Judging From His Tracks

A tuneful reminder from They Might Be Giants: Science is Real.

2009-09-03T09:59:00.002-06:00

No matter what age your learner may be, chances are they like the music of They Might Be Giants. Here's a story about their new CD on Wired. Here's the video for "Electric Car":

And here's an excerpt from a helpful review of the songs from the excellent blog Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child.

" 'Science is Real' is a driving and building number, 'Electric Car' (with a fun changeup in guest vocals from Robin Goldwasser) is hugely fun to sing (and clap!) along with, 'Meet the Elements' could be on commercial radio tomorrow, 'I Am a Paleontologist' mixes headbobbing with career aspirations, 'Why Does the Sun Shine?' rocks as hard as it has live for years, and 'Speed and Velocity' (written and sung by drummer Marty Beller) will get everyone vrooming around.

Here Comes Science goes well beyond what most science-themed kids’ records do, seeking to present a more realistic, and, dare I say more mature, look at what science really is about – questioning, challenging, and testing theories. It’s arguably both TMBG’s best record of this decade (kid-oriented or otherwise) and, so far, the best family record of 2009.' "

"Don't ever tell anybody anything."

2009-08-11T20:34:00.011-06:00

"If you do, you start missing everybody." J.D. Salinger

E. has read a good many books over the summer break, and we begin here with a look at The Catcher in the Rye.

It's a bildungsroman (coming of age story) and was first published in July 1951; parts of the novel appeared as short stories in Collier’s, December 1945, and in The New Yorker, December 1946. The protagonist is Holden Caulfield, who is narrating from a psychiatric facility a few months after the events of the novel. He narrates in the first person, describing in great and often amusing detail what he sees and experiences. He is describing a long weekend in the late 1940s.

"'I was thinking about the lagoon in Central Park, down near Central Park South. I was wondering if it would be frozen over when I got home, and if it was, where did the ducks go? I was wondering where the ducks went when the lagoon got all icy and frozen over. I wondered if some guy came in a truck and took them away to a zoo or something. Or if they just flew away."

In a way, Holden wants to connect with other people on an adult level, but part of him wants to reject the adult world as “phony” or superficial and to retreat into his own memories of childhood. This is the main conflict of the story--that is, for the most part, the conflict is within Holden himself.

The novel covers alienation as a form of self-protection by using engaging, conversational language that lurches from exaggeration to vagueness, and the phoniness of the adult world as perceived by someone who hasn't quite entered that world and doesn't quite want to enter it.

Here's a pretty good SparkNotes quiz on the book. This is an excellent overview by a fellow in Germany.

Catcher in the Rye Truths:

All morons hate it when you call them a moron. Ch. 6

Almost every time somebody gives me a present, it ends up making me sad. Ch. 7

Catholics are always trying to find out if you're Catholic. Ch. 15

That's the nice thing about carousels, they always play the same songs. Ch. 25

The Praises and Criticisms of J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye.

Civics lesson plans from a judicial perspective.

2009-05-23T12:02:00.002-06:00

Retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor

has created an interactive program designed to teach civics and inspire students to become active particpants in government, politics, and citizenship. The Web site OurCourts.org offers information, games and tools so young students can better understand and participate in civics. It also provides teachers with materials, lesson plans and support for creating an engaging civics curriculum.

Here is a link to the Supreme Court of the United States.

National Register of Historic Places: Lesson Plans.

2009-05-22T14:04:00.002-06:00

Created by National Park Service interpreters, preservation professionals, and educators, these lessons use historic sites to explore American history. All of the lessons are available free of charge. Browse the collection in four ways, each of which includes a short description of every lesson:
Location/State;
Theme;
Time period;
Skill;
National Standards for History;
Curriculum Standards for Social Studies.

Designed for middle school students learning history, social studies, geography, and other subjects, TwHP lessons include maps, readings, and photographs accompanied by questions.

Here is the curriculum kit about exploring our National Parks. There are also resources so you can create your own lessons.

Each TwHP lesson plan links both to relevant United States History Standards for Grades 5-12 and also to relevant Performance Expectations for Middle Grades from the national Curriculum Standards for Social Studies. For more information about the National Standards for History, please visit their website. To learn more about the national Standards for Social Studies, please visit the National Council for the Social Studies website.

Reading list expansion: The Time Machine and War of the Worlds.

2009-02-19T19:01:00.007-07:00

Published in 1895, The Time Machine is an adventure tale that introduces us to the science fiction of the time machine, and is also an adventure tale about the Eloi and Morlocks in the year 802,701 AD. Many of the concepts in the novel are an imaginative expansion of

Thomas Huxley's ideas about entropy and decay in society.

Published in 1898, War of the Worlds is the first novel that ever explored the idea that other planets not only have intelligent life, but that those life forms might engage the people of earth in less than friendly interaction. Aliens land on British soil, and that leads to themes of interplanetary imperialism, technological holocaust and chaos. (Here's a helpful link to a site that discusses the Orson Welles radio broadcast in 1938.)

And here's a link to some strong review format H.G. Wells quizzes.

Expanding the school reading list.

2009-01-05T14:46:00.000-07:00

We're fortunate that E's middle school experience has thus far been a rewarding one, but an area where we perceive a weakness is the reading list. So these are the first two books we're adding for the 2009 reading log:

White Sands, Red Menace by Ellen Klages - A sequel to The Green Glass Sea. It is 1946, and Dewey Kerrigan is now living near the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico with the Gordon family. Dewey and her "sister" Suze, share secrets, art, and science as they adjust to high school in an isolated desert town. Then, Dewey's long-lost mother, Rita Gallucci, reappears in their lives.

and

The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt - A teenage boy's mishaps and adventures over the course of the 1967-68 school year. Holling Hood is a seventh-grader at Camillo Junior High who must spend Wednesday afternoons with his teacher. Holling finds Motivation in the most unexpected places and musters up the courage to embrace his destiny in spite of himself. Here is a helpful bookdweeb post.

Also, if you're seeking books for a middle school age kid whether home schooled or not, this list of eighth grade novels is exceptional.

Call of the Wild.

2008-12-09T22:21:00.000-07:00

Buck did not read the newspapers, or he would have known that trouble was
brewing, not alone for himself, but for every tidewater dog, strong of muscle
and with warm, long hair, from Puget Sound to San Diego. Because men, groping in
the Arctic darkness, had found a yellow metal, and because steamship and
transportation companies were booming the find, thousands of men were rushing
into the Northland. These men wanted dogs, and the dogs they wanted were heavy
dogs, with strong muscles by which to toil, and furry coats to protect them from
the frost.

Reading comprehension quiz.

Decent research guide...scroll down.

2008-09-04T22:12:00.000-06:00

This is a landscape by E., who is taking art in middle school this year, along with private lessons twice a month, and a class in sumi-e beginning next week. It's a good idea...so we theorize...to go for broke where your student is truly interested. Learning technique, different approaches, ideas, methods...it can't hurt.

Thanks to so many for checking this site so often, and come back, because we'll start updating Judging From His Tracks soon.

Visit Desert Plume.

2008-07-13T23:44:00.001-06:00

E. is taking a break through the beginning of August. Please check out Desert Plume, her art and manga page, and also look at her current interest--the phenomenon of artist trading cards.

Summer stats.

2008-06-24T09:21:00.000-06:00

We love Triple A baseball, which in addition to being fun and relaxing is also a great way to keep the mind limber over the summer....you can keep a scorecard, learn the strategy of the game, and begin to grasp statistics.

Jack Cassel of the Round Round Express signed a game used ball right at the sweet spot. Players in the minor league are very approachable, pleasant folks...maybe the big ego comes with the big league.

The Chronicles of Narnia. All of them!

2008-06-06T15:06:00.000-06:00

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Prince Caspian
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The Silver Chair
The Horse and His Boy
The Magician's Nephew
The Last Battle

As an end to her homeschool year, E. finished the complete Chronicles of Narnia. Here is a fine HarpersCollins reading guide to the entire series.

Here are some good reading comprehension quizzes; you can choose the level of difficulty. You might also want to take a look at this interesting piece by Adam Gopnik in the New Yorker. And from Salon, a look by writer Laura Miller at why she thinks The Land of Oz is quite a bit less compelling than Narnia.

To all of you who homeschool and unschool your kids, have a wonderful summer! We'll certainly be updating this site as we proceed through June, July and August 2008, but this is the last day of our school-year program. Best wishes to all.

His Dark Materials, part three.

2008-05-18T21:03:00.000-06:00

E. has now completed The Amber Spyglass. If your home learner has also finished the trilogy, you might try these excellent reading review quizzes from BBC.

Also look at this teacher's guide from Random House that includes a lesson plan to The Golden Compass. And Scholastic has a helpful teacher's guide and lesson plan...please just ignore the advertisements on the page for the movie version.

Is Pullman's trilogy really the anti-Narnia? Here's an interesting take on that question.

2008-05-18T20:57:00.000-06:00

Emma visited and interviewed several artists on the Eldorado Studio Tour today. She went with prepared questions and took notes, and we all had an amazingly pleasant day, in part thanks to the beautiful weather. Please visit our Santa Fe Journal blog for details.

His Dark Materials, part two.

