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What type of assignments, activities or work do you do for 8th grade history?  And how often?  I'm trying to plan and don't know what is to be expected.  Plus, I'm trying to combine a few programs and need some ideas on enough vs too much :confused1: .

 

 

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DD is in seventh grade, using Level 2 of History Odyssey. She'll use the next step in sequence next year, so it'll be a small step up in work.

 

These are typical assignments per day, and for many weeks, there are corresponding lit selections that she needs to read to use with her history assignments:

-read 2 pages from Kingfisher History Encyclopedia, do a map page

-read a chapter from Human Odyssey

-outline pages from Kingfisher

-read a primary source and do an analysis worksheet

-do an analysis worksheet of a particular war or revolution and summarize a few key people or events

-research and write an essay about some topic

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What type of assignments, activities or work do you do for 8th grade history?  And how often? 

 

 

Here is what I handed to my daughter in 7th grade.  I will list the resources we used in the next post. 

 

 

"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."

 

Regards,

Kareni

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To continue from the previous post:

 

First a general note about my list, we're quite liberal so some of the videos on the list as well as a few books (i.e., Gonick's the Cartoon History ...) might not suit all families.   I enlisted my husband to watch all of the videos with my daughter.  It gave them something to enjoy together and also involved my husband in homeschooling.

 

Bear in mind that my daughter was a voracious reader; I suspect that one might happily use far fewer books.  We also were homeschooling on a serious budget our first few years of homeschooling, and so I basically used what I could locate at the library and thrift stores.

 

Recall that this list covers the time period from prehistory to 500AD.  

 

My daughter used the following materials in 7th grade:

 

 

Selections from The Kingfisher Illustrated History of the World by Charlotte Evans et al.

 

The Young People's Story of Our Heritage: The Ancient World, Pre-history to 500BC by V. M. Hillyer and E. G. Huey

 

The Young People's Story of Our Heritage: The Ancient World, 500BC to 500AD by V. M. Hillyer and E. G. Huey

 

A Bone from a Dry Sea by Peter Dickinson

 

Cave of the Moving Shadows by Thomas Milstead

 

Spirit on the Wall by Ann O'Neal Garcia

 

Mara, Daughter of the Nile by Eloise Jarvis McGraw

 

Pharaoh's Daughter by Julius Lester

 

Video:  David Macaulay's World of Ancient Engineering:   Pyramid

 

Black Ships before Troy by Rosemary Sutcliff

 

Dateline: Troy by Paul Fleischman

 

Inside the Walls of Troy by Clemence McClaren 

 

The Curse of King Tut by Patricia Netzley

 

The Golden Fleece by Padraic Colum

 

Escape from Egypt by Sonia Levitin

 

Troy by Adele Geras   

 

The Wanderings of Odysseus by Rosemary Sutcliff

 

The Cat of Bubastes by G. A. Henty

 

City of Gold and Other Stories from the Old Testament by Peter Dickinson

 

Gods and Goddesses by John Malam

 

The Riddle of the Rosetta Stone by James Cross Giblin

 

Selections from  Cultural Atlas for Young People:  Ancient Greece by Anton Powell

 

Selections from Then and Now by Stefania and Dominic Perring

 

Selections from Usborne Book of Famous Lives

 

Selections from  Heroines by Rebecca Hazell

 

Selections from A Picturesque Tale of Progress, Volume 2 by Olive Beaupre Miller

 

The Story of the World, History for the Classical Child: Ancient Times by Susan W. Bauer

 

Niko: Sculptor's Apprentice by Isabelle Lawrence

 

How Would You Survive as an Ancient Greek? by Fiona Macdonald

 

Calliope Magazine: Taharqo

 

Calliope Magazine: Ancient Celts

 

Alexander the Great by Peter Chrisp

 

Video: Alexander the Great (The History Makers)

 

Men of Athens by Olivia Coolidge

 

Selections from Mathematicians are People, Too by Luetta and Wilbert Reimer

 

Science in Ancient Greece by Kathlyn Gay

 

Selections from A Day in Old Athens by William S. Davis

 

Your Travel Guide to Ancient Greece by Nancy Day

 

The Librarian who Measured the Earth by Kathryn Lasky

 

The Emperor's Silent Army by Jane O'Connor

 

Selections from Ancient Japan by J. E. Kidder

 

Hannibal's Elephants by Alfred Powers

 

The Story of the Romans by H. A. Guerber

 

Galen: My Life in Imperial Rome by Marissa Moss

 

Caesar's Gallic War by Olivia Coolidge

 

