blue daisy Posted February 16, 2018 Share Posted February 16, 2018 We're dropping our history curriculum for my 7th grader and just kind of piecing a few things together for the rest of the year so we can at least get through this time period. (History Odyssey was boring him to tears and we're only about 1/4 of the way through). We plan to have him listen in on younger siblings lessons, keep up with maps and timelines and supplement with middle school level readings. Any great suggestions for either fiction or non fiction? So far this year for history, he has read: A Door in the Wall Adam of the Road a version of King Arthur The Trumpeter of Krakow The adventures of Robin Hood and I have Canturbury Tales (retold) ready for him. I'm hoping for some other suggestions? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kfamily Posted February 16, 2018 Share Posted February 16, 2018 (edited) You could consider: Beowulf by Burton Raffel OR Heany Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Pearl and Sir Orfeo by J. R. R. Tolkien A String in the Harp by Nancy Bond Henry V by Shakespeare Also, I like to add this book: The Arabs in the Golden Age by Mokhtar Moktefi At this age I add in more depth through primary sources. We use this book: The Portable Medieval Reader edited by Ross and McLaughlin Edited February 16, 2018 by Kfamily 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmrich Posted February 16, 2018 Share Posted February 16, 2018 I would supplement with videos as well. There are tons. My favorite are the Terry Jones' series. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue daisy Posted February 16, 2018 Author Share Posted February 16, 2018 I would supplement with videos as well. There are tons. My favorite are the Terry Jones' series. Ooh, thank you! Yes, I'd like to include videos as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted February 16, 2018 Share Posted February 16, 2018 Karen Cushman's books, especially Catherine, Called Birdy, are great. Also, Avi's Crispin books are wonderful and perfect for middle school. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted February 16, 2018 Share Posted February 16, 2018 (edited) "Movies to go along with the Middle Ages" Fiction - The Story of Rolf and the Viking Bow (French) -- Vikings; male protagonist - Beorn the Proud (Pollard) -- Vikings; female protagonist - Men of Iron (Pyle) -- English knights adventure; male protagonist - The King's Shadow (Alder) -- 1000s Norman conquest of England; male protagonist - Sign of the Chrysanthemum (Paterson) -- Japanese Samurai (VERY similar to European knights); male protagonist - The Samurai's Tale (Haugaard) -- Japanese Samurai (VERY similar to European knights); male protagonist - Shadow Spinner (Fletcher) -- Middle East; female protagonist; Shaherezade of the 1001 Arabian Nights fame Classics - Beowulf -- adaptation by Nye - a version of The Arabian Nights -- Tenggren; McCaughrean; Lang - Bulfinch's Mythology - part 1 = last few myths are Norse myths; part 2 = Age of Chivalry; part 3 = Stories of Charlemagne - a version of Norse myths -- Bulfinch; D'Aulaires: Myths, or Gods & Giants, Gaiman, Crossley-Holland - The Canterbury Tales -- Tenggren; McCaughrean - Farmer Giles of Ham (Tolkien) -- humorous mock epic, set in Medieval Times - The Prince and the Pauper (Twain) -- early 1500s, son of Henry VIII - Ivanhoe (Scott) -- (here's an illustrated adapted version by Mayer) written in the 1700s, but set in 1100s about Normans & Saxons -- and afterwards, for fun, read Knight's Castle (Eager) -- a magic adventure story with a LOT of humor and references to characters from Ivanhoe and Robin Hood Non-Fiction - Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village (Schlitz) - Brendan the Navigator (Fritz) -- written at a gr. 3 level, but SO interesting factually! - Samurai Castle (MacDonald) - if going up into the Renaissance: Rats, Bulls and Flying Machines (Prum) PS -- As far as being "bored to tears" by History Odyssey -- is that due to it being too easy, too hard, or the wrong fit of writing style/formart or learning style for DS? It might be easier to come up with a possible replacement non-fiction "spine" knowing why HO didn't fit... :) Edited February 16, 2018 by Lori D. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue daisy Posted February 18, 2018 Author Share Posted February 18, 2018 Thank you so much everyone! This was super helpful! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue daisy Posted February 18, 2018 Author Share Posted February 18, 2018 PS -- As far as being "bored to tears" by History Odyssey -- is that due to it being too easy, too hard, or the wrong fit of writing style/formart or learning style for DS? It might be easier to come up with a possible replacement non-fiction "spine" knowing why HO didn't fit... :) Lori - thank you for this wonderful book list! While HO looked great on paper, it was a poor fit for DS. Way too much writing for him (I kept tweaking and eventually took most writing out), and the Kingfisher Encyclopedia was hard for him to get through. I took out the writing assignments and eventually had him just narrate the page he'd read to me but even still he struggled to pull out the important parts (and this is just an area he struggles with in general, he is high functioning autistic). He does enjoy The Story of Mankind - it's much more readable for him. So we'll continue with that and add in some other resources. He also said he got more out of listening in on my elementary kids' lesson (SOTW and Usborne history encyclopedia) so he's welcome to do that. I don't know what else to use for a nonfiction spine that is more on a middle school level but more interesting than the Kingfisher one, so if you have recommendations, I'm all ears. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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