Question for those who have used the AH1 guide

[LynnH]

I have to say I am enjoying reading America: The Last Best Hope. I feel like it gives balanced coverage to history, especially on some of the tougher topics. I am learning a lot. One thing I was wondering though is how students that have done this guide did with written narrations on this text. It seems like it will be a very challenging text to narrate on due to the fact it is written to an adult audience so vocabulary and just overall presentation is challenging. I was just wondering if anyone found they had to come along side their student more that usual when they first started this guide? I also think since it has all the new types of written narration that will make it more of a challenge for my ds. I just want to make sure I don't have too high of expectations for him, because that can lead to frustration on both our parts. Of course maybe others didn't find it tough and that is good for me to know also so I can figure out how to "get him up to speed". I would just love to her your experiences with this part of the guide.

[my3sons]

Hi Lynn! With each of the narrations, I underlined each separate part of plans that needed to be completed in the daily plans for it in the teacher's guide. This really helped Wyatt pay attention to each assignment's components and better prepare for his oral narrations, as he knew what to look for as he prepared. I didn't do this right away, and he omitted portions of the oral narration. The success in narrating is somewhat the prep that Carrie has planned (i.e. the talking points 3 x 5 notecard notes they first write and then refer to as narrating, the highlighting done with the main points and its details prior to narrating that the refer to as they are narrating, etc.). I also did this with the literature plans, and for that box, I assigned points in the margin for each portion, as this was a box of plans he forgot to do portions of at times. I just underlined each expectation in the guide, assigned a point value to it (i.e. 10 pts. each), assigned a number of annotations (i.e. 10 with variety as described in daily plans), and then we corrected it together. I didn't assign a hard fast grade for these, but more just explained why points would be taken off, what that score would have been then, and what corrections or additions (if he missed doing some portion of it) were needed to complete the assignment. This was more of a training session than a grading scale - we did this for about a month to 6 weeks until he'd learned the ropes of each of the assignments. He needed time to grow and mature into these skills, especially the newer skills, being taught in the guide. For example, when he was assigned to share a visual during his oral narration, for the first portion of the year, he just flashed it at the end with a one sentence explanation that was quite brief. We worked on him learning to incorporate the visual within his narration at a more appropriate time for a good portion of the year. I just followed Carrie's detailed expectations in each of the daily plans, as well as referenced the suggested grading in the Introduction, and I saw dramatic improvements throughout the year.

"America: The Last Best Hope" is a fascinating chronological look at American history. It is well-balanced, but that doesn't mean each narration has to be a succinct summary narration. I allowed room for Wyatt to share what personally struck him within the reading, while still expecting him to do what was expected according to the daily plans Carrie wrote. Partnered with all of the rest of what is planned within the history to correlate with the theme, I found Wyatt was able to take much from the connections made even later (i.e. with U.S. Map Activities, with correlated living book readings, with American Testimony DVDs, with government/constitutional literacy assignments, with history activities, with primary source document readings like the letters they read, etc.). So, the sharing or the oral narration wasn't the only 'one shot' he'd have at understanding the material, but rather the backdrop for more 'hooks' to be added as the rest of the history theme's assignments in various boxes were completed. Doing an entire day of plans is much different than reading the one book - the theme is woven together to make a more lasting impact. I hope this helps!!! I think you have a fantastic year together ahead of you and your son in US1!!!

In Christ,
Julie Grosz

[LynnH]

Thanks Julie, that helps. I like the idea of underlining the specific directions for each narration for the first month or so. I'm not as worried about the oral narrations as I am the written. Writing 3-5 paragraphs can be a little overwhelming to him with new material and especially the new types of written narrations. He will probably do much better than I think.

I am actually reading through all the history sources in order in the guide, but I am not watching the DVD's. I figured those would add a lot of context that will help him with his overall knowledge of the time period. One of the aspects of his disability though is that sometimes he doesn't put all the pieces together very well. It is like they are in separate rooms in his brain with no doors between the rooms. I will watch the DVD's with him so hopefully I will be able to help him if he gets stuck on a written narration.

I am loving the history and lit readings I have done so far and I am very excited for him to do this guide.

[my3sons]

I'm glad to have helped, LynnH! I'm also happy to hear you are enjoying the resources Carrie has chosen, and I anticipate you and your son have a good year with US1! I wanted to mention that Wyatt did pause the DVD as needed as he watched. I also accepted shorter less detailed sentences or notes at first, until he got used to the format.

In Christ,
Julie