How It Works
Our Star-Spangled Story has a total of 90 lessons for use over one school year (30 units of 3 lessons each). All of the instructions for how to use the material are included in Part 1 and Part 2 so you do not need a separate Teacher's Manual. The daily instructions are very easy to follow.
Each weekly unit has three lessons. Students can read the lessons on their own, or you can read the lessons aloud. Each lesson is filled with full-color photographs, illustrations, and artwork. Reading one lesson will take 10-15 minutes. At the end of each lesson is a list of suggested activities. These include singing a song or learning a dance in Rhythms and Rhymes, looking at the Timeline book, completing a Student Workbook page, reading from one of the recommended literature titles, answering review questions, or doing a hands-on activity. You can pick the activities that work best for your family.
The Books Used
The Our Star-Spangled Story Curriculum Package includes all six books listed below, enough for one child to complete the curriculum. If you are using the curriculum with more than one child, you can purchase additional Student Workbooks.
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Our Star-Spangled Story Part 1
This book has 45 lessons beginning with life in America before Europeans came and continuing through the late 1800s.
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Our Star-Spangled Story Part 2
This book has 45 lessons that go from the late 1800s through modern times.
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Star-Spangled Rhythms and Rhymes
This is a collection of 60 songs, poems, and dances that comes with an MP3 CD. Each selection goes along with a particular lesson in the curriculum.
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A Star-Spangled Timeline
This beautiful, engaging reference is the perfect way to reinforce and review key people and events from the lessons.
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My Star-Spangled Student Workbook
This book contains two handwork sheets and one review page for each unit. (This is the only consumable book in this curriculum.)
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Our Star-Spangled Story Answer Key and Literature Guide
This book for parents contains answers for the lesson review questions in the text and the Student Workbook activities. It also includes a guide and discussion questions for the literature titles incorporated in Our Star-Spangled Story.
The Literature
We recommend eight works of literature to read along with the lessons in Our Star-Spangled Story. Each book gives your child a richer perspective on a certain time period. The student has 3-5 weeks to read each book. The first four books go with Part 1, and the next four books go with Part 2. These books are not included in the Curriculum package, but must be purchased separately.
- Benjamin West and His Cat Grimalkin by Marguerite Henry (Units 1-4)
- Toliver's Secret by Esther Wood Brady (Units 5-9)
- Freedom Crossing by Margaret Goff Clark (Units 10-12)
- Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder (Units 13-15)
- Mountain Born by Elizabeth Yates (Units 16-18)
- Emily’s Runaway Imagination by Beverly Cleary (Units 19-22)
- The Year of Miss Agnes by Kirkpatrick Hill (Units 23-26)
- Katy by Mary Evelyn Notgrass (Units 27-30)