Friday, June 5, 2020

My Last Fourth Grader's People and Places Plans: Central and South America

My youngest child, Second Son, is heading into Level 4 Year 1 (fourth grade) next year. I'm going through all our plans and deciding what he'll do and wanted to give an updated and more complete plan for People and Places. Mater Amabilis™ Level 2 Year 1 suggests choosing one book per term out of five options. I have read all five of the options but haven't used all of them in our lessons.

You can read what First Son did on my original post. I've added and removed books over the years, so what Second Son will do is a much smoother plan. For your benefit, I'm including more specific assignments for the Geography Coloring Book. I use this coloring book for all sorts of geography coloring starting in third grade through seventh or eighth grade. It's a bit of an investment, but I think it makes adding geography maps really easy for me.

[UPDATE on June 8, 2020: I created a newly expanded and revised set of lesson plans for The Geography Coloring Book, which you can find here. It's part of a master lesson plan for Levels 1A, 2, and 3.]

The Books (not including ones only First Son read)

Chucaro: Wild Pony of the Pampa by Francis Kalnay - a fun horse story from the Pampas of South America. First Son was more indifferent to this story than I expected, probably because I assigned too much other stuff. (That is a common problem for the oldest in a homeschooling family.) The girls didn't read it, but Second Son will. He likes animals stories, so I'm hopeful he'll enjoy it.


The Cay by Theodore Taylor - I love this book about a boy stranded on an island with a man he learns to love and respect. The girls didn't read this for school, though First Daughter read and enjoyed it on her own.

Journey to the River Sea by Eva Ibbotson - This is a lovely story of curiosity and mystery. First Son thought it was boring, but really I think I just asked him to read too much each week. My girls both loved it so much they often read far too many chapters at a time because they were too engrossed to put it down.

Where the Flame Trees Bloom by Alma Flor Ada - These stories of Cuba show the people and place very well for young readers. First Daughter enjoyed these short stories more than Second Daughter did. I think Second Son would prefer more excitement.


The Tapir Scientist: Saving South America's Largest Mammal by Sy Montgomery - I love this book. It's full of fascinating information on tapirs and real-life adventures of scientific work in the wild. I have assigned this to my girls and I think it was Second Daughter's most favorite book of fourth grade. I'm putting it on Second Son's independent reading list and hope he chooses to read it, but I'm not going to assign it.

Second Son's People and Places Lesson Plans

I have never required an actual narration from our People and Places lessons in Level 2 Year 1, but a few years ago I started asking my student to make notes in a reading journal after their reading for the day. They don't have to write a lot, not even sentences, just a few words to help them slow down a little and think about what they read. I only check the journal if they want me to read it.

First Term: Chucaro

Week 1
Forward and 1. Lasso
Geography Coloring Book: Argentina on p. 17

Week 2
2. Ombu
Geography Coloring Book: Paraguay on p. 17

Week 3
3. The Casita
Geography Coloring Book: Uruguay on p. 17

Week 4
4. Currycomb and 5. Tears
Geography Coloring Book: Bolivia on p. 17

Week 5
6. Gitana, the Gypsy and 7. Meat, Mate, Music
Geography Coloring Book: Chile on p. 17

Week 6
8. What the Mayordomo Didn't Know Was Not Worth Knowing
Geography Coloring Book: Ecuador on p. 17

Week 7
9. The Red Kerchief--A Mystery and 10. Something Is Brewing Again
Geography Coloring Book: Peru on p. 17

Week 8
11. The Vaquero Never Had a Chance
Geography Coloring Book: Colobmia on p. 16

Week 9 
12. An Urgent Message
Geography Coloring Book: French Guiana on p. 16

Week 10
13. The Patron
Geography Coloring Book: Guyana and Suriname on p. 16

Week 11
14. Bolas and 15. The Match
Geography Coloring Book: Venezuela on p. 16

Week 12
16. Itchy Hooves and 17. To Igazu
Geography Coloring Book: Brazil on p. 16

