Third Grade People and Places: Asia (Lesson Plans)

[UPDATE April 2021: I just read a book that would work wonderfully in this study - Little Leap Forward.]

Second Son is finishing up third grade this month and, as I am wrap up the year, I realized I have never shared our actual plans for the recommended books for Mater Amabilis™ People and Places of Asia (Level 1A Year 2).

Because we use it in many of our other studies, I assigned some mapwork from The Geography Coloring Book for my younger children. My oldest just traced a map of the country (identifying some rivers and major cities, etc.) before his reading. The coloring book is really easy for me because it doesn't take any prep work and it's easy to confirm the student actually did something involving a map, but it's not necessarily better than the map exploration First Son did each week.

[UPDATE June 8, 2020: I created a new set of mapping activities for these books and the others suggested for this level. You can find the updated lesson plans here.]

Term 1: Russia

Sovietrek: A Journey by Bicycle across Russia by Dan Buettner

This is one of my favorite Mater Amabilis™ books so I'm surprised I haven't written about it before. Dan and two friends bike through Russia in 1990, when Russia was almost unknown to the average American. It's an adventure complete with mishaps and enduring generous hospitality from Russians who share what sounds like truly disgusting food (and some good things to eat, too). Some of the bike riding described is amazing.

Week 1
- Geography Coloring Book p. 18 - color Russia (Russian Federation, under "Eastern") and read the text.
- Sovietrek pp. 6-17. Narrate.

Week 2
- Geography Coloring Book p. 19 - Color these rivers: Dvina, Dnepr, Don, Volga, Ural.
- Sovietrek pp. 18-25. Narrate.

Week 3
- Geography Coloring Book p 19 - Color these bodies of water: Black Sea, Caspian Sea, Barents Sea, Baltic Sea.
- Sovietrek pp. 26-33. Narrate.

Week 4
- Geography Coloring Book p. 19 - Color these mountain ranges: Carpathians, Urals, Caucasus.
- Sovietrek pp. 34-43. Narrate.

Week 5
- Geography Coloring Book p 19 - Color the Principal Land Regions (smaller map on second page).
- Sovietrek pp. 44-51. Narrate.

Week 6
- Geography Coloring Book p 25 - Color the Former Soviet Baltic Republics.
- Sovietrek pp. 52-57. Narrate.

Week 7
- Geography Coloring Book p 25 - Color the former Soviet Eastern European Republics.
- Sovietrek pp. 58-67. Narrate.

Week 8
- Geography Coloring Book p 26 - Color Russia on the big map.
- Sovietrek pp. 68-75. Narrate.

Week 9
- Geography Coloring Book p 27 - Color the Former Soviet Caucasus Republics.
- Sovietrek pp. 76-83. Narrate.

Week 10
- Geography Coloring Book p 27 - Color the Former Soviet Asian Republics.
- Sovietrek pp. 84-93. Narrate.

Week 11
- Geography Coloring Book p. 28 - Color Russia and Middle East I countries.
- Sovietrek pp. 94-99. Narrate.

Week 12
- Finish Sovietrek. Narrate.

Term 2: China

The Children of China: An Artist's Journey by Song Nan Zhang

This book has beautiful pictures covering whole pages, painted by the author. They show families and children working or playing, but generally joyful. At one time we also owned A Little Tiger by the same author (also on the Mater Amabilis™ list), but I decided I preferred this one for our study. It covers a lot of different areas and people of China. If you're interested in something more personal, A Little Tiger would be a good choice.

Week 1

- Geography Coloring Book p. 28 - Color the Eastern countries (starting with China).

- Children of China (own) pp. 5-7. Narrate.

Week 2
- Geography Coloring Book p. 28 - Color the Middle East II countries.
- Children of China pp. 8-9. Narrate.

Week 3
- Geography Coloring Book p. 28 - Color the Southern countries.
- Children of China pp. 10-11. Narrate.

