I had made Swimmer Dude do the study as is, he would never have picked it up to read it again. The Duke study deals with a multi-faceted book on only one level. It's a bit like reading and studying LOTR and focusing only on hobbits.

[Irishmommy]

Alright, are you ready for this? When I taught this book, we used it as a basis for teaching archetypes and followed it by watching Star Wars! I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED that unit and the kiddos did too! We analyzed the archetypes in both works. Wrote a paper on the "hero". I would say that I could dig out my stuff for you, but it is all boxed up. I don't think I have any of the documents on this computer, or I would share.

[Irishmommy]

I wanted to add that I taught it in Pre-AP 9th grade in public school. I didn't make that clear from my post and by looking at my siggy, you might be wondering how I taught that to my 10yo, 5yo and 3yo - :lol: