Gr 4 ish Literature: The Wanderings of Odysseus.

It's nice having both the Omnibus and the Greek history studies of the Odyssey happening at the same time. It makes it fun to have to have something like a together study - without slowing down everyone to the same pace. I've keep this unit and will probably keep the next one to a simple read, narrate describe the characters and draw a scene from the reading. Simple but it gives Josh a nice rhythm that he can work on without me having to create new materials, and he's happy in this routine.

• Day 1 Reading the Introduction, the Sacker of Cities, the Cyclopes and the Lord of the Winds. Narrate each chapter and describe the main characters, Odysseus, Maron, Polyphemus, Aleous. finish the days work with a picture of the Cyclops.

• Day 2 Reading and narrating, The Enchantress, The Land of the Dead, and Sea Perils. Narrate each chapter and describe the main characters, Circe, Eurylochus, Elpenor, Tiresias, and the perils they encounter in the Sirens, Charybdis, and Scylla. Draw a picture of Odysseus during one of these trials at sea.
  
  
• Day 3 Reading and narrating Telemachus Seeks his Father, and Farewell to Calypso. Include a sentence or two about the main characters in the chapters. Draw Odysseus on his raft as he heads out to sea.
  
  
• Day 4 Reading and narrating The Kings Daughter, and the Phaeacian Games. Include with your narration a map of the journey that Odysseus has had so far. Include a sentence or two about the main characters in the chapter. Draw Odysseus as he he partook in the games.
  
  
• Day 5 Reading and narrating The return to Ithaka, and the Beggar in the Corner. Include a sentence or two about the main characters in the chapter.
  
  
• Day 6 Reading and Narration of The Archery Contest and The Slaying of the Suitors. Include a sentence or two about the main characters in the chapter. Show in picture form how Odysseus took the bow and won the contest for his wife.
  
  
• Day 7 Peace in the Islands. Reading and Narration include a sentence or two about the main characters in the chapter. Finish our studies with showing Odysseus at home and back in control of his lands.
  

Literature: In Search of a Homeland.

I've assigned each chapter as one session, but that's probably light. We could work through two chapters a session. I've also kept a fairly simple read, discuss the characters, draw pattern throughout - simply because its nice to have a simple subject and lets me see how my children are interacting with the material.

• The Fall of Troy Read, narrate and describe the main characters. Sinon and Aeneas. Include a picture of Troy as they escaped from its walls.
  
• The Wandering of Aeneas, Narrate the story, describe the main characters Aeneas, Anchises, Celaeno and Helenus. Include a map of the Trojans wanderings.
  
  
• A Storm and a Welcome, read and narrate, Include a sentence or two about the main characters in the chapter what type of person are they, and what is their role in the story. Draw Dido in her court.
  
  
• Dido and Aeneas. Read and Narrate the story. Describe the main characters and the way in which they acted in this story, especially, Dido, Aeneas, Anna Juno and Venus. Draw a picture of the ships sailing away and seeing the fire in the background.
  
  
• The Funeral Games Read and narrate this story. There are too many small characters to do character work here, but draw a picture of one of the activities from the games.
  
  
• Descent into the Underworld. One of the happy coincidences was reading this while we were also studying Julius Caesar, it made a bit more sense.  Read and narrate this story. It really needed a discussion about what was and wasn't likely to be true. We drew a scene from the underworld.
  
  
• The Flames of War, Read and  narrate this story. Using the map at the back of the book sow their journey to this point. Record the main characters and what they are like.
  
  
• The Future Foretold. Read and narrate the chapter. Note down the key characters and their role in the story. What would a river look like as a person. Draw the River God using your imagination to show what this personification of the river would look like.
  
  
• Nisus and Euryalus, continue reading and narrating this chapter. What are these two Trojans like. Draw these two brave Trojans.
  
  
• The Return of Aeneas. Continue to read, narrate and describe the new characters. For this Chapter draw a picture of the council of the gods/goddesses debating who should be allowed to win the war.
  
  
• Camilla and the death of Turnus. Continue reading and narrating this story. What are the main characters and what are their roles in the conflict. At the end of the story the Trojans win the battle and are allowed to build their new city. Draw a picture of this city on the banks of the Tiber River.