Notgrass America the Beautiful {A Review}

A comprehensive American history curriculum with something for everyone.

America the Beautiful 

The Essentials - What you need to know

•  Notgrass Company
• Product: America the Beautiful 
•  Grade 5 - 8
• Two hardbound textbooks, (Part 1: America from 1000 to 1877, Part 2: America from the Late 1800s to the Present), Hardbound book of primary sources, softbound books of timeline, maps, and answer key, spiral bound student workbook and spiral bound lesson review questions.
• $99.95 The American the Beautiful Curriculum Package (everything except the student workbook and lesson review questions. 
• $11.95 Student Workbook
• $9.95 Lesson Review Questions

The Review

Last year I could not find an American History curriculum for Zippy.  As a trained history teacher I had very exacting parameters.  I wanted a curriculum that is easy to read, does a good job of relaying the historical facts, including, if possible, primary sources, maps, timeline and a literature component. I found the history curriculum I was looking for, and bonus, it is written from a distinctly Christian point of view.

The truly beautiful thing about this curriculum is it has so many wonderful inter-working parts.  After the introduction to the textbook there is a six page section titled "How to Use America the Beautiful" The authors do an outstanding job of describing each resource and how to use it.  That would be enough to intimidate any teacher, but the last page of this section holds two gems.  First is a chart detailing exactly what to do for each grade.  What the responsibilities of the parent are and what the responsibilities of the student are. Then there is a short paragraph under the heading "Some Reminders So You Will Not Feel Overwhelmed".


The Textbooks:
Hard bound, non-consumable books, together they cover 30 lessons, perfect for a year's coverage of American History. The lessons are organized into units 5 lessons long, each unit intended to last for a week. Each lesson is just a few pages of text with lots of beautiful pictures and illustrations, nearly all of them primary source materials.  Primary source materials are things that are recorded at the moment in history. Photos, writings, letters, diaries, things that are the first impression at the time.  At the end of each lesson there are activities that expand on the text. Some activities are in the other books in the curriculum, some are more independent activities such as vocabulary, creative writing, and thinking biblical.   Each unit also includes a family activity. These activities usually involve parental supervision and/or involvement.  Examples include making Navajo fry bread, colonial printing craft, and dancing the Virginia reel. The textbooks all by themselves would make a fabulous spine for any American history study.

Everything Else:
We the People is a hard bound, non-consumable that is full of stories, documents, newspaper articles, journal entries, poems, speeches, letters and songs.  The content of this book is like a fine wine.  It complements and enhances the meat of the textbooks.

Maps of America the Beautiful is a consumable, soft bound book of black line maps.  At the beginning of each chapter of the textbook it indicates which map(s) relate with that chapter.  The book is set up so as you open the book, the map is on the right page and the directions for that map are on the left page. Students color, underline, label and other reinforce information learned in the chapter, as well as a small dose of geography too.

Timeline of America the Beautiful is a consumable, soft bound book that is basically a timeline in book form.  It is illustrated with very color-able black line pictures, with areas for the student to fill in information. Some information is already filled in.  This allows the students to see other events that happened around the time that they are filling in.

America the Beautiful Answer Key is self explanatory.  It is always nice to have the answers.

America the Beautiful Student Workbook is a spiral bound, soft covered book full of all kinds of
worksheets.  According to the website the workbook is intended for students grades 5 and 6.  It is a creative way for students to reinforce the information they learned through the text book.  There is every kind of worksheet in this book, each one different from the one before.  There are fill in the blank, word searches, cross word, mixed up letters and much more.

America the Beautiful Lesson Review is a spiral bound, soft covered book with questions reviewing each lesson.  According to the website this book is intended for students in grade 7 and 8.  Again this a great way to reinforce reading comprehension of the text.  I used it as a way to get Zippy to narrate what she read in the text.  This book in particular is very classical in the way that it is organized.

