Exploring American History Chapter 34

PLEASE pay close attention to this chapter as it talks about a very important topic! Satan often tempts Christians to weaken their faith and their stand for Christ by compromising here and there so that Christianity will seem more acceptable to more people. Satan whispers that more people might accept Christ if only we would be less strict and accept more things. 'Just don't tell the sinners that they're sinning so that they won't be scared off of church.' But if the church doesn't tell them they're sinning and that they must repent to be saved, they will sit in church all their lives thinking they are saved by whatever small part of Christianity they do agree with and never really knowing how to truly be saved. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. But what if someone doesn't believe in the Bible? How can they believe in Jesus as Divine, Holy, Sinless, God-With-Us if they don't believe the Bible? And if they don't really believe in Jesus, that He is who He is (the "I Am"), then how can they be saved? While it's true that salvation is based only on believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, believing in Him is based on believing the prophecies about Him, and to believe the prophecies you have to read and believe the Holy Scriptures which are in the Bible. Compromise doesn't lead to friendly welcoming churches where everyone gets saved. Compromise leads to doubt, doubt is the opposite of belief, and without belief there can be no salvation. So if we truly believe that Jesus Christ is Lord, we must believe that the Holy Book which tells us that He is Lord also tells us that the world was created by God in 6 literal days about 6,000 years ago, that the world was completely flooded and only Noah's family spared, that Jesus was born to a mother who had never had sex (a virgin), that Jesus came to us as God incarnate (incarnate means in an earthly human body) lived a sinless life, died, rose from the dead, and ascended into Heaven to 'prepare a place for us,' and that none of these things are lies or exaggerations but the whole and Holy truth. 

Lesson Plan: The Golden Goblet (by Eloise Jarvis McGraw)

This is a lesson plan for using The Golden Goblet by Eloise Jarvis McGraw with a Progeny Press PDF fillable literature guide, and/or THIS book report journal. If you are using both the PDF and the Journal, there are 50 days worth of work in this lesson plan.
Some YouTube links are included in this lesson plan which may have ads on them which may not be safe. Allow this at your own discretion. 
Other links were checked out by me to ensure that, so long as the directions are followed and student stays only in the areas indicated, AT THE TIME I checked them they appeared to be safe. Websites change and edit pages all the time so I cannot guarantee that they are still as they were when I screened them. Parent should check out all links beforehand and decide which ones are appropriate for their child.
This lesson plan is property of Birch Grove School and may not be reprinted elsewhere without permission. You may use this plan for your own immediate household ONLY. 

Ctrl + F will bring up a little search box: type in "Lesson x" with x being the number of the lesson you are trying to find (you may or may not have to hit Enter). It will zoom you right on down this page to the exact lesson you typed. Try it out now: type "Lesson 50" and watch it zoom you down to the last lesson! Then type, "Lesson 01" and watch it zoom you back up here. This is how you can always find whatever lesson you're on without scrolling for a year. 

Lesson 01: BEFORE YOU BEGIN 

-LOOK inside the front of your assigned book at the publisher's information. Read the outside back cover of the book also.
-LOOK in your school folder in the desktop or laptop computer which you use for school for a PDF document named after this book, in the literature folder of your school file. That is your Literature Guide. Read the Synopsis and About the Novel’s Author on pages 7-8 of your PDF guide. 
-Use the information you've learned from the book and the guide to fill out the first page of the section for this book in your yellow Book Report Journal: Title, Author, Publisher, Publication Date, Genre/Subject (historical fiction), Primary Setting (Thebes, Egypt), and Time Period (ancient times). Nice handwriting please; I need to be able to read it.
-For future reference, the PDF Literature Guide can actually be filled out on the computer (by clicking in the blue boxes and typing) and saved. I have the original on a disk and the one in your file is YOUR copy, so go ahead and fill it out when these lesson plans say to, and don’t forget to save the changes each time! You should also change the name of the document so that your name is in it too, so it never gets mixed up with your siblings’. There is nothing in it to fill out this week – you will start next week. 