2008-05-13T13:25:00.000-06:00

On the reading front, E. is continuing Philip Pullman's trilogy.

The Industrial Revolution.

2008-05-11T19:58:00.000-06:00

We're formulating a lesson plan connecting the Industrial Revolution conceptually from the Cranford era to the Civil War and will post it soon.

Here from Fordham University is a helpful "history sourcebook" on the subject.
Here's a decent Webquest link regarding the Industrial Revolution.
From NEH, here's a lesson plan on the Industrial Revolution.

Image: Monet's Waterloo Bridge.

Pop-up free refresher sites.

2008-05-11T19:32:00.000-06:00

Here is a site that mainly tests seventh grade math knowledge, but it has some good quizzes about geography. This is a completely free, nonprofit educational site run by a graduate student from University of New Hampshire.

This one tests subject/verb agreement.

The schwa sound from Quia.

Harcourt School spelling test. This gets a bit harder as you progress.

The Golden Compass, first of a trilogy.

2008-05-06T18:28:00.000-06:00

E. saw the movie first, but the 'His Dark Materials' trilogy by Philip Pullman really should be read. The first in the series is The Golden Compass and E. likes it very much. Here is a good HDM quiz. Themes: Be self reliant, loving toward other people, loyal. Again the power of truthfulness, loyalty, and individuality are central. (Golden Compass seems to us anti-authorian, rather than anti-Catholic, but be aware there is controversy about this.)

Here is an excellent Golden Compass lesson plan guide from Scholastic Books with emphasis on symbolism. Here is the lesson plan on characterization in the book.

Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell.

2008-05-04T21:09:00.000-06:00

If you were to conjure up the book that is most dissimilar in setting, perspective, and outcomes to Oliver Twist, it might be Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell. Her wonderful book has a sublime rendition in the BBC production.

Cranford is far removed from the fiction of Gaskell's contemporary, Charles Dickens, in that it describes idyllic domesticity in a quiet English village at a time when industry and poverty ran rampant in England's larger cities. However...

"... for all its frills and teacups Cranford does not shy from the
grim realities of life in Victorian England -- a man's life is threatened
because the doctor does not have enough candles by which to operate; little
coughs give way to fatal fevers; and women, of course, are at the financial
mercy of their inheritance or marriage." Mary McNamara, Los Angeles Times

And the ladies' uncertain finances are a crucial aspect of the novel's conclusion.

Cranford is peopled by unmarried or widowed women who live happily in each other's society, and the story reflects to an almost revolutionary degree (for its time) the power of female friendship. The book began as a series of related stories published in Household Words, a magazine published by Dickens. Set in 1842, the story is rich with little scenes of gentle humor, such as how best to eat an orange, or the very funny tale of the cat and the lace collar. It makes a good comparison/contrast subject with any of the works of Jane Austen, in the sense that marriage is Austen's driving force but something of a nuisance to Gaskell.

Hijinks on the high seas.

2008-04-30T13:26:00.000-06:00

No lesson plan for this one, and no reading comprehension quiz, because they'll get it, don't worry. This is an amusing diversion...Sea Legs by British author Alex Shearer ... simply a good, funny kids’ book about twins who stow away on a cruise ship.

To have one’s sea legs is to be able to walk calmly and steadily on a tossing ship, or to become accustomed to a new or strange situation.

Some review.

2008-04-29T09:15:00.000-06:00

To refresh memories! Don't worry about grade level here...everyone can use a refresher now and then.

Civil War matchup.

Tobacco and slavery.

Westward expansion.

The Constitution and separation of powers.

American Revolution.

State capitals.

Test your world geography.

U.S. Geography pop-ups.

Continents and oceans.

Continents and oceans hangman.

3G citizenship.

3G economic terms.

All.

Animal Farm as a way to grasp allegory and satire.

2008-04-23T11:44:00.000-06:00

George Orwell's warning about the dangers of Communism: Animal Farm.

E. is reading this novella, published in 1945, for a local teen book group. We are not going to study the Russian Revolution this year, so instead we will consider the book as satire (of Soviet totalitarianism, Marxism, worker exploitation) and allegory. This link provides a point-by-point look at what each character in the book symbolizes in relation to the figures of the Russian Revolution, when viewing the novella as a satirical allegory of early 2oth-century Russia and Soviet totalitarianism.

Here is a link to a solid lesson plan on the novella. This NEH link on Allegory and the Art of Persuasion is top-notch.

Here is a google books link to the Signet edition text. And to review reading comprehension, here is a 25-question quiz about the book's plot.

Presentation at Los Alamos lab.

2008-04-22T17:50:00.000-06:00

E. presented her Project GUTS ecosystems data and program on sharks, fish and plankton yesterday. Here's a link. She also observed presentations on topics including earthquakes and spread of viruses, which she found particularly interesting. One of the purposes of the GUTS program is to provide a bridge to the Supercomputing challenge when the kids are older. She did very well and we're really proud of her.

My Boy Jack, a poem by Rudyard Kipling.

2008-04-21T00:31:00.000-06:00

Here is a good site to begin studying the Great War's influence on contemporary literature.

This evening we watched on PBS the wrenching account of Rudyard and Carrie Kipling's devastation at the loss of their son John in the Battle of Loos, September 1915.

My Boy Jack

'Have you news of my boy Jack?'

Not this tide.

'When d'you think that he'll come back?'

Not with this wind blowing, and this tide.

'Has any one else had word of him?'

Not this tide.

For what is sunk will hardly swim,

Not with this wind blowing, and this tide.

'Oh, dear, what comfort can I find?'

None this tide,

Nor any tide,

Except he did not shame his kind--

Not even with that wind blowing, and that tide.

Then hold your head up all the more,

This tide,

And every tide;

Because he was the son you bore,

And gave to that wind blowing and that tide!

April is National Poetry Month. For more information, visit the Academy of American Poets.

Baseball lesson plans.

2008-04-16T23:02:00.000-06:00

Yes, that's right. The best involve geography, mathematics and history. And the Science of Baseball is a great site.

Meals on Wheels in Santa Fe.

2008-04-15T21:58:00.001-06:00

Just a post to restate our ongoing commitment to Meals on Wheels. We pick up the meals at the Ken and Patty Adam Senior Center in Eldorado, where the remarkable chef is Robert Lujan, whom E. enjoys talking to every time we stop by. She investigates his industrial kitchen, asks questions, and learns a little something from his culinary abilities. This week we added two new people to our delivery list. Here is an article from the local paper about the center.

Examining the killer angels.

2008-04-15T21:42:00.000-06:00

We are studying the Civil War.

To examine the three-day battle of Gettysburg, we recommend reading Killer Angels and then viewing the movie Gettysburg. The special emphasis on the formidable Union officer Joshua Chamberlain at Little Round Top, and then the catastrophic outcome of Pickett's Charge, provide a centered way to grasp what can easily become an overwhelming subject.

Chamberlain might make the subject of an essay about heroism, and what it truly entails, for we throw that word around a lot in this society.

To begin, if you think you know a great deal about the Civil War, can you pass this fourth grade Jeopardy-style quiz?

2008-04-07T00:33:00.000-06:00

At this moment, I agree with this list of ten books it isn't possible to live without, and hope you may get some reading ideas for your seventh grader from it. We'll provide our own list soon.

A tall wall, a wide gate.

2008-04-01T10:54:00.000-06:00

Give me your tired, your poor

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

Here we continue from the entry below. Our trip to Nogales, Mexico through the border crossing, an informal interview with a family member who is a Border Patrol Agent, and a thorough discussion of immigration, illegal immigration, and the rights and duties of citizenship has been extremely beneficial in opening the eyes of our seventh grader to the depth and breadth of these matters. The often-unmentioned complicity of businesses and corporate interests in hiring illegal immigrants as "cheap labor" is part of this rubric.

Here are some thoughts about the crossing. Here is the government's Citizenship and Immigration Services site (this used to be known as INS, or Immigration and Naturalization Services). Here is Discovery Education's excellent lesson plan site regarding immigration to the United States (grade level 6-8).

An essay question that may elicit surprising responses is:

What responsibility, if any, does our American government have to other citizens of the world?

Vocabulary:

assimilate

citizenship

emigrate

immigration

refugee

The state flower of Arizona.

2008-03-27T19:59:00.001-06:00

We had a wonderful and educational trip to Tucson for spring break, and we'll cover many aspects of that trip, but let's begin with the state flower of Arizona...the saguaro cactus, pronounced sah-wa-ro. It's impossible to find the saguaro cactus above 3,400 feet because they thrive in intense heat. The giant of cacti is found only in the desert of Arizona and if anyone damages one there is a fine of $10,000 imposed because the saguaro is a protected species. When the saguaro reaches 75 years old it is at least 15 feet tall.

Here is an excellent site on the saguaro cactus. Here is a video from Arizona Game & Fish. Here is the Desert Museum's angle for kids. And here's the Nature Conservancy's interactive deserts quiz.

Spring break reading.

2008-03-27T10:27:00.000-06:00

The Witches by Roald Dahl. A young boy and his Norwegian grandmother, who is an expert on witches, together try to foil a witches' plot to destroy the world's children by turning them into mice. The race is on for the hero to expose the witches before they dispose of him. E. loves all of Dahl's books and this is a scary, funny, imaginative classic. Here is a good lesson plan page. And here is a pretty tough quiz.