The Literature. In addition to the text and all the extra resources this curriculum comes with a recommendation of 10 works of literature.  (They are available as a literature pack from Notgrass Company, but they are also readily available in bookstores or libraries.) We made it through some of the first book, which paired nicely with the text giving a different point of view to the time.  Letting the student into the head space of a boy who lived at that time, making not only the history in the fiction come alive, but adding a sense of reality to the actual historical account.

Zippy and I really enjoyed reviewing this history curriculum.  We took a smorgasbord approach, doing something a little different with each lesson, mixing it up, trying out all the options.  While I love the fact that there is something for every kind of learner, the thing that I liked the most was the text, the meat of the curriculum was bite sized.  For Zippy, who has a short attention span, this was perfect.  She really felt like she had success with this curriculum.  While I have chosen a different World History curriculum for this fall. The Notgrass  American the Beautiful Curriculum will make an appearance in eighth grade.

Dig It Games: Mayan Mysteries {A Review}

Mayan Mysteries is a fun, fast-paces game that keeps kids learning as they play.

Mayan Mysteries Online Game

The Essentials - What you need to know
• Company: Dig It Games
• Product: Mayan Mysteries - Online Game
• Age Range: 5th - 9th Graders
• An online game about the Maya history and archaeology.
• Price: $21.99

The Review

Crash, bang, through the window of the Chief Mateo's office flies a statue of a Mayan ball player with mysterious mark on the bottom and a note from the looter.  Chief Mateo quickly puts in a call to his good friend Quinn, who with his young niece and nephew (who were on their way to camp Kilamonth) need to come to Guatamala immediately to solve the mystery of a series of thefts at archaeological sites. 

That was how Mayan Mysteries, an online game from Dig it Games, starts, with comic book style.  It plunges the player into an exciting mystery.  From the virtual comic the player is introduced to the main characters in a police station.  The player clicks on each character to find out more information about the case. The player reads the information.  At the end of each reading is a challenge, a multiple choice quiz.  The player, in a Jeep, needs to stay in front of the looters in a red pick-up truck.  For each right answer the Jeep moved forward, for each wrong answer the pick-up truck moved forward.  If the player misses too many questions the looters catch up to them and they fail the challenge.  Don't worry, though, because the player can try again, with the same questions.  

The majority of the game is reading with a multiple choice quiz at the end.  There is a lot of reading. Information about the ancient Maya's culture, political culture, family life, and more.  There is also a lot about archaeology.  How archaeologists work at a dig, the tools they use and the different kind of artifacts they find. 

In each section there are one or two puzzles that are not multiple choice quizzes.  There are some fun map labeling puzzles that really help the player get comfortable with the geography of Central America.  There is an artifact digging game where the player has to choose the right tool to unearth the artifact without breaking it or taking too long.  It really gives insight into the archaeologist's craft.  There is an "I spy" type game, where the player has to find specific artifacts.  Artifacts that were introduced before in the reading and in other games.  This was Zippy's favorite game.  I played the game a little for myself and she was very animated when I got to this part.

When I found out that I was getting this review I let Zippy know.  She is all about video games.  Given her druthers she would spend all day playing them.   To say she was excited would be an understatement.  There is a free trial on the website so I let her play that.  She was frustrated when it got to the part where it said, "in order to continue please purchase", and bugged me every day to see if the e-mail with the access had come. When I did receive access to the rest of the game I was out of town for a few days.  I took pity on her and got it set up for her from where I was at.  I was gone for three days.  She was completely finished with the game by the time I got home (and she had to start again from the very beginning).   Being the astute reviewer I asked her what she thought of it.  She said "It was short and it ended with a cliff-hanger". 

Zippy was disappointed with the game.   She thought that there would be more game in the purchased product past the free trial.  The cliff hanger really bothered her.  This child is a real fan of resolution. According to the website the game is for children in grades 5-9.  I think that the reading material is at that grade level, but the sophistication of the game play and puzzles are at a lower level.   However I know that she did learn things.  When I was playing the game she would pipe up with bits of information that she had gleaned from her experience playing the game.  I think this game would make an excellent extension to a unit on the Mayans.    

