How to Use the Oklahoma History Online Curriculum

 

Index:

 


Supplies Needed:

Obtain the supplies listed below before teaching this curriculum.

  • Acrobat Reader 7.0 installed (available free at www.adobe.com). All items marked (pdf) are Acrobat Reader documents and are included in the curriculum.

  • School supplies such as scissors, paper, notebooks, and writing equipment.

  • Request free Oklahoma travel brochures. (directions for obtaining included in curriculum)

  • Download the free, A Look at Oklahoma - Oklahoma Student Guide (pdf)

  • Research materials: Bible, encyclopedia, dictionary, almanac, atlas, online reference tools such as http://www.answers.com

  • Optional: Color Oklahoma Characters, A poster/coloring book by Phillip R Buntin. Characters in the book include: Gene Autry, Garth Brooks, Jesse Chisholm, Gordon Cooper, Angie Debo, "Pretty Boy" Floyd, Brad Henry, Ben Johnson, Wilma Mankiller, Quanah Parker, David L. Payne, Sequoyah, Belle Starr, Jim Thorpe, J. C. Watts, and many, many more. If your children like to color, this would be a great resource to go along with this unit. Order through the Heritage Center, Dodge City, Kansas. 64 pages. $5.95. (Scroll down the categories list and click on "Oklahoma." Click through the list until near the very end where you will find a link to this book.)

  • Optional: Oklahoma Scrapbook

Documents Needed to get started (pdf files): Included with curriculum.

  • Blank Oklahoma Map
  • OK History Online Certificate of Completion
  • OK Writing Paper, wide lines
  • OK Writing Paper, thin lines
  • OK History Blank Timeline
  • OK History Timeline pcs

Keep track of everything done in this course on the FREE, Oklahoma History Checklist (pdf - included with curriculum). This is a great addition to The Checklist by Cindy Downes (Purchase - not required for this course).

Optional Supplies and Instructions:

Skim through each lesson now and make a list of the optional supplies you will want to use. Purchase, reserve, or request these supplies ahead of time.

  • Craft supplies, art supplies, and cooking ingredients, as desired
  • Books and videos, as desired. Borrow or purchase. (OKHOL Book List - included in curriculum)
  • Oklahoma Travel coupons (directions for obtaining included in curriculum)
  • High school level textbook for 9-12 student (optional)
  • Other optional resources listed in each lesson

If your child is working on high school credits:

  • Help your child select a topic for an Oklahoma History term paper due at the end of the course. For help in writing the term paper, use How to Write a Research Report (Teacher Created Materials #2332) or Writing Strands' "Writing Exposition."

  • Set up a schedule and deadlines for researching and writing the term paper.

  • Optional: set up a schedule and deadlines for him/her to read a high school level, Oklahoma textbook for the course. (Recommended: The Story of Oklahoma by W. David Baird available at bookstores.)

Tests and Grades:

You can use the quizzes at the end of each unit or make up your own quizzes for grades, if you desire. However, I recommend that, instead, you grade your children on their notebooks, compositions, activities, etc. You can choose your own grading system or use mine. In my school, I graded like this - if they did what I required them to do neatly (to the best of their ability) and completely, I gave them a A. If they didn't, the had to do it again until it was done right. Pretty simple!

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General Information:

In public schools, Oklahoma history is usually taught for 1/2 year each in 4th grade, 8th grade, and again in high school. As a homeschooler, you can teach it to suit the needs of your children. I recommend covering it at least two times: once in grades 4-8 and again in grades 9-12 for at least 18 weeks (1/2 year) each. See History Unit Planning Guide for more information on scheduling.

Oklahoma History Online is designed for 4th - 8th grade students; however, activities for younger children (K-3rd grade) have also been included so that you can incorporate them in your teaching, as desired. In addition, by requiring grade-level reading and a term paper instead of/or in addition to the Oklahoma Notebook, this course can fulfill high school requirements for Oklahoma History as well. Assign credit as follows: 1/2 year course = 1/2 unit, 1 year course = 1 unit.

Teach Oklahoma History Online as a multi-level unit to all your children at once. If you have a child in high school who needs Oklahoma History, teach it to the rest of your children at the same time, regardless of their grade level. Your children in grades 4-8 will not have to take it again until they need high school credit. Include your children in grades K-3, also; however, they will need to take Oklahoma History three times, scheduled as follows: (1) included as desired in grades K-3, (2) eighteen weeks in grades 4-7, and (3) eighteen weeks in grades 8-12 for high school credit.