Immigration and ethnic identity.

2008-03-19T21:44:00.000-06:00

It is eye-opening to start here, with a quiz about the perceptions and realities at the center of the immigration debate. We're going to explore the history of immigration in America--a somewhat mindblowing concept, since America's entire history can be said to be one of immigration. But we'll start with turn-of-the-century immigrant New York via Betty Smith's A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. This coming-of-age novel is a richly-plotted narrative about three generations in a poor but proud American family. The story provides a detailed, unsentimental portrait of urban life at the beginning of the twentieth century (the novel opens in 1912).

Some critics argue that many of the characters can be dismissed as stereotypes--which is to say, they exhibit quaint characteristics or pat qualities of either nobility or degeneracy. We'll answer if this is a fair criticism. Which characters are the most convincing? The least?

How does ethnic identity play itself out in the community?

And regarding symbolism: find three instances in which the tree is discussed. Does the tree always represents hope and perseverance? At different points does it also have other significations? How is the symbol used differently each time? How does it still represent the same idea?

Here are helpful links to lesson plans about immigration in specific relation to questions raised by this book:

The American Mosaic

The Immigration Debate

Romeo and Juliet.

2008-03-11T11:45:00.000-06:00

E. found the Franco Zeffirelli movie version of Romeo and Juliet to be an excellent inroad to the play. Click here for an online link to the text of the play.

Here is a thorough reading comprehension quiz and a good link to an English teacher's study guide, quote quizzes, and review sheets about the play, aimed at 9th grade level.

This is a strong reading comprehension review quiz about Romeo and Juliet. Here is the Thinkquest background and review of the play.

Inundate, posterity, gadding, headstrong, solace martyred, invocation, chide, perchance, shrived, unwieldy, naught, intercession, presaage...

Here is a link for vocabulary review (ninth grade level).

2008-03-11T10:42:00.000-06:00

One of E's favorite books ever is Matilda by Roald Dahl, a story that bears re-reading. Here are some good lesson plan and quiz links:

RoaldDahlFans.com has a good reading comprehension quiz.

The Roald Dahl official website is a good place to find literate quizzes and homeschool activities. When you get there, click on the Roald Dahl folder, then "Tips for Teachers."

If your home learner liked both the book and the movie version of Matilda, this is a good site (PDF) to explore.

History of the Iditarod.

2008-03-06T11:37:00.000-07:00

After hoping for a wintry blast of snow, once again our altitude only got a paltry two inches of the quickly meltable variety, so we are packing the snowshoes away and heading instead for vicarious snow thrills by studying the history of the Iditarod dogsled race from Anchorage to Nome. The aspect that kids ask about first usually has to do with the brave dog Balto; you'll have to scroll a little more than halfway down for his inspiring story.

Studying the Iditarod is a good way in to: geography of Alaska, history of the gold rush, and methods of dealing with disease outbreaks--such as diptheria--in the early part of the century. Here is a helpful list of terminology related to the grueling 1,150 mile race. We also enjoy canine blogger Zuma's reports from the trail. And, also from the official Iditarod site is a list of children's and other books about the race.

If you are interested in lesson plans from a teacher on the trail, click here. I'm specifying the links because these are the least ad-infested ones we could find from the main site.

To track progress of the mushers, go to the main site and click on current standings. Go DeeDee!

Photo credit: North Wapiti Siberian Husky Kennels.

2008-02-27T21:09:00.000-07:00

This week we're reading and discussing books and poetry of E's choice. For instance, E. has been sharing with her younger sister how much she enjoys Shel Silverstein's books. And we are beginning--because E. wants to--our first play: Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Much more on that soon.

Alice in Wonderland.

2008-02-27T21:01:00.000-07:00

This week E. is choosing her own books, and she loved Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. This is a very good reading comprehension quiz for AiW, and is targeted perfectly for seventh or eighth graders.

We enjoyed our own Wonderland today, too. We took a long hike and when we got good and tired, we went to the library. It was a wonderful day.

The Raven.

2008-02-21T15:11:00.001-07:00

To get E. thinking about the different elements of meaning in a poem, we began to discuss rhythm and meter today. The three poems chosen--and this worked well, so I recommend them as a unit--are The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe; The Land of Counterpane by Robert Louis Stevenson (quite a stark contrast in tone to Poe, as well); and Sonnet 73 ("That time of year thou may'st in be behold") by William Shakespeare.

Begin with The Raven. As a method to convey the way that rhythm enhances meaning, consider having your home learner select a stanza and practice reading it aloud until--through inflection, diction, and, yes, drama--the student "gets" what Poe is saying and how he is doing so. It's helpful to use this poem as a start because the rhythm and meter replicate the idea of the bird 'rapping' and 'tapping' and saying 'nevermore.' It is easier for the student to grasp the elusive connection between "sound" and "meaning" than in more subtle uses of meter.

This is a practical look at rhythm and meter, including a very good quiz.

Here are some other useful links:

The University of Delaware has great Poe online resources.

A sound modern side-by-side reading of Sonnet 73.

Rhythm, meter and scansion made easy.

Here is a recitation of The Raven by actor Christopher Walken.

And here is an excellent science site about the lore of ravens, including lesson plans.

The Life Adventurous.

2008-02-18T11:06:00.001-07:00

There's no science class (Project GUTS) today, so we are reading Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. First published in 1908, The Wind in the Willows remains a well-loved children’s classic.

For Wind, we think the definitive illlustrations are by E. H. Shepard (he's pictured above). We discovered this weekend that the 1948 David Lean production of Oliver Twist based makeup and costumes on Cruikshank's illustrations for the original edition of the book, and also served as the narrative basis for the musical Oliver!, in many cases line for line. Shepard also did the original renditions of the characters in A.A. Milne's Winnie the Pooh books.

We are going to explore all the usual elements, and also use the text to talk about...pantheism. If you've read the story, you'll know why.

Here's a thorough reading comprehension quiz.

And these are some thematic questions we are considering:

What are wayfarers? Are we all wayfarers?
Select any passage where the author shows Toad up to his tricks. Note how Grahame handles the material to give pleasure without, at the same time, granting approval. Discuss the passage.
What does the wind symbolize?

Bridge to Terabithia.

2008-02-15T09:02:00.000-07:00

E. finished reading The Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson when we were stopping to do some errands at a local market. When I opened the rear door so she could get out, she just sat, eyes red. She needed to be alone with her grief for a while. Let me just say that E. is not a kid who emotes very much, although she is connected deeply to emotional truth. So as we recommend this book, we also must mention that it is a difficult story about friendship and loss. It is based on a true event; here is an NPR interview with the author that elaborates upon that.

Here is a multiple choice quiz on the book.

Here is another from kidspoint.org.

This is a good source of lesson plans for the book (scroll down to Instructional Plan). One intriguing question raised here is to read the lyrics to Simon & Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water", listen to the song, and consider this: How is the bridge over troubled water in the song like the bridge to Terabithia in the book? Who else in the book besides Jess and Leslie might the song lyrics fit?

The Miracle Worker

2008-02-12T13:24:00.000-07:00

We watched The Miracle Worker this weekend and were reminded what an outstanding movie (and screenplay) it is. Here are two good quizzes about the plot: from Quia and from, oddly enough, funtrivia.com.

Here is a good site about sign language. And here you can see words in Braille to understand more how reading by touch works.

Cartography and geography.

2008-02-06T10:39:00.001-07:00

Working for Meals on Wheels proceeds apace and the experience continues to be an eye-opening one. But it's not only the humanity that is educational for E.

She has also become an expert map reader, as this is a tricky, sprawling community to get around in. Add the pressure of needing to get warm lunches swiftly to the people on your list. E. is great at this.

We want to reiterate an excellent site for geographical knowledge, and that is the GeoBee page of nationalgeographic.com. Each day, there is a new 10-question quiz. If your student works to answer all the questions once (always have a world map and a U.S. map handy), the opportunities for further exploration of topics raised by the questions is immense. You can use the topics as a free-for-all lesson plan; yesterday one of the subjects that riveted E. had to do with the Caspian Sea. Just go with it!

A useful approach is to go through the questions once and if a couple are missed, repeat the whole test a second time to reinforce correct answers. This is a great resource!

2008-02-04T13:52:00.000-07:00

Here are civics and U.S. government questions ranging from grade six to eight. If your home learner can do well on these tests, he or she will be in good shape in this subject area. This is an excellent overall civics test (multiple choice) that can also serve as a helpful study guide.

Oliver Twist study guide links.

2008-02-04T12:59:00.000-07:00

As we finish up our study of Oliver Twist, E. is intrigued about Dickens' own story, about his father's time in debtor's prison and his own traumatic experience working in the blacking factory.

Based on elements of his biography, this is a productive essay question: List the characters in Oliver Twist who do not live in poverty. What does each character see when they look at Oliver? How does their judgment and treatment of Oliver reflect who they are, what they believe, and what their values are?

Also, is the criminal underworld better or worse than the workhouse? What does Oliver find in his first days living in Fagin's den that he has never known before? What does Dickens believe is the relationship between poverty and criminality? What do you think the relationship is today?

