Ursa Minor Learning Year 8

History

• National History Option A: American History
  • The Story of American Freedom by Eric Foner (Ch. 1-2)
  • In the Shadow of Liberty: The Hidden History of Slavery, Four Presidents, and Five Black Lives by Kenneth C. Davis
  • Revolution Song: A Story of American Freedom
  • Miracle At Philadelphia: The Story of the Constitutional Convention May – September 1787 by Catherine Drinker Bowen
• National History Primary Sources
  • Common Sense by Thomas Paine
  • The Federalist Papers
  • Great Speeches by Native Americans
• World History:
  • The Roman Way by Edith Hamilton
  • The Greeks by H.D.F. Kitto
• World History Primary Sources
  • The Histories by Herodotus (selections)
  • History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides (selections)
• Keep a Book of Centuries

Citizenship

• Government and Economics
  • Pericles Of Athens And The Birth Of Democracy by Donald Kagan
• Plutarch
  • T1 Lysander
  • T2 Sulla
• Philosophy
  • The Last Days of Socrates
• World Religion
  • The Complete World of Greek Mythology by Richard Buxton
  • African Religions: A Very Short Introduction
  • Gods and Myths of Northern Europe by H. R. Ellis Davidson
• Current Events
  • Student should be keeping up with current events.

English

• Literature
  • The Lord of the Rings Series by J.R.R. Tolkien
  • The Sagas of Icelanders (Egils saga, Vatnsdoela saga, Hrafnkels saga)
  • Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali
• Shakespeare
  • Love’s Labor’s Lost
  • Romeo and Juliet
  • Measure for Measure
• Poetry
  • Phillis Wheatley, Complete Writings
  • If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho by Anne Carson
• Grammar and Composition
  • Magic Lens I
  • Word Within the Word I
  • Academic Writing I
  • 3/week Written Narrations/Dictations
• Copywork
  • 10 minutes, 3-5x week
• Keep a Commonplace Book
  • Record favorite quotes and striking passages.
  • Note literary terms.
  • Give an account of books read.

Recitation 

• Memory Work
  • 3 poems per term
  • 1 passage from Lord of the Rings term
  • 1 passage from Literature per term

Languages

• Latin
• Modern Foreign Language

Science

• Natural Philosophy
  • Keep Nature Journal
    • Chart the temperature and weather each day
• BFSU: Middle School Science Education: Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding, Vol. III, Grades 6-8
• Geology and Earth Science
  • The Story of Earth: The First 4.5 Billion Years, from Stardust to Living Planet by Robert M. Hazen
  • The Practical Geologist: The Introductory Guide to the Basics of Geology and to Collecting and Identifying Rocks by Dougal Dixon
  • On a Piece of Chalk by T.H. Huxley
• Geography
  • Carry On, Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham
  • Kon-Tiki: Across the Pacific in a Raft by Thor Heyerdahl
• 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/Compare historical borders to current borders when locating places from History reading

Math

• Option A: AOPS Introduction to Geometry
• Option B: TBA
• Option C: TBA

Logic

• Building Thinking Skills Level 3 Figural

The Feast

• Art
  • Artist Study
  • Art History
  • Artistic Practice
    • Artistic Pursuits, Middle School Book 2
• Music
  • Composer Study
  • Singing
    • Two songs in modern foreign language
    • Two folk songs
  • 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 Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff (and sequels)
• The Roman Conspiracy by Jack Mitchell
• Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson
• Woods Runner by Gary Paulsen
• Many Thousands Gone: The First Two Centuries of Slavery in North America by Ira Berlin
• Archimedes and the Door of Science by Jeanne Bendick
• Soldier’s Secret: The Story of Deborah Sampson by Sheila Solomon Klass
• Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman
• The Golden Compass: His Dark Materials
• Summer of the Mariposas by Guadalupe Garcia McCall
• Outrun the Moon by Stacey Lee
• First Test by Tamora Pierce
• Under a Lucky Star by Roy Chapman Andrews
• Going Postal by Terry Pratchett
• The Vinland Sagas
• Wind, Sand and Stars by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
• The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
• The Trials of Phillis Wheatley: America’s First Black Poet and Her Encounters with the Founding Fathers by Henry Louis Gates
• City: A Story of Roman Planning and Construction by David Macaulay
• How I Became A Ghost — A Choctaw Trail of Tears Story by Tim Tingle

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