I recommend that you teach Oklahoma History for 20 - 45 minutes per day for 18 weeks or 45 - 90 minutes per day, two times per week, for 18 weeks. If you and your children enjoy the subject, you can teach it for a complete year as long as it fits into your schedule. For more information on scheduling, see Sample Homeschool Schedule. In order to complete this course in a year, you will need to allow two (2) weeks per Unit. For a 1/2 year course, you will need to allow one week per unit.

You child will NOT complete everything in this curriculum! I have included much more than you can possibly do. Pick and choose the books, videos, and activities that will be the most meaningful and age-appropriate for your child THIS YEAR. Cover as much of the materials as you can in the time period you have allowed. Then leave the rest for another year. When you teach it the second (or third) time, choose activities from the ones you missed the previous time.

This curriculum is not dependent on specific books. Only the optional activities require books and videos and these are available in the Oklahoma library systems, either locally or through interlibrary loan, or at bookstores. There are two exceptions: Boom Town Boy and A Child’s Story of Oklahoma. I listed these in case you are able to find them at used bookstores as they are excellent resources.

A large part of the curriculum involves research on the Internet. Please review all websites for content before using. I recommend that you do this part of the lesson together.

Suggested grade levels indicated next to books, websites, and activities are based on interest level, not reading level and even this is arbitrary. Each child is different and develops at different rates. Use your own judgment as to which resources you should use with your children. Generally speaking, try the resource. If it doesn’t work, skip it.

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Step by Step Instructions to do Before Teaching Each Lesson:

1. Obtain the supplies needed.

2. Download and print any documents needed from the Internet. Make a copy of reproducible activities needed for each child.

3. If using videos, watch the night before the lesson as Family Movie Night. Don’t forget the popcorn and coke (or fruit smoothie, if you're trying to be healthy!).

4. Prepare your Oklahoma Timeline (pdf - included in curriculum). Cut apart the blank Timeline along the dotted line. Tape the pieces together end to end, horizontally, so that the years are in numerical order. (I’ve included one Timeline page with no dates so that your can add your child's birthday and other events that happened after WWII.) Hang up so that your child can paste on the timeline pieces as appropriate during the course.

5. Read over the “Notes” for each lesson and skim through the web pages ahead of time so that you can guide your child’s learning.

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Teaching the Lesson:

1. Go over the “Notes” with your child, as desired.

2. Research the topic on the Internet using the website links provided. Work together or assign individually.

    NOTE: Website addresses change frequently. If a website does not work, please email me (contact@oklahomahomeschool.com) for the new location or a substitute.

3. Have your child paste the timeline pieces (pdf - included in curriculum) on the blank Oklahoma History Timeline (pdf - included in curriculum) as appropriate. Older students may want to create their own timelines on the computer, but whatever method you choose, having your children make a timeline will help them put the events and people of Oklahoma history in perspective.

4. Have your child work on their Oklahoma notebook as appropriate.

5. Have your child complete the Bible Study lesson, if desired.

6. Have your child complete one or more age-appropriate activities listed for your child’s learning styles:

Read/Write

Visual

Auditory

Kinesthetic

Note: Choose activities from as many learning styles as you desire. These suggestions are just to get you started. Most children work in more than one learning style. For more information, see learning styles.

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Instructions for After the Lesson:

1. For older children, assign “after-school” homework such as reading additional books, doing online research, and/or writing composition projects.

2. If your child is working on high school credit, have him/her work on his/her term paper and/or reading, as scheduled.

Remember, you will not get everything done! Do as much as you can in the time you have allowed for Oklahoma History. If your children only remember one thing about Oklahoma history from each lesson, they will have learned more than most of us did when we went to school!

3. If possible, take family field trips to the places suggested as they fit into the topic of study. If you can’t do this in the time period suggested, make it a point to visit as many of these places as you can. If it is not possible for you to actually visit the recommended place, take a “virtual” field trip by looking at the suggested field trip’s website. Many of them have lots of pictures and information online that is well worth viewing. Check out Cindy’s Field Trip page for help planning field trips.

4. Give the Unit Quiz orally or written, if desired. Personally, I don't like quizzes. I only put them in for those of you who do. Remember, a test only tells you what your child DOESN'T know. To find out what your child DOES know, ask him or her to tell you what he/she learned or have him/her write compositions.

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Oklahoma History Online - © Copyright 2005 by Cindy Downes

Website: www.oklahomahomeschool.com
Email: contact@oklahomahomeschool.com
© Copyright 2005 by Cindy Downes. All rights reserved. No portion of this online book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Published by:
C.A.T. Ink
1608 E. Tacoma Street
Broken Arrow, OK 74012

ISBN 0-9765544-1-0

Printed in the United States of America.

 

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Copyright © 2004 - Oklahoma Homeschool