Is Nancy a heroic figure? Why does she return to Bill?

Since the publication of Oliver Twist, many readers have had difficulty understanding Nancy's fidelity to the brutal Bill Sikes. Did you find it natural or unnatural? Probable or improbable? Read Dickens's Preface, written for the 1841 edition of the novel. How does he defend the character he created? Paraphrase his argument and respond to it. Here are biographical facts about Charles Dickens that may help you directly relate his story to the story of Oliver Twist.

It's fascinating to read about the fervor with which people greeted each new chapter from Dickens' serialized fiction, and a good place to begin is the dramatic response to each section of The Olde Curiousity Shoppe that arrived on American shores describing the fate of Little Nell.

There are many ways to bring alive this wonderful author for a modern young reader.

Here is a decent SparkNotes quiz about the novel. For contextual studies, this is a very good site about British newspapers during the novel's era.

"Yes we can."

2008-02-02T14:13:00.000-07:00

What a perfect moment in history to teach presidential politics. Although he is not our choice for President, we accompanied Aunt Barbara to a rally for Barack Obama at Santa Fe Community College. He has a certain something in person that we hadn't detected on television. And, of course, he is an excellent orator; E. appreciated his inclusive message. (I'm fairly sure we were asked to sit on the stage with him because our family is a vivid example of diversity.)

Now we are exploring the concepts of "Super Tuesday," the nomination process, and assignment of delegates.

Try this civics test for starters. And when you get enough correct answers on this civics quiz, you get to... Fling the Teacher. Warning to parents: this site does have a slight tilt towards being "liberal" or "progressive" regarding immigration.

Oliver Twist...a bit more.

2008-01-30T15:56:00.000-07:00

"Child as he was, he was desperate with hunger, and reckless with misery. He rose from the table; and advancing to the master, basin and spoon in hand, said: somewhat alarmed at his own temerity: 'Please, sir, I want some more.' The master was a fat, healthy man; but he turned very pale. He gazed in stupified astonishment on the small rebel for some seconds, and then clung for support to the copper. The assistants were paralysed with wonder; the boys with fear. " Charles Dickens

This is an excellent site for helping kids in their study of Charles Dickens.

Here are some vocabulary words we particularly enjoy from the book:

parochial
foundling
Beadle
gruel
forthwith
pauper

Some further thoughts: this is an excellent text in which to define and explore irony.

Does Dickens believe the end justifies the means?

What is the social burden of this novel? What does it have to say about class, poverty, wealth, labor, crime, the law?

What effect do acts of personal benevolence have on Oliver?

Who do you think are the most interesting characters in the novel? If your answer is Fagin, Sikes, and Nancy, then what do you make of that response?

What would it have been like to read this novel in parts? Does Dickens use the serial form to build suspense in his readers? If so, in what cases?

The last two questions come from this site, which asks many questions about the story as it related to The Pickwick Papers.

Illustration by the incomparable George Cruikshank.

Living in the world.

2008-01-28T08:35:00.000-07:00

For excellent lesson plans in seventh and eighth grade geography, try this Alabama site, which includes a wide variety of specific standards and approaches. And click here for the National Geographic GeoBee quizzes.

Follow the full cycle of a drop of water at this USGS site. Or, if you home learner cannot answer the questions in this quiz, make use of the site's study guides.

How is a fossil formed? This UK site provides a visual and textual analysis.

2008-01-25T13:56:00.000-07:00

E. started reading this on the way home from her sister's rehearsal and couldn't stop, so we take a brief pause before returning to Dickens. This is a perfect text for seventh graders who feel like they don't fit in. And here is the excellent middle school book list from the Junior Library Guild.

2008-01-23T12:34:00.000-07:00

This week, we are attending, observing, and volunteering at the rehearsals for the Eldorado Children Theater's production of Oliver!

Now that E. has seen the play and is familiar with the characters, she's begun reading Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens and simply can't put it down. As a former English teacher (who holds a Ph.D. in Literature) I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to introduce kids to the classics so that they are open to a different experience of the world. "The past if a foreign country," as L.P. Hartley said in The Go-Between. "They do things differently there."

By reading authors such as Eliot, Austen, and Dickens, kids also become more open to a broader vocabulary and new diction. Here is a good site that lays out a strong English lesson plan for seventh graders and includes Oliver Twist on its reading list for "high ability seventh grade."

Stanford Wong...

2008-01-22T22:58:00.000-07:00

...Flunks Big-Time is by one of E's current favorite authors, Lisa Yee, who also wrote Millicent Min, Girl Genius and So Totally Emily Ebers. E's assignment for this book is to come up with her own lesson plan and study guide, which we will post soon.

It’s not that I don’t like Yin-Yin’s dim sum – I love it. But it would be suicide to be seen at school with weird-looking food. I flop down on the couch next to my grandmother with a plate piled high with cha siu bao and ha gow. She reaches for one of the fluffy white pork buns without even taking her eyes off the television. I picked up a ha gow and bite into a shrimp. Someone on television is about to win a “fabulous prize!” Too bad it’s not me.

Essay question.

2008-01-22T10:42:00.000-07:00

Now We Are Six by A.A. Milne was published in 1927 and consists of 35 children's verses. After researching the illustrator, E. H. Shepard, tell us whether you prefer his take on the characters or the current Disney version...and why.

Cricket in Times Square.

2008-01-17T10:19:00.000-07:00

This is listed as a fourth grade book in most study guides, but you can turn it into much more. Here is an

excellent lesson plan base line of how to do exactly that.

Here's a good site on Chinese cricket culture.

And this is our lesson plan aimed at a seventh grade grasp of practical business:

The family that Chester ends up living with owns a newspaper stand in a New York City subway station. The business is not very profitable until Chester becomes famous for his singing.

What does it take to start and run a business? Present your findings in visual and written form. You may gather information from books, magazines, web sites, books, and interviews. List your sources in bibliographical format. Before starting, write three questions about your topic (for instance, don’t forget why, how, what, where, and who). When writing the report, make sure you have a strong beginning, plenty of information in the middle, and a compelling conclusion.

2008-01-17T10:14:00.000-07:00

At Project GUTS, E. is learning to program software and one approach has been plotting "ingress and egress." Soon she will post results, and a link to her blog through SFI. ]]Coming soon![[

WWII, British children's perspective.

2008-01-15T15:48:00.000-07:00

E. wanted to re-read Goodnight, Mr. Tom, which she read last year, and so we're reviewing some aspects of World War II. Here is a site that provides excellent background reading for the book. Here, BBC provides letters of children who were evacuated to the countryside during the Blitz. Here is BBC's rationing challenge. This site also provides text and photographs for background on the Blitz.

For broader emotional context--such as "this is the sort of thing that grownups were coping with in Britain during the War"--this BBC site has an informative overview (including a good map, which always helps us) of the rescue at Dunkirk. Here is BBC's overall lesson plan page regarding what life was like for children during the War. And Masterpiece Theater did a powerful rendition of the book.

Using AP tests as lesson plans.

2008-01-11T16:57:00.000-07:00

"These vase paintings were made in Athens about fifty years apart. Place them in the correct chronological sequence and state the reasons for your decision."

This question came from the APCentral.collegeboard.com site. (Scroll down on the right hand side to "Free-Response Questions.")

The assignment was: Using Gardner's Art Through The Ages, write a five-minute essay to answer the question posed. We dropped E. off at the local library; she had to locate the textbook and research the answer by herself. The results are great, and we're going to use this technique frequently. In addition to learning a subject, the approach helps kids become more self-sufficient at research...and at coping with the dreaded "essay question."

Here is the Metropolitan Museum's excellent online site for further research on Athenian vase painting.

2008-01-11T16:48:00.000-07:00

If you prefer that your home learner NOT spend time playing video games, which is an absolute around here, you might consider Sudoku. We couldn't explain the concept to E. because it's not a puzzle format with which we're familiar, but she re-read the instructions until she got it, and now...she's hooked.

What exactly is an adaptation?

2008-01-09T12:06:00.000-07:00

Turn Turn Turn

Sung by The Byrds
Written by Pete Seeger, lyrics adapted from the Bible (Book of Ecclesiastes)

To everything (turn, turn, turn)
There is a season (turn, turn, turn)
And a time for every purpose, under heaven.

A time to be born, a time to die
A time to plant, a time to reap
A time to kill, a time to heal
A time to laugh, a time to weep.

To everything (turn, turn, turn)
There is a season (turn, turn, turn)
And a time for every purpose under heaven.

A time to build up, a time to break down
A time to dance, a time to mourn
A time to cast away stones, a time to gather stones together.

To everything (turn, turn, turn)
There is a season (turn, turn, turn)
And a time for every purpose under heaven.

A time of love, a time of hate
A time of war, a time of peace
A time you may embrace, a time to refrain from embracing.

To everything (turn, turn, turn)
There is a season (turn, turn, turn)
And a time for every purpose under heaven.

A time to gain, a time to lose
A time to rend, a time to sew
A time to love, a time to hate
A time for peace, I swear it's not too late.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-9
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
a time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
a time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

2008-01-09T11:54:00.000-07:00

We went to see Pete Seeger: The Power of Song last week as part of our examination of civil disobedience, since Seeger certainly did his share of that in his life and songs.

