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Program like TRISMS but with a spine?


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I'm looking for a new history program. I love the idea of TRISMS - encouraging independent studies, research, rabbit trailing, analysis, etc. However, I've read that there is no spine and that it can seem a bit disjointed. First, if you are a TRISMS user, do you find this to be an accurate assessment and if so, what do you do to mitigate any problems that arise? Second, are there any history programs that have a spine but also encourage independent study and analysis, like TRISMS?

 

Since I have you here, can I also ask a dumb question? What exactly do you need to implement TRISMS? (We're looking at History Makers) Their website isn't entirely clear on that.

 

Hope this made some sense. Thanks!!

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Guest Cheryl in SoCal
I'm looking for a new history program. I love the idea of TRISMS - encouraging independent studies, research, rabbit trailing, analysis, etc. However, I've read that there is no spine and that it can seem a bit disjointed. First, if you are a TRISMS user, do you find this to be an accurate assessment and if so, what do you do to mitigate any problems that arise? Second, are there any history programs that have a spine but also encourage independent study and analysis, like TRISMS?

 

Since I have you here, can I also ask a dumb question? What exactly do you need to implement TRISMS? (We're looking at History Makers) Their website isn't entirely clear on that.

 

Hope this made some sense. Thanks!!

Well, I see TRISMS as the spine (kind of like a syllabus) that you add meat to by using other text books and resources. One of the reasons I really like this is that you can choose resources which reflect your particular world view, making your history reflect your world view without any tweaking.

 

History Makers is my least favorite because the method is a little different from the high school volumes, and because it covers from 500BC to present in one (or two if you stretch it out) years. I will be using it with my younger crew but not on it's own. I'll use it with MOH as my spine and work in the History Makers units as we cover them in MOH.

 

I used DAW (Discovering the Ancient World) last year, and am using DAW (with my next student) and EOC (Expansion of Civilization) this year. I hesitate to write what resources I use because, well, I have an addition:blush::lol: The main ones I use with the high school volumes for history are King's Meadow lectures, Diana Waring's CD's, Mystery of History, World History (Duiker/Spielvogel), Western Civilization (Spielvogel) and several other varies texts. I also have several different books/resources for art history, music history, architecture, world religions, atlases, map software, etc, etc. I believe on TRISMS website they have a minimum resource package that they sell, which is considerably smaller than mine;)

 

Have you joined the Yahoo group? It's pretty quiet but a good resource for asking questions as there are many on there who have been using TRISMS for years.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TRISMS/

 

I hope I helped a little. I've not searched for anything similar to TRISMS because I stopped looking once I found it :)

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Thanks Cheryl! I spent way too much time on the Trisms yahoo group. :) Lots of great info there.

 

One more question, though. Are the trisms books a compilation of questionnaires and lesson plans in order or is there other info in there? I've looked at samples, but there aren't sample pages (that I've found), only sample lesson plans. Thanks for any info you can give me.

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Guest Cheryl in SoCal
Thanks Cheryl! I spent way too much time on the Trisms yahoo group. :) Lots of great info there.

 

One more question, though. Are the trisms books a compilation of questionnaires and lesson plans in order or is there other info in there? I've looked at samples, but there aren't sample pages (that I've found), only sample lesson plans. Thanks for any info you can give me.

For the most part it's lesson plans, questionnaires, worksheets, maps (though I prefer to use fancier maps, LOL), etc. However, there are literature selections for each unit. I think there might be literature list samples on their website. If there are, they list what comes in the book. I don't know about all of them but in Discovering the Ancient World most of what is in the book would be difficult (or a pain) to compile on your own.

 

ETA there are samples of the literature TOC. Here's the one for Discovering the Ancient World.

 

Literature Table of Contents

The Story of Creation -- Norse Myth

The Story of Creation -- Greek Myth

Hurakan and Gucumatz -- The Story of Creation from Central America

Ra and Sekhmet -- The Story of Creation from Egypt

The Flood by Ovid -- Roman

The Yellow Emperor and the Great Flood -- China

Manu and the Fish -- India

The Story of the Flood from the Epic of Gilgamesh

Deucalion’s Flood -- Greek Flood Myth

The Coming of Evil

Summary of Part 1 from the Epic of Gilgamesh

Part 2 -- The Forest Journey from the Epic of Gilgamesh

Part 3 -- Ishtar and Gilgamesh, and the Death of Enkidu

Part 4 -- The Search for Everlasting Life

Hieroglyphic alphabet chart

Egyptian poetry

The Story of Sinuhe -- Egyptian short story

The Tale of the Doomed Prince

Theseus and the Minotaur -- Greek Myth

Daedalus and Icarus -- Greek Myth

The Golden Reed Pipe -- Yao Folktale

The Vulnerable Spot -- Yi Folktale

The Legend of Silk

Aryan Hymns from the Rig Veda

A Prayer to the Gods of Night -- Old Babylonian poem

Selections from the Code of Hammurabi

List of Characters for the Iliad

Book 1 -- Quarrel, Oath, and Promise of the Iliad by Homer

Book 2 -- Assembly and Muster of Armies

Book 16 -- A Ship Fired, A Tide Turned

Book 24 -- A Grace Given in Sorrow

Book 9 of the Odyssey by Homer

Writing with Pictures

Scythian Origin Myth & Account of the Scyths by Herodotus

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  • 2 weeks later...

We love, love, love Trisms - and I agree, the teacher guide does work as a spine. You just use living books to research each subject.

 

We do add more science, and we added WriteShop. But as for a history spine, I have not found any other source necesarry.

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Hi, I'm kicking around the idea of TRISMS for next year too. They really don't have a lot of samples on the site. What are the questionaires like? Also, what's in the teacher book, is it mostly the questionaires with answers filled in?

 

Try this link for samples: http://www.trisms.com/HM/learnmore.html

 

I have it and plan on using it next year. DS has seen it, pulled it off the shelf and is begging to do it.

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