LunaLee Posted July 30, 2010 Share Posted July 30, 2010 and as I am beginning to work through the book and make assignments, I am really beginning not to like it. The content is getting on my nerves and well, the whole thing just seems boring...:glare: Ugh... Thanks for letting me share... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted July 30, 2010 Share Posted July 30, 2010 What book are you using? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LunaLee Posted July 30, 2010 Author Share Posted July 30, 2010 This one: http://www.amazon.com/American-Journey-Vol-TLC-4th/dp/013199249X/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1280467175&sr=8-4 With readings from A Patriots History of the United States. I suppose it will be ok, maybe I'm just being schlumpy... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phoatogirl Posted July 30, 2010 Share Posted July 30, 2010 (edited) What book are you using? I find American history interesting because it happened just a short while ago. I'm kind of dreading ancient history planning because I'm uncertain how many primary sources there will be. What I love about American History is that you can use a very skimpy spine for your "text" and use all the millions of on-line content, including actual video footage taken in the last century. You need the spine to tie everything together and keep moving along, but it is possible to make history come alive for your students. Primary source docs are a big thing in AP history classes, and the way that historians actually "do" history. Try searching for lesson plans that are already done. There are thousands. Also, Annenburg Media has a really nice Am. Hist. curriculum based on a series of videos which ran on PBS. Also, listen to the podcasts by Gretchen Reilly. She made them for her history students at Temple College in Texas. They are extremely well done and are one of the solid legs in our Am. Hist. curriculum (sometimes, when things are hectic, her podcast is the only leg!) Remember that you can't cover all of it in depth, so you might want to allow time to dig deeper into those events that interest you and your kids most. Oh, and since you are just starting out, and esp. since you are dreading it, get ahold of material by James Loewen http://sundown.afro.illinois.edu/ I just read Teaching What Really Happened. It really calls into question what we as a nation are teaching our kids about American history by depending on textbook publishers. Edited July 30, 2010 by Phoatogirl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LunaLee Posted July 30, 2010 Author Share Posted July 30, 2010 Oh, and since you are just starting out, and esp. since you are dreading it, get ahold of material by James Loewen http://sundown.afro.illinois.edu/ I just read Teaching What Really Happened. It really calls into question what we as a nation are teaching our kids about American history by depending on textbook publishers. Yes, I read one of the other books James Loewen recommends: A Passion for the Past by James A. Percoco and I remember being really excited about history then. Maybe I need to re-read it. Actually, I think I am just getting to caught up in the spine. It is a textbook, because dd happens to like textbooks, but maybe I just need to take a break and come back to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted July 30, 2010 Share Posted July 30, 2010 This one: http://www.amazon.com/American-Journey-Vol-TLC-4th/dp/013199249X/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1280467175&sr=8-4 With readings from A Patriots History of the United States. I suppose it will be ok, maybe I'm just being schlumpy... :grouphug: I'm not going to be teaching US history for a couple of years, but I have picked up several history books at thrift stores in the last year. This is one book I don't own, :001_huh: out of the five or more I've purchased. I'm hoping to read a little in each to decide. I've even thought about picking a more narrative book and then assigning certain events to have ds reference through all the texts I own and see the differences in each text. Have you looked at Hippocampus? They have a nice section on US History. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phoatogirl Posted July 30, 2010 Share Posted July 30, 2010 Hippocampus is awesome!! So is United Streaming if you have access. We used America: the Last Best Hope by Bill Bennett, and I have several other books around the house. One I especially like was by DK books about American History. Can't remember the name, but it is thick and has a mostly green cover. I've found a couple highlighted copies at used bookstores, so it must be one used by some homeschoolers or colleges. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan C. Posted July 30, 2010 Share Posted July 30, 2010 We are doing US History this year. The textbooks I looked at didn't appeal to me..... Patriots History looked on the hard side (and while visiting Liberty University, it was in their bookstore, so there was my answer..). Books/series I do like are Hakim's History of US, the Albert Marrin books sold by Beautiful Feet, the Foster books. We are trying All American History because it looked the most readable, and will venture into more indepth issues here and there (not all of the time). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phoatogirl Posted July 30, 2010 Share Posted July 30, 2010 Patriots History looked on the hard side (and while visiting Liberty University, it was in their bookstore, so there was my answer..). ). Answer of "yes" or "No"? I've never read it, though I think I've seen it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LunaLee Posted July 31, 2010 Author Share Posted July 31, 2010 Yes I would never expect dd to read Patriots as her stand alone text, she would drowned in it, but I figure we can read it aloud together taking two weeks for a chapter (since we are essentially starting at Reconstruction). I loved Hakim, and would love it if dd would use it, but the pages are too distracting for her; we tried it in 8th grade. Thanks, I'll check out Hippocampus. I have Discovery Streaming and plan on throwing in some videos from there. Plus, I am getting that free Story of US DVD from A&E or History channel, I can't remember which one... I'm off to re-read Passion for the Past in hopes that it will ignite my passion for history. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TXMary2 Posted July 31, 2010 Share Posted July 31, 2010 This one: http://www.amazon.com/American-Journey-Vol-TLC-4th/dp/013199249X/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1280467175&sr=8-4 With readings from A Patriots History of the United States. I suppose it will be ok, maybe I'm just being schlumpy... The author of Patriot's History actually has free lesson plans that may help. http://www.patriotshistoryusa.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan C. Posted July 31, 2010 Share Posted July 31, 2010 Answer of "yes" or "No"? I've never read it, though I think I've seen it. Sorry.... the answer was no for using it on a regular basis. Being in the college bookstore, I took it as too soon for us to do it in high school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted July 31, 2010 Share Posted July 31, 2010 Also, listen to the podcasts by Gretchen Reilly. She made them for her history students at Temple College in Texas. They are extremely well done and are one of the solid legs in our Am. Hist. curriculum (sometimes, when things are hectic, her podcast is the only leg!) Where do you find these? They sound great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momee Posted July 31, 2010 Share Posted July 31, 2010 These???? Looks like paradise lost is the first one, is that correct? It's by Gretchen Anne Reilly... http://web.mac.com/gareilly/1301/Podcast/Entries/2007/6/5_Paradiselost1.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momee Posted July 31, 2010 Share Posted July 31, 2010 What did you think of SL? We're doing core 300 right now. I was using TOG, it became too heavy for my ds. SL 300 looks less so, we're just starting though so I don't have much experience yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LunaLee Posted August 1, 2010 Author Share Posted August 1, 2010 The author of Patriot's History actually has free lesson plans that may help. http://www.patriotshistoryusa.com/ This site is really helpful, thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LunaLee Posted August 1, 2010 Author Share Posted August 1, 2010 Sorry.... the answer was no for using it on a regular basis. Being in the college bookstore, I took it as too soon for us to do it in high school. Actually, at the website linked above, the author actually has lesson plans for Elementary school. If you really liked the book, you should check it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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