No matter what your political persuasion, it's a compelling movie because it not only captures the essence of the sixties but is informative about early environmental protests and the era of protest about the Vietnam War. Here's a link to the NY Times review.

"Farther than Santa Fe?"

2008-01-06T13:12:00.000-07:00

This week we read The Green Glass Sea, part historical novel and part coming-of-age tale, and take a field trip to the Bradbury Science Museum. The book follows two seemingly very different girls during World War II. Both end up at Los Alamos, where their parents are working on top-secret projects for the government. To the rest of the world in the 1940s, this is a place that simply did not exist.

Here in PDF format is the Scholastic teacher's guide for the book.

E. suggests that this book makes a good comparison to Thin Wood Walls by David Pataneude.

2007-12-30T15:10:00.000-07:00

We begin the new year studying the concept of civil disobedience. Our lesson plan centers on emphasis on college students who disagreed with the Vietnam War.

We will also examine the protesters who spoke out against the design of the Vietnam Memorial but then ultimately found it a moving, fitting, and proper tribute to fallen soldiers. Open-mindedness is an important attribute of citizenship, and even protesters can change their minds. We, E's parents, were at the Memorial's dedication ceremony 25 years ago. Four million people now visit the Memorial each year.

Here is a recent Washington Post interview with Jan Scruggs, founder of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund.

The VVMF's Lesson Plans for studying Vietnam and the Wall are provided here in PDF format.

We begin with Henry David Thoreau's 1849 essay, Civil Disobedience. Click here at thoreauserver.org for full text.

World geography puzzle....completed.

2007-12-22T21:56:00.000-07:00

Aunt Barbara gave us an Esphera360 puzzle for Christmas. Building this is a great way to brush up on world geography.

What's ahead?

2007-12-21T08:42:00.000-07:00

As we go forth perhaps not so placidly into the noise and haste of Christmas vacation, we would like to lay some groundwork for the start of our new year.

We will intensify study of art history and post assignments and essay questions along the way.

We plan to study the Vietnam War, not only in and of itself but as part of the change in national cultural awareness that led ultimately to the contest to build a memorial, culminating with the story of the remarkable Maya Lin.

And we will sharpen writing skills. Here is a good beginning: these sites deftly explore the best way to build an essay. All of these links have been vetted by us.

Louisiana test for writing and reading comprehension.

A sample Regents exam response to an essay question about amusement parks.

Tips for answering timed essay questions from Roane State Community College.

Grade 8 essay about The Christmas Carol, with annotations.

Sample history test answer from the University of Texas.

An Essay is Like a Journey, from CalState.

You must begin with a thesis and a clear thesis in your mind that is strongly expressed in a topic sentence. The writer must be very, very clear about the thesis of an essay. This can't be emphasized enough, because without a strong thesis, there can't be strong support, and doom, or at least lack of clarity, is inevitable.

Good advice from Purdue University on how to go about answering an essay question.

Grammar and Writing Handbook from Capital Community College Foundation.

Basic rubric for a five paragraph essay.

Good writing is rewriting. What to check when you're editing.

Online Writing Lab for Elementary Students (Edina, MN).

Master the comma.

Very good general writing tips.

Troy, MI teacher resources.

OR just skip everything else and go to this outstanding East Syracuse-Minoa Schools site on writing a listening essay.

Learning the art of abstract strategy.

2007-12-19T13:32:00.000-07:00

If your home learner enjoys chess or the game of Go, then he or she undoubtedly will like Stratego. (Pictured is our vintage version of the game, but Target carries Stratego in a classic form for under $20. )

Here is an excellent site describing other strategy games.

2007-12-17T17:09:00.001-07:00

Meals on Wheels was a special experience today. E. met the new cook, Robert, who is stationed at the Ken and Patty Adam Senior Center right near us. E. talked to him at length and got a tour of the new industrial kitchen. Then at our last stop, Frances and Norman presented us with some beautiful Christmas cookies.

PS We are reading another book by Lisa Yee. So Totally Emily Ebers includes an appearance by none other than Milllicent Min, girl genius.

Rules by Cynthia Lord.

2007-12-12T10:25:00.000-07:00

The author has a very good site that addresses the book's complex themes and it includes reproducible worksheets. E. answered all the thoughtful study guide questions, which works well as an approach to assess reading comprehension.

Making do. Surviving.

2007-12-10T12:07:00.000-07:00

We are reading Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. Thematically relevant to our Lewis and Clark studies, the modern-day hero (Brian) is lost in the Canadian wilderness (fortunately not in the winter, or it might not be a survival story) after a plane crash with a single tool and must survive on his own.

Here's a very good school site loaded with questions and study guides about the book.

PS Have we mentioned lately the terrific Southside branch of the Santa Fe library? Visit and plan to spend some time.

Hm. What IS "Social Studies," anyway?

2007-12-10T09:58:00.003-07:00

Here are some helpful links we use for teaching history and "social studies" to a middle school home learner.

Mr. Kash's History Page

Today in History

DoHistory.com

Conversations with History (Berkeley)

Time's 100 People Who Shape Our World (arguable but worth a look)

Teaching Current Events

Colonial Biography Unit (Harvard)

National Geographic Lesson Plans and Activities

Mapmaking Guide (6-8)

Latitude and Longitude

Social Studies Lesson Plans (CalState Northridge)

Ben's Guide to the US Government for Kids (6-8)

Adeline Hornbek and the Homestead Act

The Moonlit Road (folktales of the American South)

Abraham Lincoln Research Site

Links to Lincoln on the Web (Education World)

World War II (Grolier summary article)

World War II History Test (Grolier) - 25 challenging questions

Lascaux Caves (art history)

The Middle Ages

An Introduction to the History of Time

China Social Studies:

Six Paths to China

China Unique

China: An Ancient Culture in a Modern World

History Teacher Dot Net AP quizzes

2007-12-10T09:58:00.001-07:00

Jeffersonian Age quiz

World War II

Truman and Beginnings of the Cold War

American Presidents

Presidents 2

Presidents 3

Presidents 4

Girls and science.

2007-12-06T17:55:00.000-07:00

If you have any doubts, read this NY Times story.

Illustration by Victoria Power.

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH

2007-12-05T17:08:00.000-07:00

Our fiction break (as we continue study of Lewis and Clark) is a novel by Robert C. O'Brien that tells of a strong friendship between a mouse family and a band of intelligent rats. Here is a very good site for study of this book.

Thematically, the story ties in well with the Corps of Discovery as it illuminates the themes of friendship, courage, cooperation, and survival.

Vocabulary
vantage
wisp
relentless
hypochondriac
tedious
roundabout
vigorous
protrude
upholster
hostile
compiled
incur
inkling
plaintive
contention
engross

Project GUTS meet-up

2007-12-01T18:30:00.000-07:00

We participate in the 'Project GUTS' homeschool group. Other schools--private, public and charter--participate in this city-wide educational effort for middle schoolers.

The Project GUTS initiative is to teach 7th & 8th graders scientific methodology and some computer-based modeling. At our parent break-out group, we learned that part of the impetus for these groups is to prepare kids for the supercomputing challenges they might undertake in high school.

This quarter the students have been working on epidemiology. They use agent-based computer modeling to show how a virus might spread (or how something else might spread, like a rumor or a wildfire.) About sixty kids were in attendance today at this gathering of the various clubs. Groups presented the results of their work and some of the simulations they had created.

Next quarter, the kids are going to work on modeling 'egress' and 'ingress,' or traffic patterns and emergency planning. There will be a field trip to City Hall included in the planned activities.

The Lewis and Clark Expedition.

2007-11-27T23:02:00.000-07:00

This is an interactive chance to lead the Corps of Discovery by asking the student to make some difficult choices. Along with the interactive trail map and journals, E. was thoroughly engaged by the approach taken here. It may be a good idea first to view Ken Burns' excellent documentary about the expedition. The entire PBS website on the subject seems geared for home learners.

Good sites about specific skills:

We like this site by seventh grade cartographers.

Both of these Mapmaking destinations are tops.

Painting the Dakota (Seth Eastman, soldier and artist) A related area of study might be to research leaders of the Dakota nation, such as Sitting Bull, Red Cloud, Spotted Tail, Little Crow, Gall, and Crazy Horse.

For the journalistic approach

The home learner may:

Gather facts and biographical details about Lewis, Clark, and other Corps Members (ex: Meriwether Lewis Chosen by Jefferson to Lead Corps of Discovery; Sacagawea Joins Expedition West; etc.)
Recount challenges encountered by the Corps of Discovery
Specifiy exciting discoveries
Describe unusual encounters and events
Decide what else might be newsworthy

Remember: who, what, when, where, why, and how. Catchy headline, strong lead, no editorializing, and quoted comments or reactions from "newsmakers" pulled from journal entries.

The Corps of Discovery.

2007-11-20T14:58:00.000-07:00

When I worked as a guide at Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's home, one of the most compelling facets of the man was his urgent focus on exploring the west. The Library of Congress site about Jefferson and western exploration is exceptional in this regard.

