The History Herald: World History for the Middle School Mind! Part One! Ancient Civilizations to the Age of Exploration
Extra! Extra- Learn All About It! 

This is a self-paced class with Teacher Courtney that adventures through the history of world and brings the past to life! In this 20-week course, we will travel back through the history of the world from pre-history through the Age of Exploration. This is a beginner’s class, so previous knowledge is not necessary. We work  through readings, conversations, slides & presentations, activities,  games, and video clips  to use our critical thinking skills to unravel and discover how the civilizations were born, adapted, and changed the world throughout hundreds of years. 

Please note that there are some sensitive topics that will be addressed throughout the course including but not limited to: genocide, slavery, and sectional violence as this class will discuss the historical events that occurred.

We will also learn how to "understand" and research history like a historian. Students will learn historical research skills that will aid them in breaking down and analyzing history while helping them build critical thinking skills. Some skills that will be addressed are Chronological Thinking, Source Analysis, Inference, Relevance, and Summarizing. 

We will use "Everything You Need to Ace World History in One Big Fat Notebook" by Workman Publishing and Philip Bigler as our class reference for this class. I will also add worksheets, games, videos, and slides to bring the content to life! 


Content and Course Schedule:
Week 1- Prehistory – The Paleolithic and Neolithic Era
Week 2 - Early Civilizations: Mesopotamia
Week 3- Early Civilizations: Egypt
Week 4 - Early Civilizations:  India
Week 5 - Early Civilizations: Phoenicia &  Israel,
Week 6 - Early Civilizations:  China 
Week 7 - Early Civilizations: Greece 
Week 8 - Early Civilizations: Rome
Week 9 - Medieval Age- The Byzantine Empire
Week 10- Medieval Age - The Rise of Islam
Week 11 - Medieval Age - Early Civilizations in America
Week 12- Medieval Age- Feudalism in the Middle Ages
Week 13 - Medieval Age- Medieval China & Japan
Week 14 - Medieval Age- The Mongol Empire
Week 15 - Medieval Age- The Mongol India
Week 16 - Medieval Age- Medieval Europe
Week 17 - Medieval Age- Medieval Problems
Week 18 - The Renaissance
Week 19 - The Reformation
Week 20 - Age of Exploration and Colonization


Students will be responsible for reading the assigned chapters each week- roughly 15 pages. But, this book is great at keeping things in easy to read form while creating a bright and fun background! A lot of the book is visual aids (which I believe is essential for students to move this knowledge into long term memory).  Each student will need to have their own copy which can be purchased from Amazon for under $10.00 at the moment. This will be a great addition to their library that they will be able to reference for years to come! 


***********Part Two of both world and US history will be offered after part one throughout the year!************