Week 4
- Geography Coloring Book p 28 - Color the Southeastern Countries.
- Children of China pp. 12-13. Narrate.

Week 5
- Geography Coloring Book p. 28 - Color the Western countries.
- Children of China pp. 14-17. Narrate.

Week 6
- Geography Coloring Book p 29 - Color the principal rivers.
- Children of China pp. 18-19. Narrate.

Week 7
- Geography Coloring Book p 29 - Color the principal mountain ranges.
- Children of China pp. 20-23. Narrate.

Week 8
- Geography Coloring Book p 29 - Color the land regions (smaller map on the second page).
- Children of China pp. 24-27. Narrate.

Week 9
- Geography Coloring Book p 29 - Color the mountain peaks.
- Children of China pp. 28-30. Narrate.

Term 3: Vietnam (First Son and Second Son)

Water Buffalo Days: Growing Up in Vietnam by Huynh Quang Nhuong is a gentle tale of a boy in Vietnam who loved his family, his village, his water buffalo and his life. It is an autobiographical account that gives a wonderful glimpse of his daily life, the joy he found in his home though the Vietnam War does touch his life violently near the end of the book.

Week 1

- Geography Coloring Book p. 33 - Color China, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Mongolia, and Taiwan.

- Water Buffalo Days pp. 1-10. Narrate.

Week 2

- Geography Coloring Book p 33 - Color the oceans and seas.

- Water Buffalo Days pp. 11-22. Narrate.

Week 3

- Geography Coloring Book p. 32 - Color the countries.

- Water Buffalo Days pp. 23-30. Narrate.

Week 4

- Geography Coloring Book p. 32 - Color the oceans and seas.
- Water Buffalo Days pp. 31-38. Narrate.

Week 5

- Geography Coloring Book p. 34 - Color the countries.
- Water Buffalo Days pp. 39-46. Narrate.

Week 6

- Geography Coloring Book p. 34 - Color the oceans and seas.
- Water Buffalo Days pp. 47-57. Narrate.

Week 7

- Water Buffalo Days pp. 58-71. Narrate.

Week 8

- Water Buffalo Days pp. 72-86. Narrate.

Week 9

- Water Buffalo Days pp. 87-101. Narrate.

Week 10

- Water Buffalo Days pp. 102-112. Narrate.

Week 11

- Water Buffalo Days pp. 113-117. Narrate.

Week 12

- Sacred River: The Ganges of India by Ted Lewin. Narrate. (for fun, because we own it)

Alternate Term 3: Japan (First Daughter and Second Daughter)

Water Buffalo Days is wonderful and certainly a good choice for girls as well as boys, but Miss Happiness and Miss Flower by Rumer Godden is absolutely delightful. (I recommend finding an older copy of the book with the original illustrations.) It's quite a bit shorter than Water Buffalo Days, which might be good for the end of the year when everyone is ready to be outside playing instead of reading and narrating. (It does happen.)

Week 1

- Geography Coloring Book p. 33 - Color China, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Mongolia, and Taiwan.

- Miss Happiness and Miss Flower pp. 1-23. Narrate.

Week 2

- Geography Coloring Book p. 33 - Color the oceans and seas.

- Miss Happiness and Miss Flower pp. 24-36. Narrate.

Week 3

- Geography Coloring Book p. 32 - Color the countries.

- Miss Happiness and Miss Flower pp. 37-54. Narrate.

Week 4

- Geography Coloring Book p. 32 - Color the oceans and seas.

- Miss Happiness and Miss Flower pp. 54-71. Narrate.

Week 5

- Geography Coloring Book p 34 - Color the countries.

- Miss Happiness and Miss Flower pp. 72-87. Narrate.

Week 6

- Geography Coloring Book p. 34 - Color the oceans and seas.

- Miss Happiness and Miss Flower pp. 87-104. Narrate.

Week 7

- Sacred River: The Ganges of India by Ted Lewin. Narrate. (for fun, because we own it)

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