These are the texts we will study: Sacajawea by Joseph Bruchac, which came highly recommended by a librarian at the fantastic Southside Library in Santa Fe, is told in two viewpoints, the voices of Sacajawea and William Clark.

Lewis and Clark Through Indian Eyes, edited by Alvin M. Josephy Jr., is told by nine descendants of the Indians whose homelands were traversed as Lewis and Clark led their expedition from St. Louis to the Pacific. And Across America: The Lewis & Clark Expedition is a young adult textbook by Maurice Isserman. As background I'm also reading Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose, a biography of Meriwether Lewis that also portrays his complex relationships with William Clark, Thomas Jefferson and other historical figures.

2007-11-19T19:02:00.000-07:00

We did not expect this, as we rented the DVD simply to watch, but Amazing Grace would make a good starting point for discussing slavery, abolitionism, the British political system, or the historical figures William Wilberforce, John Newton, and William Pitt. This fine site provides study questions for students who have viewed the film.

Community service.

2007-11-19T14:00:00.000-07:00

We participate in the local Meals on Wheels program, bringing nutritious food to senior citizens. The people E. has met while doing this have been an education in themselves. We're lucky to know them.

Homeschooling math.

2007-11-16T09:42:00.000-07:00

In order to succeed at math, kids must attain mastery of each level topic before moving on. The solution we found is Math U See, which we like because...it works.

The core of this approach is that the main reason to learn math is to apply it in everyday situations. To acquire confidence and mastery, don't confuse memorization with understanding. Take a look and determine whether Math U See might be right for your home learner.

Call of the Wild by Jack London...

2007-11-14T15:15:00.000-07:00

...is the next book we're reading. Photo of London in his twenties is from mishalov.com. Take a look at the Best Dog Story Ever for more about Jack London.

This is a perfect reader for seventh graders. The Call of the Wild is a "classic dog story" about Buck, a privileged, dignified dog who is taken from his southern Californian home and shipped to Alaska during the 1890's Gold Rush. Along the way, mistreated by a series of owners, he learns to survive as a member of a dog sled team. As a result, Buck soon realizes that in these more primitive settings, "the law of club and fang" overrides the rules of civilized society. With each new experience Buck regressess, or reverts to a more primitive state. Finally, an experience of loss challenges Buck's last ties to civilization.

Here is a helpful study guide and vocabulary list.

Good words to study from the book:

primitive

imperiously

treachery

hydrophobia

tallow

impartial

primordial

draught

ignominious

ravenous

cunning

primeval

malingerer

covert

borealis

obdurate

remonstrance

tenderfoot

contagion

pertinacity

lolling

multitudinous

discomfit

Re-emphasizing "point of view."

2007-11-13T15:44:00.000-07:00

From the Scholastic website, here are three questions to ponder, chosen by E. after reading A Dog's Life: The Autobiography of a Stray, which is written from a dog's perspective. (Remember that Tale of Desperaux was written from the point of view of a mouse.) This book is probably targeted at younger readers, but this touching story is very useful in regard to POV.

Do you think Squirrel could tell the difference between gentle and harmful humans before they even touched her? What kind of behaviors would suggest to her whether a human might be kind or cruel?

During her lifetime, Squirrel spent time traveling with a companion (Bone, and then Moon) and later alone. If you were a stray dog, would you prefer to have company or to be on your own? Why?

Based on their interactions with Squirrel, Dr. Roth, Rachel, the Beckers, and Susan found that the stray dog had a quiet, gentle nature. If you were Squirrel, do you think you would be a gentle dog?

Vocabulary:

predator -- noun An animal that lives by hunting other animals for food. Lions, sharks, and hawks are predators.
abandon -- verb To leave forever. To give up.
wary -- adjective Cautious and careful.

haunch -- noun The hip, buttock, and upper thigh of an animal or person.
menace -- noun A threat or a danger.

rabid -- adjective Affected with rabies, an often fatal disease that can affect humans, dogs, bats, and other warm-blooded animals. Caused by a virus that attacks the brain and spinal cord and is spread by the bite of an infected animal.

asphalt -- noun A black, tarlike substance mixed with sand and gravel and then rolled flat to make roads.
scrounge -- verb To get things from people without paying. To get or collect things with difficulty. (The common British parlance would be "cadge.")

stalk -- verb To hunt or track a person or an animal in a quiet, secret way. Fierce or dangerous, as in a vicious dog.
contraption -- noun A strange or odd device or machine.
instinct -- noun Behavior that is natural rather than learned.

These are engaging art history texts for middle school.

2007-11-13T09:36:00.000-07:00

The Mona Lisa book is specifically geared toward passing the Advanced Placement art history exam.

These are good art history texts.

2007-11-13T09:33:00.000-07:00

And the Mona Lisa book is specifically targeted toward passing the Advanced Placement art history exam.

Santa Fe trail study questions.

2007-11-12T11:05:00.000-07:00

Name three of the Indian tribes living along the Santa Fe Trail.

The Santa Fe Trail ran between which two locations?

How long is the Santa Fe Trail?

When it first opened, how long would it take to travel?

Who was Josiah Gregg?

Who were Charles and William Bent?

Why were relatively few women ever on the SFT? Which trail were they more likely to take, and towards what ocean?

What animals did the Plains Indians hunt? What was one of the reasons the Indians attacked the wagon trains?

They would go from Missouri to Kansas following the Arkansas River into Colorado before turning south at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Then they followed the Purgatoire River (Picketwire) to Raton Pass. From Raton, the trail went south and swung around the foot of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains to Santa Fe. In terms of terrain, what might have been the toughest part of the journey? Why might the travelers have preferred the Desert Route to the Mountain Route, even though it had a fifty mile stretch without any water?

Conestoga style wagons (six foot tall wheels; two tons of cargo; curved canvas tops; eight animals needed to pull one wagon) were also known as prairie schooners. Why?

What event led to the closure of the Santa Fe Trail in 1879?

The Santa Fe Trail had been used for 60 years, and it brought the Southwest into the United States.

Bent's Old Fort Junior Ranger program.

2007-11-09T21:41:00.000-07:00

This weekend we visited Bent’s Old Fort, a national park in southern Colorado. Bent’s fort is an 1840’s trading post and it is made of adobe bricks. The fort is on the mountain branch of the Santa Fe Trail where traders, trappers, travelers, and Plains Indian tribes came together peacefully for trade.

The main trading was done with the Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians for buffalo robes.

Bent's Old Fort national historic site is an outstanding destination for homeschooling families. The quality adobe reconstruction of an 1840s trading post on the Santa Fe trail is an example of what loving attention to detail can provide through living history. This isolated trading post, the Castle of the Plains, brought the Plains and Pueblo Indians, Mexicans, and Americans together for trade, and business, family, and political relationships developed that forever changed lives. Even the bookstore is of unusual quality, as it is stocked with many items accurate to the period, including powder horns, copper rum cups, shells, baskets, blankets, and hand-made leather pouches.

The Junior Ranger program at Bent's Old Fort is high-quality because instead of merely asking questions, the booklet elicits thought processes that put the kids in mind of the history that led to construction of the fort in the first place. For example, the first question is worded this way: "Imagine you are a trader out West in 1833 with Willam and Charles Bent and Ceran St. Vrain. You want to build a new trading post. Where can you place it so you can attract the most trade? How do you decide? Maybe you could look at a map and start drawing circles on it where you might want to build a trading post..." The booklet provides a map of the region and denotes rivers, the Trail, 1830s Mexico, Indian camps, buffalo herds, and beaver, and then leads the student to a logical conclusion about where to build the fort. This is one of the best parks we've visited, and that is really saying something, because the National Park Service Junior Ranger program is an underappreciated gem. For more photos, please visit our Santa Fe blog. For a look at our related stop at the Comanche National Grasslands, click here.

Santa Fe trail study and assignment.

2007-11-06T09:02:00.000-07:00

You have to reach Santa Fe, New Mexico, so you are taking the unusual step of traveling with the traders and people of commerce on a wagon train. (No stagecoach.) You keep a diary (words and drawings) of your experiences.

What is a typical day like on the journey? Be as descriptive as possible and don't leave out the dangers you'll face. Include images and facts from Gregg’s Commerce of the Prairies. Why does riding the trail seem to have a “sanative” or healing effect on health problems?

Use/depict some of these words and phrases, and add your own:
wagon corral/hollow square (p. 43)
cholera
prairie
cache (p. 47)
dashboard
buffalo wallows
traders escorted only as far as Arkansas River (p. 19)
dressing for the prairie (p.33)
driver’s phrases: “Go! Catch up! All set!” (p. 35)
kitchenware (skillet, frying pan, campkettle, coffee pot, tin cup, butcher’s knife) (p. 39)
mirage
canteens
Cimarron River
caravan
oxen, mules or horses?
bustle in Santa Fe when caravan arrives (p. 80)

Since we'll be visiting Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site, include what you learn there in your diary.

Bent's Old Fort area map.

Pressure on the plains.

The Indian Removal Act of 1830.

Map: PBS.org

2007-11-04T18:10:00.000-07:00

When you're studying the heyday of the Santa Fe trail, riding lessons are a good idea. E., it turns out, is a natural.