Lesson 02:  Prereading Activities – part 1

PDF guide pg. 9. For your pre-reading activity, you may choose 1 of the following. If you finish before half an hour is up, you may choose a second activity.
1. As a virtual field trip, you may tour the Egyptian Mummy exhibit of the Museum of Natural History if you PROMISE not to go into the other exhibits. I will warn you, there are real mummies in the exhibits. People who died long long ago and were mummified. Even a 3 year old boy. If you can’t handle it, don’t go. Do not call your younger siblings over to see, either. There are only 3 places to stand in the virtual tour of the Mummy exhibit. Here is the link to spot # 1: https://naturalhistory2.si.edu/vt3/NMNH/z_tour-160.html To look into the displays, use the scroll wheel on your mouse to zoom in and click and drag your mouse to look around. There are displays behind you, too! There’s a map in the top right corner that shows where you are and which way you are facing. The RED section of the map is the Egypt exhibit. Note the three dots in the red section. One of the dots has a green checkmark on it and what looks like a green wedge shape coming out of it. The check marks show where you have stood so far and the green fan shape thing is to show the direction you are looking in! You can click the other blue dots on the map (In the red section please. Don’t leave the red section.) to go around the Egypt exhibit OR you can navigate using the blue arrows on the floor. Be careful with the floor arrows though: it’s really easy to accidentally click the wrong one and get lost! To see where an arrow leads to, hover your cursor over it. If it doesn’t say “Egypt” 1, 2, or 3, do not click it. Your permission is to tour the Egyptian mummy exhibit, NOT the forensic bone room, the insect zoo, or anything else. If you get super lost, you can always close the page and come back here and try again. This is a secular museum which promotes the evolutionary, atheistic worldview in most of its exhibits. I previewed the Egyptian mummy exhibit and it looks like they tell about ancient Egyptian religious beliefs in an informational way. “This is what they believed about death.” This is not what we as Christians believe about death, but it helps to understand the context of their beliefs when reading about the ancient Egyptians.
2. 6-minute YouTube video on Ancient Egypt. https://youtu.be/hO1tzmi1V5g
3. Videos of significant historical sites in Egypt. You can drag the picture to look around!! https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-hr3xIvMIMU0-LruLdGBmOGDANm0H-IA
4. 7 minute “What if…?” but keep in mind that to my knowledge it’s never been proven one way or another whether slaves were among those who worked on the pyramids, nor do I recall ever seeing the Bible mention whether the Hebrews were among those building pyramids. https://youtu.be/WqJd8slanIo 
5. Pharoahs: https://youtu.be/mfLKtzmDaSQ
6: The importance of the Nile River to the economy of Ancient Egypt. https://youtu.be/F9bfIXmQfZk 

Lesson 03:  Prereading Activities – part 2

PDF Progeny Press literature guide pg. 9. For your pre-reading activity, you may choose 1 of the activities that you did not do in Lesson 1. If you finish before half an hour is up, you may choose yet another activity that you have not done already. Remember, you should NOT do the same things you did yesterday: choose some things you wanted to do yesterday but didn’t have time for. 

Lesson 04:  Guide – As-You-Read

Read page 10 of your (Progeny Press literature) guide. Decide if you want to make a sketchbook or scrapbook or notebook of the cool things you learn about Egypt. You could draw things you saw/see on the field trips or make illustrations of how you imagine things from the book. If you commit to doing it, don’t quit halfway. Add at least one thing each week during this study. There is a suggested activity to draw a map of ancient Thebes – the city in which the story is set. You could end this first week by making a cover for your notebook and then beginning a map which you can add to as you read. *Note: It says “Egyptian Notebook” in the guide but technically, grammatically, that would mean the notebook is from Egypt. *laugh* If I called something “American” it would mean it’s either from America or is made in the style which is common in America/ which America is known for. “Egyptian Notebook” means a notebook from Egypt, “Egypt Notebook” means a notebook about Egypt. You could call it your “Egypt Notebook” or “Notebook About Egypt” if you’d prefer to be grammatically correct.

Lesson 05:  Read Chapter I

As you read, keep your yellow Book Report Journal handy to write down any quotes that you love. 

Lesson 06: Read Chapter II

As you read, keep your yellow Book Report Journal handy to write down any quotes that you love.

Lesson 07:  Guide – Vocabulary

In your folder where the PDF guide for this book is, there’s another PDF called “ReadMe.” Today you will need to go in the ReadMe and find the part that tells how to underline things in your PDF guide. Then return to your PDF literature guide, page 11, and complete it according to the directions.
When you’re done underlining synonyms on page 11, scroll down to page 12, the one with the crossword puzzle. This page needs to be printed. Click the image of the printer along the top of the PDF document and then in the Pages to Print section, select “Current” so it will only print the crossword page, the page you left off scrolling on. Complete the printed out crossword puzzle with a pencil. If you’re making an Egypt Notebook in a 3-ring binder, you could add the crossword to it. 