A word about customer service:

I had an opportunity to interact with Dig It Games.  When I do a review I get the product for free (check out the disclaimer at the bottom of this post).  I made a mistake when getting access to the game and actually purchased the game.  It was not a big deal, but I e-mailed the company to let them know what I'd done. They e-mailed me back right away, even though it was on a weekend and refunded my money in a timely manner.  All in all I would be very comfortable doing business with Dig It Games again.  

Home School in the Woods Lapbook {A Review}

Lapbooks are a wonderful way to learn a new topic or refresh old information.

Homeschool in the Woods Publishing 

The Essentials - What you need to know

• Company: Home School in the Woods 
• Product: Hands On History Lap-Pak: The 20th Century in America
• This is a lapbook that explores 20th Century in America.  It is available as a pdf download or as a CD.  We reviewed the pdf download.  
• Grades 3 - 8
• Downloaded version: $21.95, CD: $22.95

What is a Lapbook?

Lapbooking is a method where students compile information on a particular topic, in this instance 20th Century America, using mini-books on different facets of that topic, then collecting them usually in a file folder.  Each mini book is a separate project dealing with a particular detail of the large topic.  Using this lap pak as an example, the greater topic was America in the 20th Century, one of the mini books was on the World Wars.

The Review

We reviewed the pdf download.  It was downloaded as a zipped folder with several pdf files and an internet document.  The internet document led me step by step through the whole process.  There was quite a bit of information contained in this Lap Pak.  First was the reading material, which was available as either  full sized sheets to put in a binder or as a half sized sheet booklet that could be stored with the finished lapbook.  There was also comprehensive instructions for putting together the reading material.  There were 22 projects/mini books ranging over the history of the 20th century including historical, social, cultural and literary topics.  Each project had detailed directions on how to complete it and what reading went with it.   There were also detailed instructions on putting together the final lapbook, with photographs to illustrate where each of the booklets fit in the file folder. 

While all the information and masters are included digitally in the pak, they must be printed off.  There are a number of materials which must be obtained to put together the booklets and the final product including, a file folder, packing tape, double sided tape, glue stick, scissors, card stock, colored paper, colored pencils and a manila envelope.  

I like lapbooks for their versatility.  They can be used as a simple stand alone lesson, a portal to a deeper study of the topic or along side another text. This lap pak was very complete.  The information booklet provided a comprehensive survey of the 20th century and was easy to read.    The projects were explained in detail and easy to complete.  There were a variety of projects so it wasn't doing the same thing over and over.  Some of the projects were a capstone on the reading with all the information already in the booklets.  Zippy just had to construct the booklet.   Some of the booklets required writing a small amount of information, that could be obtained from the reading material.   Some of the booklets required some research outside of the provided information.

We used this as our primary history for a few weeks, with Zippy doing one or two mini-books per day.  It was easy for me to give her assignments, everything was laid out nicely with clear directions.  Zippy was very reluctant to complete here assignments.  I cannot give a good reason why.  She says she did not like how long it took her to complete an assignment.  That was her problem, not an issue with the lap pak.

I would only change one thing.  Each of the booklet pages is a separate pdf document.  I chose to do all my printing at once.  I had to go to a FedEx store because my printer was having issues.  I had to find a way to make all the separate files (there were 99 of them) into one file so I could print it off.  Even if I printed it out at home all those files would be very cumbersome.  I would at least combine the pages of the projects together into one file for easier printing.

If you are looking for a comprehensive, easy to do, lap book project I would recommend Home School in the Woods.

Knowledge Quest Timeline Builder App {A Review}

A fun, flexible timeline tool.