Selections from Ancient Inventions by Peter James and Nick Thorpe

 

Video:  Anthony and Cleopatra (Royal Shakespeare Company, 1974)

 

Videos:  I, Claudius (Volumes 1-7)

 

Augustus Caesar's World by Genevieve Foster

 

City by David Macaulay

 

The Wadjet Eye by Jill Rubalcaba

 

Video:  David Macaulay's World of Ancient Engineering:   Roman City

 

Song for a Dark Queen by Rosemary Sutcliff

 

Detectives in Togas by Henry Winterfield

 

Video:  Ancient Mysteries:  Pompeii, Buried Alive

 

The Capricorn Bracelet by Rosemary Sutcliff

 

The Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff

 

Selections from Wonders of Ancient Chinese Science by Robert Silverberg

 

The White Stag by Kate Seredy

 

Saint George and the Dragon by Margaret Hodges

 

Selections from The Dark Ages by Tony Gregory

 

Lady Ch'iao Kuo:  Warrior of the South by Laurence Yep

 

The Dancing Bear by Peter Dickinson

 

Video:  Africa (Ancient Civilizations for Children)

 

The Cartoon History of the Universe II, From the Springtime of China to the Fall of Rome by Larry Gonick

 

Regards,
Kareni

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A typical week for history for us would be -

Monday and Tuesday - Read textbook chapter and outline (American Odyssey)

Wednesday - watch a video (a Documentary or crash course)

Thursday and Friday - Write paragraphs, make timelines, draw maps or pictures in portfolio

 

A corresponding week in English would involve:

Reading short stories, excerpts, poems or novel from the time period and answering questions or writing an essay

Or

Writing a DBQ or other short essay on a history topic related to the time period.

 

Every week is different, but this is typical. She writes an essay probably every week or two plus a few paragraphs or summaries of events or books per week.

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These are fantastic ideas!  So then it looks like you put them in charge and give them a basic list of what you expect?  DD LOVES to read as well, but she wanted more facts this year.  Coming from HOD it's quite a change for mom.  If feel scattered.  So we're doing Abeka history, but I dislike the work in it. I do however like the chapter reviews that contains a list of important people and events.  I could have her choose from the list and do the research on it.  I'm also integrating some Civics.  But just one research paper per chapter doesn't seem to be nearly enough for this level.

 

Kareni, I'd be interested in knowing more of what this Book of Centuries looks like!  I like that. We have a timeline, but I'm not loving it. This idea seems more interesting.

 

Momling I like your schedule and the outlining - reading the entire chapter over a few days.

 

Happypamama I also like your primary source reads and analysis assignments. 

 

Mmmm...good stuff ladies.

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I feel like a history slacker!  My dd12 is reading the The World in Ancient Times Series.  She summarizes each chapter in her history journal.  That's about it.  We did just start Book Bingo and some of the squares require a history book so she picked up a book on the parthenon and one on Cleopatra at the library.

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American History 1850 - present.

 

You might find a few resources of interest.  My daughter was doing a combination of world and American history in ninth grade.

 

In 9th grade, we used a hodgepodge of materials when my daughter covered the time period 1700 to 2000. Here are the resources (non-fiction, literature, videos and music) that we used.   Be aware that we are fairly liberal so some materials might not suit all families.

 

World History the Easy Way, Volume 2 by Charles Frazee

 

American History the Easy Way by William Kellogg

 

World History Map Activities by Marvin Scott

 

Poor Richard’s Almanack by Benjamin Franklin

George Washington, Spymaster by Thomas B. Allen

Tomaso Albinoni – 12 Concerti a cinque Op. 5

Roots by Alex Haley (to p. 126)

Georg Philipp Telemann – Suite A Minor, 2 Double Concertos (Michala Petri, Academy of St. Martin-in-the Fields)

Amadeus (video)

"A Modest Proposal" by Jonathan Swift

George Washington’s World by Genevieve Foster

The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy

I Will Repay by Baroness Emmuska Orczy

Eldorado by Baroness Emmuska Orczy

Sir Percy Hits Back by Baroness Emmuska Orczy

The Scarlet Pimpernel (three part video, BBC)

Carl Friedrich Abel – Symphonies Op. 10, numbers 1 – 6, La Stagione

Francesco Geminiani – 12 Concerti Grossi, I Musici

The Art of the Fugue by Bach, Emerson String Quartet

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Longitude (video, A&E)

C.S. Forester’s Horatio Hornblower (set of 8 videos, A&E)

