First Grade, History, Set Six

Resources we used:

• Look Around a Medieval Castle by Clare Hibbert -- this book takes you on a tour through the Krak des Chevaliers. The Krak is in the present-day country of Syria. It was originally an Arab fortress, the Krak became the headquarters of a holy order of knights called the Knights Hospitalers. I hadn't planned to read any more books about castles, but this one was so well done, with interesting photos, drawings, and descriptions that I decided we need to read one more!
• Crusaders by Joanne Jessop -- this book has great illustrations, easy-to-understand information, and covers crusades from 1095 to 1291
• Ghana, Mali, Songhay by David Armentrout -- we looked at this book a little in the last set of weeks, but this time we are reading the whole thing.
• Ancient West African Kingdoms by Jane Shuter -- After reading the page about the silent trade system between the Berbers and the Wangara (which is all we used this book for) we decided to play it. Now it is a game K. wants to play again and again.
• A Medieval Cathedral by Fiona Macdonald -- tells about how cathedrals were built. It has large and colorful illustrations.
• Early Discoveries by Gerry Bailey -- we used this book to find out more about stained glass windows and we did the craft on page 43 (actually we are still working on them because we are letting the glue dry between adding each color).
• Magna Carta by C. Walter Hodges -- this book isn't really for young children, but it has a lot of drawings and explains the why and how of the Magna Carta simply enough that I could re-word and simplify the concepts so that K. could understand them.
• China by David Armentrout -- this book gives a simple overview of the history of China.
• The Mongols by Robert Nicholson -- this book is more illustration than text, so it is great for young children. It covers from where they live to their homes to their clothes and food and more. In fact, a couple times this week we've read about or someone has mentioned the Gobi Desert and K. lights up right away because she knows where it is.
• The Adventures of Marco Polo by Roger Smalley -- this is a graphic novel and I don't generally like comic style books, but this covered the travels of Marco Polo quite well and kept K.'s attention.