Jump to content

Menu

Middle Ages book lists - what is reasonable?


Recommended Posts

I have made schedules for TQ Middle Ages/Renaissance 1 semester each. We spend most of our 1hr. history time every day on spines and notebooking - lots of outlining and writing.

 

I enjoy the TQ commentary and book recommendations, but making our own schedule and book lists is killing me. I alway overplan and stress out.

 

When I look at what to buy for scheduled programs like Biblioplan and History Odyssey it looks like so little reading. But that is what is reasonable to actually get done without stress, right?

 

Can you show me how many books your 5-8 graders can read per semester? Do you use a program with a weekly/daily plan like Sonlight, Biblioplan or History Odyssey or come up with your own?

Edited by LNC
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Can you show me how many books your 5-8 graders can read per semester?

 

We have 4 10 week terms, so I am not sure how they relate to semesters This is what my ds read for History AND Literature, but not all of them stay in the time period noted. I expect 4 good books per term, but since my son is a good reader, a lot of these are classics. My attitude is 16 books per year at a challenging reading level for the individual child. I should add that he does not write essays about what he reads, but we do book analysis discussions on 2 books per term that I have also read. He also does not spend time doing outlining, notebooking, timelines, etc for history -- all that time is spent on reading. So keep that in mind when forming your expectations.

 

5th grade: Ancients

T1

The cat of the Bubasties, Henty

Golden Goblet

Mara: daughter of the Nile

Gods and Pharaohs from Ancient Mythology

T2

Eagle of the ninth

The Time Machine Wells

War of the Worlds Wells

My Family and other animals

Age of Fable

T3

Princess and the Goblin

Black ships before Troy Sutcliff

The Odyssey Sutcliff

Call of the Wild

White Fang

T4 + Holiday

Frankenstein

Gormanghast (trilogy) by Peake

 

6th grade: Middle ages

T1

Beowulf by Sutcliff

Rolf and the Viking Bow

Lord of the Rings

T2

Sword in the Stone trilogy

Christmas Carol

Dune

Eragon series

T3

The Black Arrow by Stevenson

The White Company by Doyle

The Mars Series x9 Edgar Rice Borroughs

20000 leagues under the sea

master of the World by Verne

T4 + Holiday

Lensman x7

Flatland

Joan of Arc By Mark Twain

Crysalids

Day of the Triffids

Moonstone by Wilkie Collins

 

7th grade: Early Modern

T1

Sherlock Holmes

Count of Monte Cristo

Iron Heel by Jack London

Uncle Tungsten by Oliver Sacks (biography)

Edited by lewelma
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm having trouble finding my middle ages book list. So here is Early modern. Options for lit/history reading. He has to read at least 16 (He likes choice! :001_smile:).

 

Early modern: Europe

Three Muskateers, Dumas

Rob Roy, Scott

Mutiny on the Bounty, Nordhoff

Count of Monte Cristo, Dumas

The Scarlett Pimpernel, Orczy

Tale of Two Cities, Dickens

Great Expectations, Dickens

Coral Island, Ballantyne

Les Miserable, Hugo

 

Early modern: America

The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne

Autobiography of Ben Franklin

Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglas

Red Badge of Courage, Crane

Gone with the Wind, Mitchell

Huck Fin, Twain

Pudd'nhead Wilson, Twain

Innocents Abroad, Twain

 

Late Modern

Travels with Charley, Steinbeck

Gift of the Magi (and others), O Henry

To Kill a Mockingbird, Lee

Metamorphisis Kafka

 

Distopian

Iron Heel, London, 1908

Anthem by Ayn Rand, 1937

Brave New World, 1939

Walden 2, Skinner, 1948

Farenheit 451, Bradbury, 1953

Chrysalids, Day of the Trifids, Windham, 1955

Lord of the Flies, 1960?

