Join this 4-week project-based literature and American history course using Joan Stromberg’s excellent Glory of America series. Help your middle school student study the historical context of the book and participate in engaging literature discussions and hands-on projects. 

Special Notes: If you want all of your children to study American history together, this course fits into our 4-year History Cycle (matching grade school, middle school, and high school courses).

Total Classes: 4

Class Dates: Thursdays, October 31 to November 21, 2024.

Starting Time: 10:00 AM Eastern (9:00 AM  Central; 8:00 AM  Mountain; 7:00 AM  Pacific)

Duration: 30 minutes

Prerequisite: None

Suggested Grade Level: 3^rd to 6^th grade

Suggested Credit: 1/3 semester American History, Literature, or English. For a full semester, precede with Creative Writing for Grades 3-6: Writing About a Historical Event.

Fee: For all 4 classes: $67 if you register on or before July 15, $87 if you register after July 15. (Registration closes one week before the first day of class. After that date, registrations are not guaranteed. There is a $20 surcharge for late enrollments after the course is closed.)

Instructor: Mandi Gette, MA, MAS

Course Description: Living History Through Literature is a project-based course series. These courses weave the study of literature into a meaningful and engaging encounter with a specific era of history. In LHTL: Kat Finds a Friend, we meet Kat Walter, a nine-year-old shoemaker’s daughter from Emmitsburg, Maryland. Kat thinks that life is one big chore until she meets the lively Kitty Seton, Mother Seton’s daughter. Kat’s life will never be the same again! When Mother Seton brings her family and new order of nuns to the mountainous village of Emmitsburg, Maryland, in 1809, it not only changes Kitty’s life, but it changes her whole family. Students will study the historical context of the novel and participate in engaging literature discussions. In this project-based course, students will engage in short quizzes and in a project of their choice. Project options will include fiction writing, preparing period-specific food and/or costumes, creating lapbooks, recreating scenes from the novel (Legos, clay, K’nex, digital drawing, hand-drawing, etc.), building a timeline, mapping, and more.

Course Outline: 

Class 1: Overview of Historical Context and Novel Introduction
Class 2: Literature Discussion; Project Introduction; Literary Devices; Analysis
Class 3: Literature Discussion; Cultural Overview; Project Ideas; Analysis
Class 4: Literature Discussion; Fiction Writing Tips; Analysis

Course Materials: Kat Finds a Friend, a St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Story by Joan Stromberg, ISBN-10: 0966468910; ISBN-13: 978-0966468915

(https://catalog.beholdpublications.com/). Your student will need either PowerPoint, Google Slides, or Keynote to create a Final Project. Google Slides and Keynote can be found free online.

Homework: Weekly quizzes and reading assignments. Each week, students will work on one project-based assignment that will culminate in a final novel project submission (due at the end of week 4). Homework (including novel reading) will take 1.5 to 3 hours per week. Parents are encouraged to support younger students by reading texts aloud and helping with project planning and execution.

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