Second Term: The Cay

Week 1
Chapter One
Geography Coloring Book: Netherlands Antilles on p. 13

Week 2
Chapter Two
Geography Coloring Book: Bahamas on p. 13

Week 3
Chapter Three
Geography Coloring Book: Dominican Republic on p. 13

Week 4
Chapter Four
Geography Coloring Book: Haiti on p. 13

Week 5
Chapters Five and Six
Geography Coloring Book: Puerto Rico on p. 13

Week 6
Chapter Seven and Eight
Geography Coloring Book: Jamaica on p. 13

Week 7
Chapter Nine and Ten
Geography Coloring Book: St. Kitts and Nevis on p. 13

Week 8
Chapter Eleven
Geography Coloring Book: Antigua and Barbuda on p. 13

Week 9
Chapters Twelve and Thirteen
Geography Coloring Book: French Territories on p. 13

Week 10
Chapters Fourteen and Fifteen
Geography Coloring Book: Dominica on p. 13

Week 11
Chapters Sixteen and Seventeen
Geography Coloring Book: St. Lucia on p. 13

Week 12
Chapters Eighteen and Nineteen
Geography Coloring Book: Trinidad & Tobago on p. 13

Third Term: Journey to the River Sea
independent reading: To Go Singing through the World by Deborah Kogan Ray - This is a nice picture book biography of Pablo Neruda.

Week 1
Ch 1-2
Geography Coloring Book: Color Brazil on p 14

Week 2
Ch 3-4
Geography Coloring Book: French Guiana on p 14

Week 3
Ch 5-6
Geography Coloring Book: Color Suriname on p 14

Week 4
Ch 7-8 
Geography Coloring Book: Guyana on p 14

Week 5
Ch 9-10
Geography Coloring Book: Venezuela on p 14

Week 6
Ch 11-12
Geography Coloring Book: Colombia on p 14

Week 7
Ch 13-14
Geography Coloring Book: Argentina on p. 14

Week 8
Ch 15-16
Geography Coloring Book: Eucador on p 14

Week 9
Ch 17-18
Geography Coloring Book: Bolivia on p 14

Week 10
Ch 19-20
Geography Coloring Book: Paraguay on p 14 

Week 11
Ch 21-22
Geography Coloring Book: Uruguay on p 14

Week 12
Ch 23-24
Geography Coloring Book: Falkland Islands on p. 14

First Daughter and Second Daughter's Books 

My daughters read Where the Flame Trees Bloom instead of The Cay and The Tapir Scientist instead of Chucaro.

Where the Flame Trees Bloom

Week 1
Introduction
Geography Coloring Book: Color Cuba on p. 12

Week 2
The Teacher
Geography Coloring Book: Mexico on p 12

Week 3
Choices
Geography Coloring Book: Belize on p 12

Week 4
The Surveyor
Geography Coloring Book: Costa Rica on p 12

Week 5
Lightning
Geography Coloring Book: El Salvador on p 12

Week 6
Samone
Geography Coloring Book: Guatemala on p 12

Week 7
The Legend
Geography Coloring Book: Honduras on p 12

Week 8
Canelo
Geography Coloring Book: Nicaragua on p 12

Week 9
The Rag Dolls
Geography Coloring Book: Panama on p 12

Week 10
Mathematics
Geography Coloring Book: Caribbean Sea on p 12

Week 11
The Ice Cream Man
Geography Coloring Book: Gulf of Mexico p. 12

Week 12
The Feast of San Juan
Geography Coloring Book: Jamaica on p. 12

Week 13
Epilogue
Geography Coloring Book: Cuba on p. 13

The Tapir Scientist

Read one chapter a week. My girls used the same coloring book assignments as in Chucaro. There are only nine chapters in The Tapir Scientist, so you could either double up some of the coloring (coloring one country doesn't usually take very long) or just stop after the first nine assignments.

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