Lesson 08: Guide – Questions

Complete pages 13 and 14 of your guide; the Questions section and part of the Thinking About the Story section through question 9. (Through question 9 means 9 is the last one you do and then stop. If I said “up to question 10” that would mean 10 is the first one you save for tomorrow. They mean the same thing in two different ways.) 

Lesson 09: Guide – Thinking About the Story

Resume your guide with question 10 on page 15. Finish through question 12 on page 16. Remember, “through question 12” means you do question 12 but no farther.
Note that question 10 begins with the phrase, “A simile is a word picture…” The word “simile” might look a lot like the word “smile” but it’s actually from the word “similar!” To pronounce it, just say “similar” but replace the -ar with a long-e. Sim-il-ee.

Lesson 10: Guide – Dig Deeper

Complete the Dig Deeper section on pages 16 and 17.
Regarding the Optional Activities and Egyptian Notebook Projects, if you choose to do them:
-If you have an older sibling who has already read through this book, you can discuss the discussion question with them. If not, simply take a few minutes to think about it.
-Virtual field trip to see how a gold chain is made: https://youtu.be/pHPkGp4_DYs You can see him pulling the gold wire through smaller and smaller holes to make the wire smaller and smaller just like in the book.
-If you are doing an Egypt Notebook, choose one or more of the options from page 18. 

Lesson 11: Read Chapter III

As you read, keep your yellow Book Report Journal handy to write down any quotes that you love.

Lesson 12: Read Chapter IV

As you read, keep your yellow Book Report Journal handy to write down any quotes that you love.

Lesson 13: Guide – Vocabulary, Questions

Complete pages 19 and 20 of your guide, and only question 8 on page 21. 

Lesson 14: Guide – Thinking About the Story

Complete the Thinking About the Story section of your guide on pages 21 and 22 (through question 14).  

Lesson 15: Guide – Dig Deeper

Complete the Dig Deeper section of your guide on pages 22 and 23.
Pg. 24: You don’t have to do the Optional Activities every time, but you should choose to do several of them per book. If you have chosen to do an Egypt Notebook, don’t slack off; choose at least 1 activity to do each week. 

Lesson 16: Read Chapter V

As you read, keep your yellow Book Report Journal handy to write down any quotes that you love.

Lesson 17: Read Chapter VI

As you read, keep your yellow Book Report Journal handy to write down any quotes that you love.

Lesson 18: Read Chapter VII

As you read, keep your yellow Book Report Journal handy to write down any quotes that you love.

Lesson 19: Guide – Vocabulary

Complete pages 25 and 26 of your guide. 

Lesson 20: Guide – Vocabulary, Questions

Complete pages 27 and 28 of your guide.  

Lesson 21: Guide – Thinking About the Story

Complete pages 29 and 30 of your guide.  

Lesson 22: Guide – Dig Deeper

Complete pages 31 and 32 of your guide.
Remember, you do need to choose to do an Optional Activity sometimes, and you should add something to your Egypt Notebook every week. 

Lesson 23: Book Report Journal

You are now about half way through the book, so it’s a good time to get out your yellow Book Report Journal. Fill in the Main Characters. Remember, main characters are who the whole story is ABOUT. These are characters that we learn personal things about that make us feel something like love or hate toward them, such as the main villain or hero. Supporting characters are frequently-appearing characters who help or hinder the main characters along the way but aren’t main characters, such as co-workers we don’t learn a lot about or extra bad-guys who help the main bad guy. Then there are side characters who only show up or are mentioned here and there, such as the baker who sells bread, the false gods, or the boy’s dead father. It’s asking for only the MAIN characters, so ask yourself, “If I had to pick just one or just a few people who this whole story is ABOUT, who would that be?”
Fill in the Main Idea. The main idea is if you just think of one sentence that tells what the book is about. Can you tell what the book is about in one sentence? Your sentence needs to contain Who, and also at least two of the following things: What, When, Where, Why, and How.
Fill in the Main Events that have happened so far. Leave some room for the other half of the book! Think of the 2 or 3 most important things that have happened in the book so far: those are main events. The Climax has probably not happened yet so you will not fill that out yet. (The Climax is the Main Event that's the highest point of action, the story’s turning point.)
Write neatly so I can read it, please!  