Lock, Stock, and Barrel by Donald Sobol

Ludwig van Beethoven – Symphonies 5 in C Minor, Op. 67, and 6 in F Major, Op. 68, Pastoral

"Midnight Ride of Paul Revere" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Cartouche (video)

Joseph Haydn – String Quartets, Op. 17, Nos. 1, 2, and 4, Kodaly Quartet

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo (translated by Norman Denny)

The New Nation by Joy Hakim

A Tale of Two Cities (video)

Georges Bizet – Carmen Suites No. 1 and No. 2; L’Arlesienne Suites No. 1 and No. 2, Leonard Bernstein

Adolphe Adam – Giselle, conducted by Richard Bonynge, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House

Anton Bruckner – Symphony No. 4 “Romanticâ€, conducted by Eugen Jochum, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra

Men-of-War: Life in Nelson's Navy by Patrick O'Brian

Young Frankenstein (video)

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (video with Kenneth Branagh)

Lily Afshar -- A Jug of Wine and Thou (Persian music)

Rifles for Watie by Harold Keith

Master and Commander (video)

Chamber Works by Women Composers, The Macalester Trio

Commodore Perry in the Land of the Shogun by Rhoda Blumberg

Wassail! Wassail! Early American Christmas Music by the Revels

"An Occurrence at the Owl Creek Bridge" by Ambrose Bierce

The Devil’s Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce

Stephen Foster’s Civil War Songs (sung by Linda Russell)

 

The Century for Young People by Peter Jennings and Todd Brewster

Critical Thinking in United States History, Book Four, Spanish-American War to Vietnam War by Kevin O’Reilly

Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake and Nutcracker, Berliner Philharmoniker, Mstislav Rostropovich conducting

Winsor McCay: The Master Edition (The Sinking of the Lusitania)

Claude Debussy: La Mer, Nocturnes, Jeux, The Cleveland Orchestra, Pierre Boulez conducting

The Battleship Potemkin (video)

“Broadway, Blues, and Truth†from RESPECT: A Century of Women in Music

Botchan by Soseki Natsume (translated by Umeji Sasaki)

Many Lives, Many Stories by Kathryn Abbott and Patricia Minter

Witness by Karen Hesse

Influenza 1918 (video from PBS)

New Orleans Rhythm Kings and Jelly Roll Morton

Antarctica by Walter Dean Myers

War Game by Michael Foreman

Mao Tse-Tung and His China by Albert Marrin

“The Butcher Boyâ€, “The Garage†and “Rough House†from The Best Arbuckle Keaton Collection (video)

Fluffy Ruffle Girls: Women in Ragtime

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque

Charles A. Lindbergh: A Human Hero by James Cross Giblin

Inherit the Wind (video)

Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw

All Quiet on the Western Front (video)

The Depression and New Deal by Robert McElvaine

Cabaret (video)

Radio Comedy Classics: Jack Benny Program and Fred Allen Show

Surviving Hitler by Andrea Warren

Maus I and Maus II by Art Spiegelman

Rabbit-Proof Fence (video)

The Verse by the Side of the Road by Frank Ransome, Jr.

Elvis Presley title album

Aaron Copland, Appalachian Spring, Rodeo, Billy the Kid, Fanfare for the Common Man (New York Philharmonic, Leonard Bernstein)

1940s House (video)

Diary of Anne Frank

North to Freedom by Anne Holm

Shane (video)

Frank Sinatra, Come Swing with Me

Animal Farm by George Orwell

The Little World of Don Camillo by Giovanni Guareschi

Ed Sullivan’s Rock and Roll Classics, Volume 8: Legends of Rock (video)

Beatles, Beatles for Sale

Atomic Café (video)

Bob Dylan, Highway 61 Revisited

“I Have a Dream†by Martin Luther King, Jr.

All the President's Men (video)

Forrest Gump (video)

Judy Collins, Whales and Nightingales

Hair (video)

The Vietnam War by Marilyn B. Young, John J. Fitzgerald and A. Tom Grunfeld

Singers and Songwriters, 1974-1975

Good Morning, Vietnam (video)

Out of the Silent Planet by C. S. Lewis

The Mouse that Roared by Leonard Wibberley

The Mouse that Roared (video)

Abba, The Definitive Collection

W;t by Margaret Edson

W;t (video)

Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

Fax from Sarajevo by Joe Kubert

U2, Achtung Baby

A Little History of the World by E. H. Gombrich

 

Regards,

Kareni

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Kareni, I'd be interested in knowing more of what this Book of Centuries looks like!  I like that. We have a timeline, but I'm not loving it. This idea seems more interesting.

