History output for a 6th grader

[ScoutTN]

What have you required your student(s) to do? 

How much, how often?

I know what the WTM says and she did outlines and summaries last year. Trying to plan this coming year. 

 

This is for a humanities kid. Writing comes fairly easily for her.  

 

 

[stlily]

I follow the guidelines in TWTM. I know you said you're familiar with the recommendations given in there, but I though I'd give you a look at a typical week at our house to give you an idea of how we do it. My student is ll years old and it the 6th grade:

 

Monday

 

Medieval – early Renaissance (400-1600)

â–¡ SOTW Vol. 2: Chap. 30, “India Under the Moghuls†pp. 272-280. (She reads the SOTW chapter, in addition to the spine, because she didn't go through it in the grammar stage.  In TWTM, SWB says, if you're doing history with multiple age children, read the SOTW together, then ask the older student to 1) read the pages from the more difficult core text that correspond to the topic in SOTW, and 2) complete the other work described. I follow these recommendation for my student who didn't go through SOTW, in the grammar stage).

â–¡ Kingfisher History Encyclopedia: “India: The Moguls 1504-1605â€, pp. 218-219.

â–¡ Facts: Write down 6-8 of the most important facts in complete sentences.

â–¡ Additional Reading: Sometimes I'll assign a library book.  It's depends on what her work load looks like for the day.

 

Tuesday

â–¡ Time Line: Mark important dates along with accompanying caption. I have her choose the most important dates in the Kingfisher encyclopedia. Sometimes I have her add all the dates.

â–¡ Map Work: I give her a blank map, in a sheet protector, of the area under study and I have her label it with a dry erase marker. She does this first, without referring to an atlas to see what she knows. Then I have her look at an atlas, compare, and label and color the map.  Finally, she is to locate the area under study on a wall map and globe.

â–¡ Outline: Write a two-level outline on what you read in the Kingfisher encyclopedia, â€œIndia: The Moguls 1504-1605â€, pp. 218-219.

â–¡ Additional Reading: If I assigned reading on Monday, she can finish that or she can start a new book, or I assign nothing (again, depending on her work load for the day)

 

Wednesday

â–¡ Additional Reading: Choose a topic to do additional reading on (or choose a topic from a book she read Monday or Tuesday).

â–¡ Summary: Prepare a written summary, 1/2 to 1 page (200-400 words), in length, on the chosen topic 

 

Another thing I consider when assigning outlines and summaries is, how much writing she has to do for her writing program (Writing With Skill) that day. I also try to remind myself of what SWB says about logic stage history study, that the goal is not to do an exhaustive survey of all possible history topics, but to teach the student how to study history.  Hope this helps  :001_smile: .

[MinivanMom]

Our sixth graders used K12 Human Odyssey 2 as their text. During a typical week:

 

Mon: Read a chapter in HO2. Write important historical events or people on their timeline.

Tue: Outline the chapter. I would look over the outline & we would discuss the chapter.

Wed: Read the next chapter. Write important historical events or people on their timeline.

Thur: Outline the chapter. I would look over the outline & we would discuss the chapter.

 

Weekly: I always assigned a book to read each week that was related to what they were reading. Sometimes it would be fun historical fiction (The Second Mrs. Giaconda) and sometimes it would be literature from the historical period (Treasure Island). I always gave them 2-3 weeks to read a book if it was long or difficult. This wasn't really history, but they enjoyed it, and it sparked a lot of discussions.

 

Quarterly: When we finished each of the 4 sections in the history book, we took a week off from the regular routine to read and discuss primary source documents. We used the books Primary Source: Documents in Global History (there are two volumes) as our source for this. There was no output here, just reading and discussing primary sources.

 

Annually: I had my kids write a history research paper. They could choose any topic related to the period we studied in history. This was generally a 4-6 week project that they started midway through the year. 

 

Periodically: We would watch the occasional documentary or fictional movie related to what they were studying. I never really planned this, though. I just kept an eye out for interesting things on tv or Netflix. 

 

My oldest (who is a huge humanities kid) did a lot of work beyond this. I assigned the one research paper, but she wrote two - using serious historical sources from the adult section of the library. She also checked out a lot of additional books (biographies & historical fiction) to read throughout the year. My next kid is doing exactly what I've listed here and no more. He likes history and watching documentaries, but he's not going to do extra research or work for fun.

[The Governess]

My Dd did WTM Academy's ancient history class last year. I thought the writing requirements were appropriate. You may want to look at the syllabus on their website to get an idea of what was expected. It was more writing for history than she had done in the past.

 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kL8fA6e1A_pfYAW2s8YCPJZvv19u4ETDJeN2NhCNuFI/mobilebasic?pli=1

Edited June 17, 2016 by lovelearnandlive

[ScoutTN]

Thanks, these replies are very helpful! 

 

She will be using K12 Human Odyssey. We do a 4 year cycle to keep my kids on the same general history each year, so Dd will read the last third of Vol 1 and part of Vol 2. The fall of Rome through Queen Elizabeth/Shakepeare; 400-1600 A.D. The reading volume os not burdensome and leaves plenty of time for supplemental literature.

 

I am excited to have her do some primary source reading this year. We have done a timeline and will do that again. 

I haven't taught research paper writing yet, so I need to decide if this is the year for that. Need to keep balanced with her writing course.

[Kareni]

We started homeschooling when my daughter was in seventh grade.  This is what I did.

 

I had my daughter keep a Book of the Centuries when she began homeschooling in 7th grade.  We did a three year sweep through world history, and she added information to her book for three years.  Here are the instructions I gave her in 7th grade.

 

"History and Reading

 

The plan:

 

To study history chronologically from prehistory to about AD500.