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? PK Dick, 1968

Running Man, Bachman (King), 1982

House of Scorpian, N Farmer, 2002

 

Classic Sci Fi

Invisible Man, Wells

Mysterious Island, Verne

The Science Fiction Hall of Fame Vol 1

Imposter, We can remember it for you PK Dick

Lost World, Doyle

The Star Diaries, Lem

A Perfect Vacuum, Lem

 

Nonfiction Science and History

The Disappearing Spoon

Uncle Tungsten

Napoleon's Buttons

 

 

Read Alouds to both boys

Native Americans Tika Liktac

Sing Down the Moon

Tree in the trail

 

Pre – Revolution and Revolutions in America and France

Witch of Blackbird pond

My Name is not Algelica (O'dell)

The Mill

Sign of the Beaver

Jonny Tremain

Paul Revere's Ride

Ledgend of Sleepy Hollow

 

Exploration West

New Courage Undaunted

Which Way to the Wild West

Frontier Living

Little house on the prairie

Swift River

 

Inventions/Medicine

Story of the Erie Canal

Story of Eli Whitney

Carry on Mr Boditch

Michael Faraday

Dr Jenner and the speckled Monster

Always inventing

Sugar Changed the World

An American Plague

 

Asia

The Master Puppetteer

Daughter of the mountains

Singing Tree

 

South America

Chucaro: wild pony of the pampa

I, Juan de Pareja by Elizabeth Barton De Trevino

The King's Fifth, by Scott O'Dell

 

Australia and New Zealand

Call it Courage

Edited by lewelma
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Found it. Here are the read alouds for middle ages. The formatting is a mess. :tongue_smilie:

400-1000 Early Middle ages: Knights and Castles, Feudalism, Vikings

British White Stag (Attila the Hun)

Vikings Beowolf

Castles, feudalism Castle, City Macaulay

King Arthur and His Knights, Pyle

Arabian, Islam One Thousand and One Nights, McCaughrean

Byzantine, Holy Roman Empire: library books

 

1000-1400 High Middle ages: Crusades, Holy Roman Empire Byzentine empire, Plague, Crusades

High middle ages Adventures of Robin Hood, Pyle

Midwife's apprentice

Adam of the Road, Gray - 13th C england, NE Award

Shadow of a bull – Bull fighting

Canturburly tales McCaughrean

 

Eastern China, India, Japan, Africa, Khmer Empire

Samurai's Tale, Haugaard

 

South America Incas, Aztecs, Conquistadors

Secret of the Andes

Around the World's Rim

 

Early Rennaissance 100 years war, Arts and science, Explorers

Shakespeare Macbeth, Hamlet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream;

Taming of the Shrew; Much Ado About

Master Cronhhill – Plague in 1654, London fire B

 

Eyewitness: Vikings, Knights, Midevial Life, Castle, Arms and Armor,

Edited by lewelma
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here's my son's list from back when he was in 6th grade and doing Middle Ages. He was doing History Odyssey at the time, so some of the titles are from there. He also did Lightning Lit 7, so that explains some of the out-of-sequence reading:

 

 

 

Stories and Poems for Extremely Intelligent Children (excerpts), Harold Bloom, 0684868741

The Door in the Wall, Marguerite de Angeli, 0440227798

Tom Sawyer, Mark Twain, 0670869856

The Trumpeter of Krakow, Eric P. Kelly, 0689715714

Beowulf: a new telling, Robert Nye, 0440905605

The Story of Rolf and the Viking Bow, Allen French, 1604595221

King Arthur and His Knights, Malory/ Elizabeth L. Merchant, (Calvert)

The Sword in the Stone, T.H. White, 0399225021

The Adventures of Robin Hood, Roger Lancelyn Green, 0140367004

If All the Swords of England, Barbara Willard, 1883937493

Adam of the Road, Elizabeth Gray, 0142406597

Crispin: Cross of Lead, Avi, 0786816589 (and sequel -- this one was a favorite)

Catherine Called Birdy, Karen Cushman, 0064405842

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll

Master Cornhill, Eloise Jarvis McGraw, 1887840001

The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer / McCaughrean , 0140380531

One Thousand and One Nights, Geraldine McCaughrean, 0192750135

The Story of My Life, Helen Keller, 1416500324

The White Stag, Kate Seredy, 0140312587

Tales From Japan, Helen and William McAlpine, 0192751751

The Samurai's Tale, Erik Haugaard, 0618615121

A Single Shard, Linda Sue Park, 0440418518

All Creatures Great and Small, James Herriot, 0312330855

Secret of the Andes, Ann Nolan Clark, 0140309268

Around the World in 100 Years, Jean Fritz, 0698116380

The Playmaker, J. B. Cheaney, 0440417104

King of Shadows, Susan Cooper, 068984445X

Dante's Divine Comedy as Told for Young People (excerpts), Joseph Tusiani, 1881901297

The Second Mrs. Giaconda, E. L. Konigsburg, 0689821212

Edited by abbeyej
Link to comment
Share on other sites

And here's my daughter's ancient + medieval reading list for this year (5th/6th for her)... I'm including out-of-sequence literature as well, since we don't stick *strictly* to historical selections:

 

selections from Stories and Poems for Extremely Intelligent Children...

