World History – Middle Ages to American Revolution

Scheduling our days has always been the best way for us to get things done.  We try to complete history lessons on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.  This leaves the end of our week free to explore out of the house.  I usually schedule field trips on Fridays.

Each lesson is intended for 30-60 minutes during a school day.  I only extended our time when my students seem interested in a subject and eager to learn more.  Some lessons will be shorter, and I don’t worry about amount of time as much as exposure and fun.

Some of you will find the lessons extremely simple, and I want to remind you that this is for 2nd grade students who don’t need a full discourse on the how’s and why’s of each topic.  This is their first official exposure to these topics, and I desire to simply give them a snapshot and a framework of reference for later studies when they are older.

It is fine to simply move through each lesson at your own pace.  You do not have to complete all the year’s lessons in one school year.  Take your time and make sure you and your students are enjoying the process of learning.

Structure of Lessons

Readings

I will list the books we read that relate to the lesson’s topics.  You can gather these books from your local library or use the Amazon affiliate links to purchase (especially if you use Amazon Prime).

We always sit together, and I read aloud from these books to my students.  (We are usually snuggled on the couch.)

Internet Exploration

My students love to find an interactive website or watch a short informational or silly video about what we’ve just read.  I’ll share what we have found and explored with you.

Activities

I will usually find a worksheet or some sort of activity to reinforce what we have learned.  The worksheets are simple and almost always FREE, and the crafts have to be easy to prep.  I don’t need complex, and my students usually don’t enjoy something that they can’t quickly manipulate.

Independent Readings

Because my students are nearing the end of their phonics studies in 2nd grade, I use history to incorporate reading and literature.  I like to have a few easy readers available that are related to our history topic.  I let my students choose which ones to read, or may require one or two from them.

I make reading a big deal in our house.  I enroll us in every reading program I can (including library’s summer reading, Pizza Hut’s BOOK IT! program, and Six Flags’ Read to Succeed program).  We also use Reading Rewards to keep an online reading log.  I have used Sylvan’s Book Adventure as well.

Occasionally, there is a book that I have to sit and read aloud with them.  I might have an obsession with picture books though…

Again, each lesson should take no more than an hour.  Keep those students engaged and having fun!