 

The means:

 

We’ll use Hillyer and Huey’s two books Young People’s Story of the Ancient World as well as numerous other books and resources.

 

Typically each week there will be a list of required reading.  There will generally be a novel to be read pertaining to the time period.  There may also be some myths and legends to be read.  There will also be non-fiction books or selections to be read and perhaps a website to visit or a video to view.

 

You will need to locate any places mentioned on the map, in a historical atlas and on the globe (if we obtain one).  Each week you will make two pages for your Book of the Centuries.  These pages should be work you can be proud of!  They should be well planned, edited and neat.  They can be in your best cursive or done on the computer.  All art work should be done with care.  The pages should pertain to the time period being studied.  Each page should be titled.  Pages might cover such topics as:

 

A people

A great man or woman (a ruler, artist, explorer, scientist)

An artifact (tools, buildings, type of writing)

A religion

An event

A discovery or invention

A war or battle

The daily life of a people

A map (route of an explorer, location of a people) 

An imaginary encounter between two historical personae

???

 

You might find information on these topics at home or you may need to do additional research at the library or online. 

 

Maps should include a legend (which may be printed) in addition to the title.

 

In addition to your two pages, you should also note five to ten important dates in your Book of the Centuries."

 

 

If you'd like to see the materials we used in 7th, 8th, and 9th grade, let me know and I'll post them.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[2_girls_mommy]

We did logic stage from the 2nd edition of WTM, so there was no list of facts, but we did an outline, extra reading, a timeline book, and a summary and work in the geography coloring book and memory work together.  I read from SOTW and extra library books. 

 

They put dates on the timeline book.  They outlined from KHE.  As far as how much: I had my kids read 2 sections (two 2 page spreads from KHE) and choose one to outline, but they had to put dates on the timeline from everything read. Sometimes instead of outlining KHE we will outline from one of our library books to practice doing it from somewhere else. Then we did a summary from extra reading honestly only about once a month on average, as we did a lot of writing in literature that was related to history and in our writing assignments too. Plus we do a couple of big projects a year that require a lot of art and extra research on a subject and presenting them at co-op, and we do a couple of SOTW AG projects a year too.

[hollyhock]

History is one subject I keep light on purpose so that it's more fun and interesting. I usually read our spine aloud and then my 6th grader writes a summary or makes an outline probably twice a week. We also did our timeline as a group and about once a month I would assign a longer summary/report that they had to sort of research (read things from a couple books, take notes, write a few paragraphs). That's all I require until high school.

[LMD]

Dd is 5/6 ish, I also keep history light at the moment.

 

I tend to alternate the [outline paragraphs - rewrite draft- final copy] as per wTM between history, science and literature. So she'll do one 3-4 paragraph paper rewriting from her outline a week (lit is slightly different structure but the idea is one 1 page paper a week).

 

On the off history weeks I have her do narrative summaries of each section of her history reading/research and whatever projects or extra reading we decide on together. I also do dictation every now and then to keep it sharp. We only do history twice a week (unless it's the writing paper for history week)

 

At the moment we are taking a break from Diana Waring's RRR to do RFWP's Plague! So lots of varied assignments. She's really enjoying it.

Edited June 21, 2016 by LMD

[ScoutTN]

LMD, does she rewrite from a 2 level outline?

[LMD]

Yes, she does. I get her to outline 3 or 4 paragraphs from the reading, main point and one supporting point. I don't expect complex paragraphs at this point, so I am careful with what she chooses to outline.

We're still in the beginning of logic so the figuring out main points and supporting arguments are fairly new for her.

Last week she rewrote 3 paragraphs from tiner's exploring the world of biology.

The editing stage is a lot of discussion because she is still learning to logically organise her thoughts into paragraphs that flow.

Then I have her reread hers and reread the original (tiner) paragraphs to illustrate in her mind what they did differently/more effectively.

Edited June 25, 2016 by LMD

[LMD]

LMD, does she rewrite from a 2 level outline?

Forgot to quote!

[ScoutTN]

Yes, she does. I get her to outline 3 or 4 paragraphs from the reading, main point and one supporting point. I don't expect complex paragraphs at this point, so I am careful with what she chooses to outline.

We're still in the beginning of logic so the figuring out main points and supporting arguments are fairly new for her.

Last week she rewrote 3 paragraphs from tiner's exploring the world of biology.

The editing stage is a lot of discussion because she is still learning to logically organise her thoughts into paragraphs that flow.

Then I have her reread hers and reread the original (tiner) paragraphs to illustrate in her mind what they did differently/more effectively.

 

 

This is super helpful, thanks!

[LMD]

This is super helpful, thanks!

My pleasure! She's my oldest so it's my first time trying to teach this stage and I think I finally have my head around what I'm doing at the moment. I listened to swb's writing lectures (over and over lol), took notes, went back through the complete writer taking notes and I finally came up with a full mental picture of what I'm doing and why... it's a nice feeling!

I also do some diagramming with her, we diagram one of the dictation sentences. She's great at the MCT 4 level analysis but we are doing some traditional diagramming too, to add to the logical stuff.

 

I still use some cw because I really like it, but I'm less concerned about doing the whole workbook and rather just focus on the goals from the teacher text, if that makes sense.

 

Eta- I know that this thread is about history but to see writing as a whole I also need to say that she does a daily narrative summary, we're slow reading through A Midsummer night's dream and she writes a narration and copies her favourite lines each day.

 

So in a week for writing she has 4x narrative summaries and copy work, 1x dictation and diagramming, 1x outlining, rewriting, editing and final draft-ing.

Edited June 25, 2016 by LMD

[athomeontheprairie]

 

Wednesday

â–¡ [

What do you do for the rest of the week?