 

 

My daughter's Book of the Centuries was a timeline but it was kept in a binder along with her writings and artwork.  She kept it in 7th through 9th grades when she did a three year sweep through history (we came to homeschooling late). I had her add ten entries each week. I was not so much concerned that she memorize dates as that she had a general idea of world happenings and when they had occurred relative to each other.

 

So, there were pages that had a vertical line down the center with hash marks indicating a span of years.  She would make her entries to the left and right of that line.  Between such pages would be her additional writings and maps.

 

Does that make things any clearer?

 

Regards,

Kareni

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I feel like a history slacker!  My dd12 is reading the The World in Ancient Times Series.  She summarizes each chapter in her history journal.  That's about it.  We did just start Book Bingo and some of the squares require a history book so she picked up a book on the parthenon and one on Cleopatra at the library.

 

I think I beat you on slacking!  :tongue_smilie:  We're just having fun with history this year, gearing up for a year of the Big History Project w/additional resources next year. So we read (right now it is Poop Happens: A History of the World From the Bottom Up), watch documentaries and historically related films, and discuss, discuss, discuss.

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My daughter's Book of the Centuries was a timeline but it was kept in a binder along with her writings and artwork.  She kept it in 7th through 9th grades when she did a three year sweep through history (we came to homeschooling late). I had her add ten entries each week. I was not so much concerned that she memorize dates as that she had a general idea of world happenings and when they had occurred relative to each other.

 

So, there were pages that had a vertical line down the center with hash marks indicating a span of years.  She would make her entries to the left and right of that line.  Between such pages would be her additional writings and maps.

 

Does that make things any clearer?

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

Yes! Thanks!

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My daughter's Book of the Centuries was a timeline but it was kept in a binder along with her writings and artwork.  She kept it in 7th through 9th grades when she did a three year sweep through history (we came to homeschooling late). I had her add ten entries each week. I was not so much concerned that she memorize dates as that she had a general idea of world happenings and when they had occurred relative to each other.

 

So, there were pages that had a vertical line down the center with hash marks indicating a span of years.  She would make her entries to the left and right of that line.  Between such pages would be her additional writings and maps.

 

Does that make things any clearer?

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

I just recently purchased SCM's Book of the Centuries PDF to incorporate into our history studies.  I love it! So easy to include in any history program.

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These are fantastic ideas! So then it looks like you put them in charge and give them a basic list of what you expect? DD LOVES to read as well, but she wanted more facts this year. Coming from HOD it's quite a change for mom. If feel scattered. So we're doing Abeka history, but I dislike the work in it. I do however like the chapter reviews that contains a list of important people and events. I could have her choose from the list and do the research on it. I'm also integrating some Civics. But just one research paper per chapter doesn't seem to be nearly enough for this level.

 

Kareni, I'd be interested in knowing more of what this Book of Centuries looks like! I like that. We have a timeline, but I'm not loving it. This idea seems more interesting.

 

Momling I like your schedule and the outlining - reading the entire chapter over a few days.

 

Happypamama I also like your primary source reads and analysis assignments.

 

Mmmm...good stuff ladies.

That's exactly why I started using History Odyssey, because it tells me what to have them analyze, and it includes the primary sources. It provides the questions. Like, the second part of early modern is heavily focused on revolutions, so it started out by having her look up the definition of a revolution. Then for each one, it has her think about whether it meets her definitions of a revolution, and why or why not. For the wars, it asks her to think about not just who, what, where, and when, but why, and where it got us in the long run. It's been money well spent to see how it's making her get beyond memorization to a deeper thinking.

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Also, History Odyssey marks it all out for me, different assignments under each topic. I go through it at the beginning of the year and draw lines between assignments, so whatever is between two of my lines is what I consider to be a reasonable day's worth of work. If I think something will take two or three days, like an essay, I note that too. So she can tell immediately each day what she need to do.

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That's exactly why I started using History Odyssey, because it tells me what to have them analyze, and it includes the primary sources. It provides the questions. Like, the second part of early modern is heavily focused on revolutions, so it started out by having her look up the definition of a revolution. Then for each one, it has her think about whether it meets her definitions of a revolution, and why or why not. For the wars, it asks her to think about not just who, what, where, and when, but why, and where it got us in the long run. It's been money well spent to see how it's making her get beyond memorization to a deeper thinking.

 

Another great resource for primary sources is: http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/

 

I use that site each week with our history.

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