Grade 4:  weeks 1-6

History Weekly Lessons: 

Week 1: 

Looking at U.S. map, review the 13 original colonies, and the move westward.

Remember that Americans had to fight with the French, British and Spanish for most territories.  One U.S. president during this time, Thomas Jefferson, was responsible for making decisions that actually doubled the size of the United States. 

Meet Thomas Jefferson (read whole book during this week)

Week 2: 

 In 1803, Napoleon, the French leader, agreed to sell the Louisiana Territory to the United States in order to pay for his conquests at home.  Wanting to learn about the newly acquired area in addition to finding a waterway that went all the way to the Pacific Ocean, President Jefferson commissioned Lewis & Clark to explore the Louisiana Purchase.

Seaman  (chps 1-5)

Week 3:  Seaman  (chps 6-10)

Week 4:  Seaman  (chps 11-15 -end)

Week 5:

 In 1821, the country of Mexico fought for her freedom from Spain and won.  Mexico offered to sell land cheaply to Americans if they agreed to become Mexican citizens.  Many Americans agreed, and by 1834 there were more Americans in Texas than there were Mexicans.   The Mexican government began to worry and tried to take away some of the Americans' freedoms.  The Americans thought this was unfair and decided to declare Texas a free country- free from Mexico's rule.  Mexico's dictator, Santa Anna sent an army to beat the Americans and the Battle of the Alamo began. (1836)

The Boy in the Alamo Chps (1-6))

Week 6:  The Boy in the Alamo Chps (7-12)

Week 7:  The Boy in the Alamo Chps (13-15)

               The Trail of Tears  (1838) (read whole book)

Week 1-  Rascal  (chps 1-2)

Week 2-  Rascal  (chps 3-4)

Week 3-  Rascal  (chps 5-6)

Week 4-  Rascal  (chps 7-8)

Week 5-  Rascal  (chp 9-end)

              Hero  Tales:Daniel Boone (pp. 33-38) *parent should read aloud

               American Tall Tales: Davy Crockett (pp. 3-13)
 

Week 6-  American Tall Tales: Davy Crockett (pp. 3-13)

               American Tall Tales: Sally Ann Thunder  (pp. 15-23)

               American Tall Tales: Johnny Appleseed  (pp. 25-33)
 

The Burgess Bird Book:  Read one chapter per week
    (Coming next year:  Jack's Insects by Edmond Selous!)

Nature Walk/outing:  Try to do two outings per week. 
     On at least one of the outings, have your student  focus on one particular group of living things (i.e. mammals, insects, birds, flowers, etc)  Briefly read to yourself one or two lessons about that group in the Handbook of Nature Study and share an interesting fact concerning it with your student at some point during the outing. 

    Have your student record observations in the nature notebook, perhaps including one of the appropriate verses found in the Handbook.

Week 1- The Human Body: Amazing Us (pp. 8-9)

             The Human Body: Cell City  (pp. 10-11)

Week 2- The Human Body: Life Begins (pp. 12-13)

             The Human Body: Nerve Central  (pp. 14-15)

Week 3- The Human Body: The Sensing Brain (pp.16-17)

             The Human Body: The Thinking Brain  (pp. 18-19)

Week 4- The Human Body: The Eyes Have It (pp. 20-21)

             The Human Body: How We Hear  (pp. 22-23)

Week 5- The Human Body: The Nose Knows (pp. 24-25)

             The Human Body: Down the Hatch (pp. 26-27)

Week 6- The Human Body: Chemical Messengers (pp. 28-29)

             The Human Body: The Cycle of Life (pp. 30-31)