Thursday, August 17, 2017

Our Level 4 (8th Grade) Six Week Study on Asia

Mater Amabilis™ gives some lesson plans for History in Level 4 (8th grade) in which a student studies national history for twelve weeks followed by four six-week terms chosen from six options.

Here's how that's going to look for First Son:
  • Term 1 - Mater Amabilis™ study, modified only a little to add in a few Kansas-related books. I've posted those plans in the Mater Amabilis™ facebook group for those that are interested.
  • Term 2
  • Term 3
    • Six weeks on Russia and the Collapse of Communism, plans posted in the Mater Amabilis™ facebook group
    • Six weeks on Asia - plans below

Everyone's budget hits a limit and I decided not to invest quite as heavily in this six weeks as others. Because the study is spread over a few "units" focused on different ares, I decided to find library substitutes for the Mater Amabilis™ recommended books. I have no reason to believe these are better; they were just available.

As with the other history plans I wrote for the year, there's a good chance I've scheduled more than my rising eighth grader will be comfortable doing in the time suggested for history.

Mater Amabilis™ says history at this level should take about 45 minutes each day three times a week. In addition, a supplemental reading book should be chosen from the recommended books. I'm still deciding on our supplemental reading books.

Our Main Resources

Optional Resources

  • MapTrek Modern World (previously owned)
  • Gandhi, the Ben Kingsley production (good for middle school and up, available at our library)
  • A Statement Against the War in Vietnam by Wendell Berry, p 64-75 in The Long-Legged House (from our library)
  • The Arrival by Shaun Tan (from our library)


Week 1: India

Lesson 1
Kingfisher History Encyclopedia p 366-367, 421, 424 – Narrate. (Southeast Asia 1800-1913, Indian Independence 1945-1947, British Commonwealth 1914-1949)
Mahatma Gandhi  p 5-17 (stop before The first struggles) - Narrate.
Gandhi DVD – watch a little of these in the evenings each day this week, after the younger children are in bed.

Lesson 2
Mahatma Gandhi p 17-42 - Narrate.

Lesson 3
Mahatma Gandhi p 43-60 – Narrate.
MapTrek Modern World Map 37: Independence for India
Read an eyewitness account of the assassination of Gandhi in1948 at Eyewitness to History
Listen to Jawaharlal Nehru’s extempore broadcast on All India Radio announcing the news of Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination on January 30, 1948 and read the text of the speech he gave three days later, found in your Google Doc.
Notebook – Write a brief biography of Gandhi.
Add an event to your Book of Centuries.

Week 2: Korea

Lesson 1
MapTrek Modern World Map 41: The Korean War
Kingfisher History Encyclopedia p 444-445 – Narrate. (Wars in Asia 1950-1988)
The Korean War p 8-37 - Narrate.

Lesson 2
The Korean War p 38-69 - Narrate.

Lesson 3
The Korean War p 70-85
Notebook – Briefly share what you know about the Korean War.
Add an event to your Book of Centuries.

Week 3: Vietnam (week 1 of 2)

Lesson 1
MapTrek Modern World Map 42: The Vietnam War – review this map in your binder from earlier this year
10,000 Days of Thunder p 6-30 - Narrate.

Lesson 2
10,000 Days p 31-59 – Narrate.

Lesson 3
10,000 Days p 60-85 – Narrate.
Add an event to your Book of Centuries.

Week 4: Vietnam (week 2 of 2)

Lesson 1
10,000 Days p 86-87.
A Statement Against the War in Vietnam by Wendell Berry, pp 64-75 in The Long-Legged House
Notebook – Write a position paper on the war in Vietnam.

Lesson 2
10,000 Days p 88-111 – Narrate.

Lesson 3
10,000 Days p 112-119 – Narrate.
Notebook – Briefly share what you know about the Vietnam War.
Add an event to your Book of Centuries.

Week 5: Afghanistan (week 1 of 2)

Lesson 1
Afghanistan (Global Hot Spots) by David Downing p 4-7 – Narrate.
Notebook – Sketch a copy of the map on p 6.

Lesson 2
Afghanistan p 8-13 – Narrate.

Lesson 3
Afghanistan p 14-19 – Narrate.
Add an event to your Book of Centuries.

Week 6: Afghanistan (week 2 of 2)

Lesson 1
Afghanistan p 20-25 – Narrate.

Lesson 2
Afghanistan p 26-29 – Narrate.
Notebook – What have you learned about Afghanistan in the past few weeks?

Lesson 3
Read The Arrival by Shaun Tan
Notebook – Write a prayer for immigrants and refugees.
Add an event to your Book of Centuries.

There's enough flexibility in this schedule due to the shorter books, that readings could be combined to make the unit shorter than six weeks. That would allow days earlier in the year for exams in previous units and in this one as well. Personally, I've tried to make a kind of "final" notebook entry for each unit to serve as our exam.
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