Our catalog of courses is complete. We will occasionally adjust the course listing to reflect the addition of new courses and the retirement of others.
Living History Through Literature is a project-based course series offered to 5th through 8th grade students. These courses will weave the study of literature into a meaningful and engaging encounter with a specific era of history. In LHTL: Modern History 3, we journey back to 1849 when a wagon train is ready to leave Rock Island, Illinois, heading for California in search of gold.
Total classes: 6
Prerequisite: No class prerequisite. Your student will need Powerpoint or Google Slides to work on the Final Project.
Suggested grade level: 6th to 9th
Suggested credit: 1/2 semester History or Literature
Description
Living History Through Literature is a project-based course series offered to 5th through 8th grade students. These courses will weave the study of literature into a meaningful and engaging encounter with a specific era of history. In LHTL: Modern History 3, we journey back to 1849 when a wagon train is ready to leave Rock Island, Illinois, heading for California in search of gold. Among these hopeful pioneers—but ostracized because the train will take no women—is a young woman from Wabash River, below Terre Haute, traveling alone with her own light wagon.
In this project-based course, students will engage in short quizzes and in projects of their choice. Project options will include fiction writing, preparing period-specific food and/or costumes, creating lap books, recreating scenes from the novel (Legos, clay, K’nex, digital drawing, hand-drawing, etc.), building a timeline, mapping, and more.
Outline
Class 1: Overview of Historical Context and Novel Introduction
Class 2: Literature Discussion; Project Introduction
Class 3: Literature Discussion; Cultural Overview
Class 4: Literature Discussion; Fiction Writing Tips
Class 5: Literature Discussion; Final Project Instructions
Class 6 Literature Analysis and Historical Connections; Student Project Showcase
Materials and Homework
Course Materials: Polly Kent Rides West, by Robert McCulloch
Purchase the book new from BethlehemBooks.com or used from BookFinder.com. Your student will need PowerPoint, Apple Keynote, or Google Slides or any presentation software which can save in a .ppt format.
Homework: Weekly quizzes and reading assignments. Each week, students will work on one project-based assignment that will culminate in a final novel project submission (due at the end of week 6). Homework (including novel reading) will take 1.5 to 3 hours per week. Parents are encouraged to support younger students by reading texts aloud and helping with project planning and execution.