Heidi

Tom Sawyer

Gilgamesh the Hero

Tales of Ancient Egypt (Roger Lancelyn Green)

Pinocchio

The Magician's Elephant

Alice in Wonderland

Jataka Tales

The Giver

Black Ships Before Troy

Herodotus and the Road to History

The Hobbit

The Wanderings of Odysseus

Theras and His Town

Greek Myths (D'Aulaire)

The Story of My Life (Helen Keller)

Lysis Goes to the Play

Augustus Caesar's World

City (Macaulay)

Archimedes and the Door of Science

In Search of a Homeland

All Creatures Great and Small

Galen and the Gateway to Medicine

The Bronze Bow

The White Stag

The Thousand and One Nights (McCaughrean retelling)

Beowulf (Nye retelling)

Treasure Island

Rolf and the Viking Bow

Norse Myths (D'Aulaire)

The Curse of the Ring (retelling of the Niebelungenlied)

King Arthur and His Nights (Elizabeth Lodor Merchant)

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (Morpugo)

Robin Hood (Green)

The Door in the Wall

The Canterbury Tales (McCaughrean retelling)

Katherine, Called Birdy

Crispin, Cross of Lead

 

For history, she's reading K12's Human Odyssey (v. 1) and Hakim's The Story of Science (v. 1). Some of the lit here is from Lightning Lit 7 and 8, and she'll be doing their work for those. Many others are just for reading and she's not required to do any formal activities, though I do encourage a "journal page" for assigned works -- essentially a very informal book review.

 

She's a fairly voracious reader and will often read 2-3 books a week of her own choosing in addition to any school reading. If she weren't already like this, I would *not* assign so many books.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here's my son's list from the last time he did middle ages and Renaissance stuff. He was 11 turning 12 that year, meaning I guess he was middle school age. We used Literary Lessons from the Lord of the Rings for literature, reading the complete versions of some of the works from which the curriculum used excerpts.

 

Cathedral, Forge and Waterwheel: Technology and Invention in the Middle Ages, J. and F. Gies

Story of Philosophy (excerpts), Brian Magee

Learning Through History: Byzantine Empire

Learning Through History: Medieval Japan

Learning Through History: Medieval Times

Castle, David Macauly

Adam of the Road, Elizabeth Janet Gray

Learning Through History: The Vikings

Viking Gods and Heroes, E. M. Wilmot-Buxton

Norse Gods and Giants, Ingri d'Aulaire

Learning Through History: Mughal Empire

Learning Through History: The Renaissance

Age of Shakespeare, Francoise Laroque

Amazing Leonardo da Vinci Inventions You Can Build Yourself, Maxine Anderson

Learning Through History: The Tudors

Learning Through History: The Dutch Golden Age

Trumpeter of Krakow, Eric P. Kelly

I, Juan de Pareja, Elizabeth Borton de Trevino

Fellowship of the Ring, J.R.R. Tolkien

Two Towers, J.R.R. Tolkien

Beowulf: A New Verse Translation, Seamus Heaney

Midsummer Night’s Dream, William Shakespeare

“The Passionate Shepherd to Hs Love,†Christopher Marlowe

“Sonnet 18,†William Shakespeare

“Sonnet 116,†William Shakespeare

“Winter†(Love’s Labour’s Lost), William Shakespeare

“The Good Morrow,†John Donne

“A Valediction, Forbidding Mourning,†John Donne

“To Daffodils,†Robert Herrick

“Paradise Lost†excerpt, John Milton

“To His Coy Mistress,†Andrew Marvel

“Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard,†Thomas Gray

Macbeth, William Shakespeare

Return of the King, J.R.R. Tolkien

Gawain and the Green Knight, translated by J.R.R. Tolkein

Sword in the Stone, T.H. White

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Do you mind if I ask in this thread? How much time do you assign for reading daily?

 

My older reads fiction for about 1 hour at night in bed (sometimes more especially in the holidays, so about 7-10 hours per week). He reads nonfiction for about 2-3 hours per week.

 

Younger reads for 20 min of nonfiction 5x/week and 45 minutes of fiction during school hours. He also reads 45min-1 hour at night in bed.

 

Ruth in NZ

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...