Lesson 24: Read Chapter VIII

As you read, keep your yellow Book Report Journal handy to write down any quotes that you love.

Lesson 25: Read Chapter IX

As you read, keep your yellow Book Report Journal handy to write down any quotes that you love.

Lesson 26: Read Chapter X

As you read, keep your yellow Book Report Journal handy to write down any quotes that you love.

Lesson 27: Guide – Vocabulary

Complete pages 33 and 34 of your guide. 

Lesson 28: Guide – Questions

Finish the Vocabulary section in your guide and complete the Questions section. Pages 35 and 36 through question 9. 

Lesson 29: Guide – Thinking About the Story

Complete the Thinking About the Story section which starts near the end of page 36 of your guide and ends with question 18 at the top of page 38. 

Lesson 30: Guide – Dig Deeper

Complete pages 38 and 39 of your guide.
For the Optional Activity, you may discuss (with a parent and any sibling who has already completed this book) the meaning and effects of abuse. 

Lesson 31: Read Chapter XI

As you read, keep your yellow Book Report Journal handy to write down any quotes that you love.

Lesson 32: Read Chapter XII

As you read, keep your yellow Book Report Journal handy to write down any quotes that you love.

Lesson 33: Guide – Vocabulary

Complete pages 40 and 41 of your guide. 

Lesson 34: Guide – Questions

Complete pages 42 and 43 of your guide. 

Lesson 35: Guide – Thinking, Dig Deeper

Complete pages 44-46 of your guide.  

Lesson 36: Read Chapter XIII

As you read, keep your yellow Book Report Journal handy to write down any quotes that you love.

Lesson 37: Read Chapter XIV

As you read, keep your yellow Book Report Journal handy to write down any quotes that you love.

Lesson 38: Guide – Vocabulary

Complete pages 47 and 48 of your guide: all of Vocabulary and the first half of Questions through question 4. 

Lesson 39: Guide – Thinking About the Story

Complete the second half of Questions and all of Thinking About The Story (through question 13 on page 51).  

Lesson 40: Guide – Dig Deeper

Complete pages 51 and 52 of your guide. 

Lesson 41: Read Chapter XV

As you read, keep your yellow Book Report Journal handy to write down any quotes that you love.

Lesson 42: Read Chapter XVI

As you read, keep your yellow Book Report Journal handy to write down any quotes that you love.

Lesson 43: Book Report Journal

Today get out your yellow Book Report Journal and fill out the rest of the Main Events and the Climax – don’t use the Climax as one of the main events because it has its own section! (The Climax is the highest point of action, the story’s turning point.) 

Lesson 44: Guide – Vocabulary

Complete the Vocabulary section on pages 53-55 of your guide. Stop before Questions. 

Lesson 45: Guide – Questions

Complete the Questions and Thinking About the Story sections on pages 55-57 of your guide. 

Lesson 46: Guide – Dig Deeper

Complete pages 58 and 59 of your guide. 

Lesson 47: Book Report Journal

Finish filling out all the remaining sections of your yellow Book Report Journal EXCEPT the “Notes” section.
Conflict & Resolution: What was the person or circumstance that the main character was “fighting” to overcome the whole time, and how did they overcome it?
Synopsis: This means to write a 2-3 sentence summary of the whole book, like what you would tell someone to get them to want to read it. The back covers of books usually have a synopsis, and one of the first pages in your Literature Guide had a synopsis, so be sure you’re not copying theirs. Write your own in your own words!
Interpretation: Pretend the author was trying to tell you a secret by writing this story. Do you remember Aesop’s Fables? The Tortoise & the Hare teaches us that persistence pays off in the end because the tortoise persevered in what seemed like an impossible situation. Or we might say that overconfidence/pride goeth before a fall because the hare was so sure he’d win that he took a nap in the middle of a race! What lesson or ideas do you think the author of this book wanted to tell you through the story? 

Lesson 48: Guide – Overview

Complete the first half of the Overview: pages 60 and 61 of your guide. 

Lesson 49: Guide – Overview

Complete the second half of the Overview: pages 62 and 63 of your guide. 