The Santa Fe Trail.

2007-10-29T09:29:00.000-06:00

A foray into 1830s-1850s western U.S. history leads us to a no-holds-barred study of the Santa Fe trail and life on the wagon trains. Here are the books we're reading. (We can already tell you that Commerce of the Prairies is a masterpiece of the genre.)

The trail ran between Missouri and New Mexico, opening in 1822-1823 after the first journey by trader William Becknell when the word spread of his success. About 780 miles long, the Santa Fe trail fell out of use in 1879, when the railroad reached (near) town. Much more to come!

--Prairies

--Prairie plant directory

--Josiah Gregg, plant collector

The Santa Fe National Historical Trail bibliography (NPS) site provides a helpful list of resources.

Post-war fiction and the Red Menace.

2007-10-27T10:15:00.000-06:00

A good starting point for explaining post-war psychology and anthropology to our middle schooler this week was The Day the Earth Stood Still, one of those movies people often refer to (Klaatu barada nikto and all that) but rarely seem actually to watch. So we viewed the film as a family and discovered that its message (as well as its production design and cinematography) stand up as well in 2007 as it did when made in 1951.

This is the kind of sci-fi that uses a robot and spaceship to make a moral and political statement -- in this case, "This is one planet. Unite. Stop being fearful instead of reasonable. Stop all the chaotic destruction or you yourselves will be destroyed."

There are classic visual references, such as the spaceship becoming the public's point of reference in Washington...rather than the Washington Monument, which fades into the background. And there are also historical cultural references, such as the craziness that ensued after Orson Welles' War of the Worlds radio broadcast. It is EARLY sci-fi so there isn't a computer to be seen, not even on the spaceship.

Possible essay questions:

Explain the "Cold War" and how this film addresses the importance of learning to live peacefully in the nuclear age.

How might the film be seen as taking a survey of life in the United States in the 1950s?

Some people see the movie as a religious allegory, since Klaatu chooses to appear in human form, walk among humans, and adopts the name Mr. Carpenter. What other elements in the film might support such a reading? (We will examine other "alien messiahs" in science fiction cinema.)

Discuss The Day's story structure as a counterpoint to the science fiction of today, where special effects are preeminent and presenting a solid, well-told story has faded into the background. For instance, is there a climactic battle scene in The Day the Earth Stood Still? Why does the film's ending work, or not work, for you?

Robert Wise directed the film, and his astonishing body of work ranges from The Magnificent Ambersons to West Side Story to Run Silent Run Deep to The Sound of Music.

Movie music history: The Day was one of the first Hollywood films to include electronic instruments on its soundtrack. Why would Bernard Herrman have chosen this particular "sound" for his score? What moments of the film make particularly effective use of music to set the tone for the action? According to moviediva.com:

The memorable music was written by the brilliant, tempestuous Bernard Herrmann. He used 2 Theremins for the otherworldly sounds, one pitched high and one low. The Theremin was an early electronic instrument that had occasionally been used with great effect in film scores, notably in Miklos Rozsa's music for Hitchcock's Spellbound. Herrmann rounded out the unusual instrumentation with electric violin, bass and guitar, along with 4 pianos, 4 harps and an unorthodox collection of brass.

Fifty minutes per day.

2007-10-25T12:47:00.001-06:00

E. spends fifty minutes each day drawing from observation. We hope this will strengthen her drawing skillls, but it is also an excellent way to get centered and focused, for example before writing an essay.

"Growing up, I was weird. I was a bookworm."

2007-10-23T09:15:00.000-06:00

In his first novel for young adults, bestselling author Sherman Alexie tells the story of Junior, a budding cartoonist growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Tonight we had the chance to attend a reading by the author at the Indian Art Museum on the Plaza. He didn't do a reading in the traditional sense. Instead, he told stories based on the book.

Here are some of the highlights from Sherman Alexie's remarks in Santa Fe.

"Farm boys carry pigs around like they are already bacon."

"I'm an Indian, but when I go to NYC, I blend in and people think I'm half of whatever they are."

"We had only one Indian blanket. We needed Queer Eye for the Indigenous Guy."

When he went off-reservation to attend a private school, it was "the whitiest white place in the history of white places."

"When you're small, throw the first punch, because it might be your last chance."

"The res school was terrible. The only computer was a TRS 80 that I won in a raffle, and no one knew how to use it."

"I don't like to do appearances where I sit on panels with 'scholars,' guys in suits from Harvard and so on. I want to walk up to them [making a menacing gesture] and say, 'DECONSTRUCT THIS.'"

"At my school the white guys mixed up their knowledge of Indian names. 'Crazy Sitting Horse.' "

Here is an interview with the author from NPR.

This week's fiction...

2007-10-17T12:37:00.000-06:00

...includes Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, directed by John Ford.

2007 seems a particularly fitting year to read Bradbury's work of science fiction, written in 1953. Fahrenheit 451 warns of a future filled with non-readers and non-thinkers.

Thematically, we decided that it covers:

Conformity vs. individuality
Freedom of speech vs. the consequences of losing it
The importance of remembering and understanding history
Machines as helpers/hindrances to humans

Here are some questions we explored:

How different is our society from theirs? Are there current dangers we can associate with going along with the government without questioning?

Why would such a society make “being a pedestrian” a crime?

How does the lead character, Montag, change from a robot to a person who wants to save the world from ignorance? He learns to think for himself. He starts going crazy when he meets Clarisse ("clarity") because she opens his mind to questions.

In fact, Montag changes his attitude 180 degrees from the opening of the novel. Instead of burning books and the knowledge they contain, he becomes their arch-protector.

What is the job of firemen in this society and how are they “custodians of peace of mind?”

Does Montag gain any benefits from books (considering they cause him to lose his wife, job and home, to kill a man, and to become a nomad)?

Since the government is opposed to readers, thinkers, walkers, and slow drivers, why does it allow the procession of men along the railroad tracks?

Will the books these people carry inside themselves make a difference?

Why would mirrors be important in the new society?

The Phoenix rising from the ashes – how does that symbol relate to this story?

Why does he “become” the book of Ecclesiastes? Perhaps because of these lines: “And on either side of the river was there a tree of life, which bore twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month; And the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations."

Bradbury thought burning books was similar to censoring or even condensing books. Why?

We are also doing artwork and an essay to compare the meaning of "hero" in Bradbury's work and Ford's film. More to come!

In The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Tom Donophon is the hero because he tells Rance what really happened so Rance doesn't have all this guilt flying around in his head. And he also lets Rance have Hallie, the lady that he, Tom, wanted for a long time because he knows she is probably better off with Rance, the literate lawyer. Hallie wants to know how to read and write and she worries about Rance more. I don't agree with the essayist that she loves Tom Donophon and not Rance. She is strong and true to herself so I think she loves them both.

"When the legend becomes fact, print the legend."

The art of Charles Schulz.

2007-10-16T18:39:00.000-06:00

We are looking at the early work of Charles Schulz, which offers reflections on human nature that our middle school philosophers appreciate and understand.

For background as an appreciation of the cartoonist and his work, here in its entirety is Bill Watterson's recent review of the new biography of Charles Schulz. (Watterson drew the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes.) The article is reprinted from the Wall Street Journal, October 12, 2007.

The Grief That Made 'Peanuts' Good
By BILL WATTERSON

SCHULZ AND PEANUTS: A BIOGRAPHY By David Michaelis (Harper, 655 pages, $34.95)

The comic strip "Peanuts" was more than a decade old when I started reading it as a kid in the mid-1960s. At that time, "Peanuts" was becoming a force of pop culture, with best-selling books and a newly burgeoning merchandising empire of plastic dolls, sweatshirts, calendars and television specials. The overwhelming commercial success of the strip often overshadows its artistic triumph, but throughout its 50-year run, Charles Schulz wrote and drew every panel himself, making his comic strip an extremely personal record of his thoughts. It was a model of artistic depth and integrity that left a deep impression on me. While growing up, I collected the annual "Peanuts" books and used them as a personal cartooning course, copying the drawings with the idea of someday becoming the next Charles Schulz.

At that time, most of the strip went over my head, and I certainly had no understanding of how revolutionary "Peanuts" was or how it was changing the comics. "Peanuts" pretty much defines the modern comic strip, so even now it's hard to see it with fresh eyes. The clean, minimalist drawings, the sarcastic humor, the unflinching emotional honesty, the inner thoughts of a household pet, the serious treatment of children, the wild fantasies, the merchandising on an enormous scale -- in countless ways, Schulz blazed the wide trail that most every cartoonist since has tried to follow. David Michaelis's biography, "Schulz and Peanuts," is an earnest and penetrating look at the man behind this comic-strip phenomenon. With new access to Schulz's personal files, professional archives and family, Mr. Michaelis presents the fullest picture we have yet of the cartoonist's life and personality.

Born in 1922, Schulz always held his parents in high regard, but they were emotionally remote and strangely inattentive to their only child. Schulz was shy and alienated during his school years, retreating from nearly every opportunity to reveal himself or his gifts. Teachers and students consequently ignored him, and Schulz nursed a lifelong grudge that so few attempted to draw him out or recognized his talent. His mother was bedridden with cancer during his high-school years, and she died long before he could prove himself to her -- a source of endless regret and longing for him. As a young adult, he disguised his hurt and anger with a mild, deflecting demeanor that also masked his great ambition and drive.