Timeline Builder App 

The Essentials - What you need to know

• Company: Knowledge Quest
• Timeline Builder App
• Age Range: 10+, but could be used with younger children too.
• iPad app 
• $6.99

The Review

The Timeline Builder app for the ipad (it is not available for the ipod or the iphone) is a versatile tool that can be used along side any history curriculum or project.  This app allows the user to create timelines for any period of time.  This tool can be used across a wide expanse of time like a whole curriculum or it can be used for a brief period of time.  The user names each new timeline, gives it a description, chooses the background and chooses beginning and ending dates. The app gives the option of BCE/CD or BC/AD when choosing dates.
It is easy to add events to the timeline.  The user names the event and gives a description.  Then chooses starting date and ending date, similar to the creating the timeline itself.  Then the user can upload a photo to go along with the entry.  The user has a choice to upload a saved photo from their library or import a copied photo from the pasteboard.  Each entry has a "search Wikipedia" button where the user is whisked off to Wikipedia were the event name is used as a search term.  When the event is saved to the timeline, the entry shows a thumbnail size of the photo, with the event title and dates.  The events are highlighted on the the actual line.  To access the information the user simply double taps on the entry.  Events can be moved around on the page to make a visually pleasing timeline.

The timeline can be shared.  Timeline itself can be saved as a photo or emailed as can the individual event images.  The event descriptions and images can also be saved for file sharing in iTunes.

We used this timeline app along side two different history curriculum.  First we used it with Story of the World Volume 1 by Susan Wise Bauer.  Zippy used the timeline app to plot out the main events and people that have already been covered.  Then as she moved forward she entered names and dates as she encountered them in the text. This did two things, it allowed her to review the information she already studied, and it showed her that different events, important events were happening at the same time in different parts of the world.

Secondly, we are in the process of  reviewing a lapbook on Twentieth Century in America  from Homeschool in the Woods.  As Zippy completes a booklet she is plotting the important events on her timeline.  When she is done, I will have her compare her timeline to the one included in the pack.

I think this timeline app is a fantastic tool for organizing any kind of information in a linear fashion not just historical timelines.  You could use this for genealogical research, books read, books written in order by a particular author, wedding planning or project timeline. It is a really great value for a small price.

Ancient Greece Lapbook

Textbooks vs Tradebooks

Well summer is getting into full swing and so are we.  After 6 weeks of pared back, core subjects (math, spelling, grammar) concentration, we are adding back Social Studies and Science.  For these two subjects I have decided to do lapbooks.  Now the beautiful thing about lapbooking is the information can come from so many different places. 

photo credit: ginnerobot via flickr

Our first unit is on Ancient Greece.  Being the social studies teacher that I am I knew exactly what I wanted to cover (and found the free templates here).  Information sources include a history textbook, non-fiction books, websites, and documentaries.  So which is the most valuable?  I think that each have their own strengths and weaknesses.  By using different sources it gives a depth and breath to the learning that would not happen with just one kind of information.  Maybe I should have named this post Textbooks and Tradebooks.

So what do you think, textbooks, tradebooks, both or neither?

May Book Picks

I thought I would share some of the books that we are reading and using in our homeschool this month.

Still reading The Hobbit, Zippy is more than half way through now. 

We will be starting a new unit on Ancient Greece soon. Here are some of the books that we will be using as resources

One other book I have on order, and hope to use as part of this Ancient Greek unit,  is an illustrated copy of The Iliad.  I have not looked at this book, but think it will be interesting to Zippy.

Two Good Books {a reveiw}

This fifth grade year in history we stared, well, at the beginning. I heard that was a very good place to start.  Along side our text (see Zippy's curriculum page for the whole of what we are doing), we are using other fiction and non-fiction works to add depth to her studies.  Here are two books that we found at the library that I think are especially engaging and informative.

Egyptian Dairy by Richard Platt
A story of a young Egyptian boy who moves to the big city and solves a mystery.  Although a work of fiction, it is written as a diary, allowing us to talk about primary sources, what they are and why they are important.  It completely immerses the reader in the Ancient Egyptian culture. 

You Wouldn't Want to Be Tutankhamen by David Stewart
Part of the pantheon of "You Wouldn't Want to Be" books, this is fun, but informative book.  Written in the second person (you), illustrated with cartoon pictures it tells of the life and death of Tutankhamen. It presents the information in easy to digest bits of information, and as the photo below testifies, Zippy really liked it.