Lesson 50: Book Report Journal

1. It’s time to do the Notes section in your yellow Book Report Journal. Here’s how I want you to do it: I want you to pretend you are talking to someone about the book and tell them why they should or should not read it. You can look back at the other sections in your Book Report Journal as well as at the Guide (especially the Overview) for ideas on what to mention. Here is a super silly made-up example of how I want you to do it. You should have at least 2 paragraphs and neat handwriting (print or cursive).

When I started reading Blueberry Pickle, I didn’t think I was going to enjoy it at all. After reading it, I’m glad I did, even though the part where the alligator eats the villain is a bit scary.
In Blueberry Pickle, a boy named Joe Pickle really wants to eat blueberry pancakes for supper but his dad said no because he’s too tired and thirsty to make pancakes. Joe goes to get advice from his friend, the talking turkey in the Galapagos Palm Tree, about what he should do. The turkey tells him it’s best to wait to ask again until it rains because Joe’s dad likes rain and this time he will probably be in a good mood after drinking a glass of water.
Unfortunately there’s a drought and Joe winds up having to wait 3 whole years because not only is there no rain to cheer his thirsty dad up, but also the blueberries aren’t growing without water. Just when it finally rains and the blueberries are growing again, a blueberry thief starts stealing all the berries. Who is stealing all the blueberries? Is his dad happy it rained? Does Joe ever overcome his lack of blueberry pancakes? You’ll have to read the book to find out!

2. After that, the only thing left to fill out in the section for this book in your Book Report Journal is the illustration. As you were reading, was there a moment when you could picture the story in your mind? Or a moment you felt would make a good book cover to get people interested in reading the book? Take your time and make a nice illustration.

3. Read pages 64-67 of your guide. I will not require you to pick a final project from pages 64-65 if you have done at least 3 of the Optional Activities for this book, AND done your best work on one of the following:
-Egypt Notebook   -OR-
-Book Report Journal
As for the Additional Resources on pages 66-67, they are not required but are suggestions for other books you might like if you liked this book.

Place your yellow Book Report Journal on my desk to be checked. I will also check your Literature Guide and then archive it, so make sure you saved your work and did not move the file to anywhere I can’t find it. 

Notgrass Exploring World History orientation

 [PLEASE READ CAREFULLY] 

This is your "orientation" for Exploring World History. Please carefully read what I've written here and do everything it says to do, so that when you begin to do this class you will understand what the abbreviations are and what parts of the curriculum are required, what parts are your choice which ones to do, and which parts are optional. 

• EWH Folder 
>To start with, you will need to make a sub folder in your School folder on your computer to put your writing projects in. Call it English for EWH, or Notgrass Exploring World History, or just Exploring World History. You may use Microsoft Word, WordPad, or Open Office, whichever you prefer or have available to you. 

• Notebook 
>Next, you are going to need a notebook to write the answers for the Student Review questions. You may ask for a regular paper notebook to write your Review answers in, or you may create a Microsoft Word, WordPad, or Open Office document in your School>English for EWH (or whatever you named it) folder on your computer and call it "EWH Student Review." The upside of having it be a paper notebook will be that you don't need to try to hold the floppy Student Review while typing on the computer without dropping it, you can simply set both books on your schooldesk right next to each other. The upside of having it be a computer document would be if you type faster than you write. Let me know what you decide so I can get you the paper notebook if you need one and so I know where to find your answers to check them from now on. The directions in the rest of your scheduling will assume you've picked a paper notebook, so just mentally switch it to a computer document as you read if you need to. 

• Exploring World History, Part 1 (EWH1) - green cover. 
>This is the textbook you will start the year with and will last you half the schoolyear. Today you will read pages vii to xvi (everything between the Table of Contents and page 1). Next, just read/look at the weekly projects on the yellow pages 2, 26, 50, 74, 100, 128, 158, 186, 218, 248, 274, 312, 344, 374, & 404. If you are planning to earn an English credit with this course then you should choose the writing option at least 5 times during this semester.  School years are divided into two "semesters" that are each half the school year. So you will need to pick the writing project 5 times while you're doing EWH1. Look over those yellow pages and decide which 5 writing projects you most want to do. You can change your mind later, just give yourself an idea to start with. Open your Notebook and on the first page, write the 5 projects you picked and what lesson number they are from. Another option would be to print out the "Project Ideas" list which will have all the project ideas for both semesters listed and use a highlighter to highlight all the ones that interest you. Maybe use a different color for the writing based projects so you will be able to see more easily if you've selected enough of that type of assignment by the end of the year. 
There is also an "Assignment Checklist" printout which you should ask for. It has handy little checkboxes you can check everything-Notgrass off so you know you did it all each day. 