Once he finally achieved his childhood dream of drawing a comic strip, however, he was able to expose and confront his inner torments through his creative work, making insecurity, failure and rejection the central themes of his humor. Knowing that his miseries fueled his work, he resisted help or change, apparently preferring professional success over personal happiness. Desperately lonely and sad throughout his life, he saw himself as "a nothing," yet he was also convinced that his artistic ability made him special. An odd combination of prickly pride and utter self-abnegation characterizes many of his public comments.

"Peanuts" launched in 1950, appearing in just seven newspapers. The comic strip grew slowly at first, but as its vision expanded and the characters solidified, it caught fire with readers. Schulz's fixation on his work was total, and his private life suffered as a result. Mr. Michaelis uncovers quite a bit of Schulz's more personal tribulations. Schulz's strong-willed and industrious first wife, Joyce, grew disgusted with his withdrawal, and she often treated him cruelly. As the marriage finally unraveled, Schulz had an unsuccessful affair, and he later broke up the marriage of the woman who became his second wife. Schulz's life turned more peaceful after he remarried, but he never overcame the self-doubt and dread that plagued him. Work remained his only refuge. At the end, deteriorating health took away Schulz's ability to draw the strip, a loss so crushing that it can only be considered merciful that he died, at age 77 in 2000, the very day his last strip was published.

It's a strange and interesting story, and Mr. Michaelis, the author of a 1998 biography of artist N.C. Wyeth, paces the narrative well, offering many insights and surprising events from Schulz's life. Undoubtedly the most fascinating part of the book is the juxtaposition of biographical information and reproduced "Peanuts" strips. Here we see how literally Schulz sometimes depicted actual situations and events. The strips used as illustrations in "Schulz and Peanuts" are reproduced at eye-straining reduction and are often removed from the context of their stories, but they vividly demonstrate how Schulz used his cartoons to work through private concerns. We discover, for example, that in the recurring scenes of Lucy annoying Schroeder at the piano, the crabby and bossy Lucy stands in for Joyce, and the obsessive and talented Schroeder is a surrogate for Schulz.

Reading these strips in light of the information Mr. Michaelis unearths, I was struck less by the fact that Schulz drew on his troubled first marriage for material than by the sympathy that he shows for his tormentor and by his ability to poke fun at himself.

Lucy, for all her domineering and insensitivity, is ultimately a tragic, vulnerable figure in her pursuit of Schroeder. Schroeder's commitment to Beethoven makes her love irrelevant to his life. Schroeder is oblivious not only to her attentions but also to the fact that his musical genius is performed on a child's toy (not unlike a serious artist drawing a comic strip). Schroeder's fanaticism is ludicrous, and Lucy's love is wasted. Schulz illustrates the conflict in his life, not in a self-justifying or vengeful manner but with a larger human understanding that implicates himself in the sad comedy. I think that's a wonderfully sane way to process a hurtful world. Of course, his readers connected to precisely this emotional depth in the strip, without ever knowing the intimate sources of certain themes. Whatever his failings as a person, Schulz's cartoons had real heart.

The cartoons are also terrifically funny and edgy, even after all these years. The wonder of "Peanuts" is that it worked on so many levels simultaneously. Children could enjoy the silly drawings and the delightful fantasy of Snoopy, while adults could see the bleak undercurrent of cruelty, loneliness and failure, or the perpetual theme of unrequited love, or the strip's stark visual beauty. If anything, I wish Mr. Michaelis's biography had devoted more space to analyzing the strip on its own terms as an art. Knowing the sources of Schulz's inspiration does not explain the imaginative power of the work.

I was also surprised that Mr. Michaelis largely glossed over the later years of the strip, despite major shifts in its focus and tone. As newer characters developed into dominant voices, Charlie Brown receded, becoming almost avuncular, and "Peanuts" abandoned much of its earlier harshness. It would have been interesting to learn how Schulz's conception of the strip changed over the years and what Peppermint Patty, Spike and Rerun offered him in the way of new expressive possibilities. I was not always enthusiastic about Schulz's later choices, but it says something for Schulz that he resisted the simple, robotic repetition of a successful formula. In this, too, "Peanuts" was unlike most other comic strips.

For all the influence that "Peanuts" had on me, I was content to admire Schulz from afar, and like most of his millions of readers I never met him. Mr. Michaelis has done an extraordinary amount of digging and has written a perceptive and compelling account of Schulz's life. This book finally introduces Charles Schulz to us all.

Mr. Watterson is the creator of the comic strip "Calvin and Hobbes."

Peanuts cartoon: UFS, Inc.

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, 1962.

2007-10-16T15:52:00.000-06:00

Directed by John Ford. Starring John Wayne, James Stewart, Vera Miles, Andy Devine, and Edmond O'Brien. Here is an insightful essay on this underrated film, a thought provoking movie for middle-schoolers and a good starting point to discuss the role of newspapers in society; the accuracy of history; and what, exactly, makes a hero.

2007-10-15T16:25:00.000-06:00

E's art class is near Old Santa Fe Trail. A vase she recently made depicts the Chinese character for "peace" on one side.

China studies.

2007-10-10T16:35:00.000-06:00

In the hopes that this blog helps others who are taking on the challenge of homeschooling or unschooling their middle schooler, I'm listing only the books that are Big Hits with the kid in question. This week, Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze is making the grade. It won the Newbery medal in 1933 and provides a perspective on that turbulent time in China. It works well with our previous American History studies because it addresses a time parallel with the Depression and Dust Bowl in the U.S. However, Young Fu has what might be called "colonial overtones" and thus has fallen out of favor on reading lists. All the better. Our approach is to read the book in an unschooled manner and directly address that point of colonial contention.

Here is an excellent Wiki entry on the book.

Conclusion of World War II.

2007-10-08T14:28:00.000-06:00

In examining the end of World War II, including the German surrender and the complex time before the Japanese surrender, we found this balanced and informative link from the Department of Energy concerning The Manhattan Project and the Second World War.

The Tale of Desperaux.

2007-10-03T09:46:00.001-06:00

We need a break from the intensity of Second World War studies, so we're discussing the difference between the terms story (the king died and then the queen died) and plot (the king died and then the queen died of grief) in this week's fiction.

A mouse in love with music, stories, and a princess named Pea is The Tale of Despereaux, a Newbery medal winner by Kate DiCamillo (who also wrote Because of Winn Dixie), and a big hit with the resident seventh-grader. The link at bookbrowse.com leads to a helpful study guide and detailed questions.

Vocabulary words:
adieu
chiaroscuro
empathy
furlough
perfidy
portentous
remorse

2007-09-30T19:26:00.001-06:00

Homesick is a semi-autobiographical account of when Jean Fritz lived in China, 1925-1927, during the turmoil as the Nationalist Party and Communists tried to get rid of powerful warlords and foreigners. Although she is homesick for America, the author's love for China and its unusual way of life is evident from start to finish.

World War II cultural study.

2007-09-30T19:26:00.000-06:00

The assignment:

Create a one-page editorial section concerning the internment of Japanese Americans in 1941. Decide whether your paper will be one of those produced inside the camps, or a regional paper. Research editorials, articles of the time, and political cartoons. Then provide a rough draft for approval, and a final draft that includes:

Name of the newspaper

Date

One original cartoon or related illustration

One editorial (with headline)

One article (with headline)

Two Letters to the Editor presenting opposing viewpoints

The articles must answer the questions: Who? What? When? Where? Why?

Spelling and neatness count

Resources:

Letters from the camp (Smithsonian)

When Fear Was Stronger Than Justice (National Park Service)

War Relocation Authority Photographs (California Digital Archive)

Japanese American Relocation Digital Archives (University of California)

Japanese American Exhibit and Access Project /JARDA (University of Washington libraries)

Children of the Camps (PBS)

Children's books

San Francisco virtual museum

Thanks to the 2004 Core Knowledge National Conference for ideas leading to this approach.

Word up.

2007-09-30T13:18:00.001-06:00

The Daily Buzzword is a reliable page from Merriam-Webster, and RoboBee and BigBot are challenging definition games.

Here's a quick quiz on which reference materials to use and when.

A decent template for dictionary guidewords.

Quite a good crossword puzzle site...here's one on The Beatles.

Try this link when you need a definition but aren't 100 percent sure how to spell the word you're looking for.

Field trip.

2007-09-27T17:37:00.000-06:00

E. was fantastic helping to chaperone my second-grade daughter's field trip at the aquarium. She never let our three charges out of sight. We stopped to squish some pennies at the end and the dragon won out over anything fishy as the favorite stamp because the three second-graders all were born in the year of the Dragon.

2007-09-26T16:04:00.000-06:00

We're reading Thin Wood Walls by David Patneaude to continue our study of the WWII era. It too is a coming-of-age story, historical fiction in the voice of a Japanese American boy who lives in Seattle after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. This is yet another well-written young adult narrative where history is at the core of the story's drama. E. has found it extremely wrenching--she's been moved to tears several times and we are both surprised how little we knew about this difficult aspect of America's history.