Plague!

[freesia]

Has anyone done RFP's Plague! unit recently?  I want to do something creative for my youngest, who will be in grade 6 next fall when we'd do it.  Is it all kind of obvious projects or is it work the 50 or so dollars it would cost?  We have a lot of resources around (she's the youngest of 4 in an always homeschooling family--this would be at least the third time we've hit the middle ages.) This child is more biology oriented than history so I want to mix things up and not just have historical lit and straight history.

[keirin]

I literally just ordered this for my rising fourth graders yesterday - we are doing medieval history and coming up on a black plague focused chapter so I thought it might be a fun add on to dive into for a bit. I'm not sure until I get the materials what I'm actually getting though or how doable it will be with my kids. I figured it if wasn't quite right now it might be something good to have for later. I'll try and remember to get on here with a review once I get the materials.

[freesia]

14 minutes ago, keirin said:

I literally just ordered this for my rising fourth graders yesterday - we are doing medieval history and coming up on a black plague focused chapter so I thought it might be a fun add on to dive into for a bit. I'm not sure until I get the materials what I'm actually getting though or how doable it will be with my kids. I figured it if wasn't quite right now it might be something good to have for later. I'll try and remember to get on here with a review once I get the materials.

Thank you, it would be great if you would.   We wouldn't be doing it until the fall.

[deeannch]

I used it probably 7 years ago with an informal coop group of teens and pre-teens. It was fun to do as a group, so I would suggest maybe finding a few friends who could  do it with you, either in person or via zoom. You are allowed to copy the pertinent pages. They all enjoyed the process and problem solving, even if it did devolve into the ridiculous at times. 

[freesia]

On 4/28/2020 at 2:15 PM, keirin said:

I literally just ordered this for my rising fourth graders yesterday - we are doing medieval history and coming up on a black plague focused chapter so I thought it might be a fun add on to dive into for a bit. I'm not sure until I get the materials what I'm actually getting though or how doable it will be with my kids. I figured it if wasn't quite right now it might be something good to have for later. I'll try and remember to get on here with a review once I get the materials.

keirin,

Have you had a chance to look at the materials yet?

[freesia]

On 5/2/2020 at 11:58 AM, deeannch said:

I used it probably 7 years ago with an informal coop group of teens and pre-teens. It was fun to do as a group, so I would suggest maybe finding a few friends who could  do it with you, either in person or via zoom. You are allowed to copy the pertinent pages. They all enjoyed the process and problem solving, even if it did devolve into the ridiculous at times. 

Did you do the one meant for groups or use the one with adaptations for one student?  In other words, is the one adapted for one adaptable to use with a group if at all possible?

[keirin]

freesia,

I got the shipment in and kind of peeked through the books. Keep in mind that I ordered Plague! Problem Stories for One version of this:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aLAliQTpTEqN468kRHzjCZf7_qjXunIY/view?usp=sharing

So, I had three books:

Black Death and Plague Resource Book - this is a book that includes a number of primary sources dealing with the Black Death, including paintings as well as written accounts from the time period. Here is a video of the resource book so you can get an idea of what it's like: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aGGiLwBJ36AafL3m_48Wn6EKdkNi1gqH/view?usp=sharing

Plague! Problem Stories for One Problem Log - this is basically the student workbook and is consumable. 

Plague! Problem Stories for One Parent Book - this it the main book for the unit study. It includes Part 1 Introduction, Part 2 Preparation for running Plague!, Part 3 Lesson Plans to run Plague! and an Appendix with resources to check out for additional supplemental information (such as books to read and websites to check out). In the Lesson Plan section, the pages from the problem log (see above) are duplicated, so if you were willing to copy the pages or let the student read sections out of the parent guide you wouldn't need the problem log for your student. There is a nice sample 3 week schedule for the lesson plans on p. 9 of the book which includes activities to do each day Monday-Friday.

Overall, I really like how well put together this is. I would plan on running this with my 3rd grade twins and I think it's feasible with modifications. It's probably more appropriate for a little bit older student (5th-6th would likely be kind of the sweet spot). Also, having all the books now I would say that you could easily get away with just ordering the Parent book. The problem log is nice (especially if you have more than one student that will need to read/copy for like I do with twins) and the resource book is interesting but it's a supplement and not necessary. It is referenced in the Parent book occasionally as an additional resource (ie, not necessary) but the pieces in the book itself aren't really suggested by name. It's more up to you to decide how to assing/fit in the material from the resource book if you want to.

Hope that helps.

[freesia]

17 minutes ago, keirin said:

freesia,

I got the shipment in and kind of peeked through the books. Keep in mind that I ordered Plague! Problem Stories for One version of this:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aLAliQTpTEqN468kRHzjCZf7_qjXunIY/view?usp=sharing

So, I had three books:

Black Death and Plague Resource Book - this is a book that includes a number of primary sources dealing with the Black Death, including paintings as well as written accounts from the time period. Here is a video of the resource book so you can get an idea of what it's like: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aGGiLwBJ36AafL3m_48Wn6EKdkNi1gqH/view?usp=sharing

Plague! Problem Stories for One Problem Log - this is basically the student workbook and is consumable. 

Plague! Problem Stories for One Parent Book - this it the main book for the unit study. It includes Part 1 Introduction, Part 2 Preparation for running Plague!, Part 3 Lesson Plans to run Plague! and an Appendix with resources to check out for additional supplemental information (such as books to read and websites to check out). In the Lesson Plan section, the pages from the problem log (see above) are duplicated, so if you were willing to copy the pages or let the student read sections out of the parent guide you wouldn't need the problem log for your student. There is a nice sample 3 week schedule for the lesson plans on p. 9 of the book which includes activities to do each day Monday-Friday.

Overall, I really like how well put together this is. I would plan on running this with my 3rd grade twins and I think it's feasible with modifications. It's probably more appropriate for a little bit older student (5th-6th would likely be kind of the sweet spot). Also, having all the books now I would say that you could easily get away with just ordering the Parent book. The problem log is nice (especially if you have more than one student that will need to read/copy for like I do with twins) and the resource book is interesting but it's a supplement and not necessary. It is referenced in the Parent book occasionally as an additional resource (ie, not necessary) but the pieces in the book itself aren't really suggested by name. It's more up to you to decide how to assing/fit in the material from the resource book if you want to.

Hope that helps.

Thank you, that helps a lot.  Especially about all the log pages being in the Parent book. My dd will be 6th grade. 

[deeannch]

On 5/12/2020 at 4:09 PM, freesia said:

Did you do the one meant for groups or use the one with adaptations for one student?  In other words, is the one adapted for one adaptable to use with a group if at all possible?

Sorry, just now seeing this. When I purchased it, there was only the option for groups, as I recall. It's been about 7 years. So it may even be totally different now. I did it with a group of teens in a coop and they loved it. It did get pretty chaotic and we probably had too many students (around 20).