America the Beautiful is an American history and
geography course for students in grades 5 through 8. It was written by Charlene Notgrass of the Notgrass Company. We received the America the Beautiful Curriculum Package for
review, and this consists of two hardcover textbooks (America
the Beautiful Part 1 and America the
Beautiful Part 2), We the People,
Timeline of America the Beautiful, Maps of America the Beautiful, and an
Answer Key. We also received America the Beautiful Lesson Review and America the Beautiful Student Workbook. In addition, there is a literature package available for
purchase.
America the Beautiful is a chronological study of
American history. It begins with a unit on Native Americans, and continues through the election
of President Barack Obama. America the
Beautiful Part 1 covers America from 1000 through the last 1800s, while America the Beautiful Part 2 covers from
the late 1800s through present day. There are 75 lessons in the first book and
75 lessons in the second book (15 units with 5 lessons each), and each book is
designed to be completed in a semester. The books are loaded with pictures and
photographs, and the text is written directly to the student.
Each lesson is only a few pages long, so it does not take a lot of time to read the daily lessons. There are five different lesson types: “Our American Story”, “God’s Wonders”, “An American Landmark”, “An American Biography”, and “Daily Life”. The “Our American Story” lessons teach about major events, “God’s Wonders” lessons describe a remarkable place in America, “An American Landmark” lessons teach about significant places in America, “An American Biography” lessons tell about a famous person, and “Daily Life” lessons describe the day-to-day life of people who lived during the time period being studied. Each unit typically contains one of each lesson type.
Each lesson ends with a list of activities, including writing assignments, vocabulary assignments, family activities, “Thinking Biblically” assignments, and assignments from the timeline book, map book, student workbook, or lesson review workbook. Mrs. Notgrass expects you to pick and choose from the list of activities. In addition, after many lessons in the America the Beautiful textbooks, the student is asked to read a something out of the book We the People. This book contains the text of various letters, documents, songs, speeches, articles, and other original source documents that are important to our nation’s history.
Each lesson is only a few pages long, so it does not take a lot of time to read the daily lessons. There are five different lesson types: “Our American Story”, “God’s Wonders”, “An American Landmark”, “An American Biography”, and “Daily Life”. The “Our American Story” lessons teach about major events, “God’s Wonders” lessons describe a remarkable place in America, “An American Landmark” lessons teach about significant places in America, “An American Biography” lessons tell about a famous person, and “Daily Life” lessons describe the day-to-day life of people who lived during the time period being studied. Each unit typically contains one of each lesson type.
Each lesson ends with a list of activities, including writing assignments, vocabulary assignments, family activities, “Thinking Biblically” assignments, and assignments from the timeline book, map book, student workbook, or lesson review workbook. Mrs. Notgrass expects you to pick and choose from the list of activities. In addition, after many lessons in the America the Beautiful textbooks, the student is asked to read a something out of the book We the People. This book contains the text of various letters, documents, songs, speeches, articles, and other original source documents that are important to our nation’s history.
Maps of America the Beautiful contains various maps of the
country that coordinate with many of the daily lessons. Students are asked to
look at the maps and label or color during the lessons. Timeline of America the Beautiful will allow students to fill in
events important to America’s history. There are various dates preprinted in
the book for the student to reference. The America the Beautiful Student Workbook is
filled with various puzzles, drawing activities, word searches, and other
activities that reinforce what was studied. There is one activity for each
lesson. The America the Beautiful Lesson Review
contains lesson review questions and questions from the books in the
literature package. It also contains quizzes for every unit. The Answer Key
includes answers for the Timeline, Student Workbook, Lesson Review, and the vocabulary assignments from the
main textbook.
I absolutely love this curriculum and used it with all my boys. I read the lessons from the main text and the assigned readings from We the People. Sign of the Beaver is used alongside Units 4 & 5, and the storyline dovetails perfectly with these units on Colonial Life. I used the Lesson Review book with my older 3 boys (9th, 8th, 6th), and the Student Workbook with my younger 2 boys (4th, 2nd). These books are not reproducible, so you'll need a copy for each student. Using both these books with the same student would be overkill; I'd recommend the Lesson Review book for those in middle school, while the Student Workbook is great for those in late Elementary. We worked on the Timeline and Maps together.
I absolutely love this curriculum and used it with all my boys. I read the lessons from the main text and the assigned readings from We the People. Sign of the Beaver is used alongside Units 4 & 5, and the storyline dovetails perfectly with these units on Colonial Life. I used the Lesson Review book with my older 3 boys (9th, 8th, 6th), and the Student Workbook with my younger 2 boys (4th, 2nd). These books are not reproducible, so you'll need a copy for each student. Using both these books with the same student would be overkill; I'd recommend the Lesson Review book for those in middle school, while the Student Workbook is great for those in late Elementary. We worked on the Timeline and Maps together.
For more reviews of America the Beautiful, along with Notgrass' Draw to Learn program , visit the Schoolhouse Review Crew.
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