Ursa Minor Learning Year 7

History

• National History Option A
  • 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus
  • The Name of War: King Philip’s War and the Origins of American Identity by Jill Lepore
• National History Primary Sources
• World History: Prehistory to Mesopotamia
  • A History of the Ancient Near East, ca. 3000-323 BC (Blackwell History of the Ancient World)
  • Early China: A Social and Cultural History by Li Feng
• World History Primary Sources
• Keep a Book of Centuries

Citizenship

• Government and Economics
  • Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
  • The Code of Hammurabi
• Plutarch
  • T1 Aristides
  • T2 Cato the Elder
• Philosophy
  • What Does It All Mean?: A Very Short Introduction to Philosophy by Thomas Nagel
• World Religion
  • Native North America by Larry Zimmerman and Brian Molyneaux

English

• Literature
  • The Epic of Gilgamesh (selections)
  • Tun-huang by Yasushi Inoue
  • Watership Down: A Novel by Richard Adams
• Shakespeare
  • The Tempest
  • As You Like It
  • The Comedy of Errors
• Poetry
  • The Dream Keeper and Other Poems by Langston Hughes
  • Idylls of the King by Alfred Lord Tennyson
• Grammar and Composition
  • Grammar of Literature
  • Vocabulary of Literature
  • Writing of Literature
  • 3/week Written Narrations
• Keep a Commonplace Book
  • Record favorite quotes and striking passages.
  • Give an account of books read.

Recitation and Rhetoric

• Memory Work
  • 3 poems per term
  • 1 passage from Shakespeare per term
  • 1 passage from Literature per term

Languages

• Latin
• Modern Foreign Language

Science

• Natural Philosophy
  • Science Matters: Achieving Scientific Literacy by Robert Hazen
  • Keep Nature Journal.
• BFSU
  • Middle School Science Education: Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding, Vol. III, Grades 6-8
• Genetics and Evolution
  • The Reluctant Mr. Darwin: An Intimate Portrait of Charles Darwin and the Making of His Theory of Evolution by David Quammen
  • Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History by Stephen Jay Gould
  • Darwin Online
• Geography
  • The Voyage of the Beagle: The Illustrated Edition of Charles Darwin’s Travel Memoir and Field Journal by Charles Darwin
  • Charting the World: Geography and Maps from Cave Paintings to GPS with 21 Activities by Richard Panchyk
  • ex:
• Map Drills
  • Locate places from Current Events and mark on map
  • Locate places from History, Literature, and Science readings and mark on map
  • Consider how the physical geography of these locales impact these events
  • Create a map of Native American territories and how they have changed over time. If you are in North America, find out which tribal land you live on.

Math

• Option 1: AOPS Introduction to Algebra
• Option 2: TBA
• Option 3: TBA

Logic

• Building Thinking Skills, Level 3: Verbal
• If you are not doing coding as an independent multi-year stream, we suggest spending the year learning the basics of Python, C++, or even some type of basic website coding.

The Feast

• Art
  • Artist Study
  • Art History
    • Explorers’ Sketchbooks: The Art of Discovery & Adventure by Lewis Jones
  • Artistic Practice
    • Artistic Pursuits, Middle School Book 2
• Music
  • Composer Study
  • Singing
    • Two songs in modern foreign language per term
    • Two folk songs perm term
  • Instrument
    • Continue practice and musical theory
• Handwork and Life Skills
• Physical Education
  • Pick something your student enjoys doing. We suggest a martial art, but yoga, running, or a team sport would also work here.

Free Reads

• The Crystal Ribbon by Celeste Lim
• The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate
• Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two by Joseph Bruchac
• The Girl Who Married the Moon: Tales from Native North America by Joseph Bruchac and Gayle Ross
• The Chosen by Chaim Potok
• The True Adventures of Charley Darwin by Carolyn Meyer
• The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline
• A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. LeGuin
• Night Flying Woman: An Ojibway Narrative by Ignatia Broker
• Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
• The Complete Sherlock Holmes, Volume I and The Complete Sherlock Holmes, Volume II
• Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
• The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
• My River Chronicles: Rediscovering the Work that Built America; A Personal and Historical Journey by Jessica DuLong
• The Mighty Miss Malone by Christopher Paul Curtis

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