• Exploring World History, Part 2 (EWH2) - light brown cover, like the color of gingerbread. 
>Don't worry about this book yet. It's the second semester of this subject. Don't lose it, but put it somewhere it will be safe from damage and you will know where to find it when you finish the green book and are ready to switch. 

• In Their Words (ITW) - the big maroon textbook
Read pg. v & vi. This is a literature book, sort of, but also a history book. It contains historical documents, poems, stories, etc. that ARE literature but are there to help you learn about history. 

• Exploring World History Student Review (SR or SRev) - spiral bound with a full color cover. >Contains the questions for each lesson, the questions for Literature, commentary on the Bible passages you're scheduled to read, and sometimes a Literary Analysis for a book you'll be scheduled to read. The questions are things that will be in the quizzes and tests. Read pages 1-9. Now just to get a feel for how it's laid out, look at page 11 and page 99. 

• Quiz and Exam Book 
>Borrow the Quiz and Exam book and flip through it for a few seconds. A Unit is a week long - 5 lessons. A Quiz is like a practice test. An Exam is the same thing as a Test. In the Quiz and Exam Book are Quizzes for each Unit as well as Exams every few Units for History, Bible, and English. 

• Literature 
>Make sure you know where the books are kept which will be used for Literature this year. You will be given a number of days in which to read the book. It will say how many on the first day of a new book assignment. For example it might say "You have 10 days to read this book." on the first day you are assigned a 14-chapter book. You will have to do the math in your mind and say to yourself, "That means I do 7 chapters a week... 1 chapter every schoolday, plus an extra chapter 2 times each week. Maybe I should do the extra ones on my lightest two schooldays each week." 
Also, somewhere on your schedule it should say the lesson or Unit of your Notgrass history that this literature assignment goes with. Please match them when you do them: do the literature assignment for Lesson 11 (unit 3) on the same day you do the Lesson 11 (unit 3) history lesson. 
It should be noted that not every week of Notgrass history has a literature assignment, because buying that many books would probably break the bank, but I have some ideas I'm going to fill in with and those won't have a Literary Analysis assignment and may not relate as precisely to the history lesson, though I will try to pick interesting books that fit in well to enhance your enjoyment of history. :) 
One last thing: Each literature selection from Notgrass (the italicized books listed below and some of the selections from the textbook In Their Words-yes you have to read/answer questions for those, too!) has a Literary Analysis assignment after you finish reading it. These will be in your Student Review after your history questions for the day. In school you generally write a book report at some point in 4th-6th grade, you do several literature study guides at some point in Middle School or 9th grade, and in High School you've levelled up again to doing Literary Analysis. If you need help remembering what you're supposed to talk about in a literary analysis, re-read the first 9 pages of your Student Review. 

• The Golden Goblet (Eloise Jarvis McGraw)*
• The Cat of Bubastes (G.A. Henty)
• The Eagle of the Ninth (Rosemary Sutcliff)*
• The Art of War (Sun Tzu)
• Julius Caesar (William Shakespeare)
• The Imitation of Christ (Thomas à Kempis)
• Here I Stand (Roland Bainton)
• A Tale of Two Cities (Charles Dickens)
• North and South (Elizabeth Gaskell)
• The Hiding Place (Corrie Ten Boom)
• Animal Farm (George Orwell)
• Bridge to the Sun (Gwen Terasaki)
• Cry, the Beloved Country (Alan Paton)
• The Abolition of Man (C.S. Lewis) 

*Not from the Notgrass package. These will be read-only, or there will be a Birch Grove guide linked to them, or they will have a Progeny Press guide instead of the Notgrass Literature Analysis. 

• Bible 
>If you are doing the Bible component of Notgrass as your Bible subject for the year, alone or in addition to another Bible curriculum (such as Rod & Staff), you may wish to go HERE and click the button called "Bible Commentary" which will take you to a PDF you (ask first) should print out 2-sided, the whole thing, and keep it with your Bible. Then go back and click the button called "Bible Reading Assignments" which is a 1-sided page with check boxes for all the Bible passages for the year. Be SURE to ASK if they have already been printed out before printing, lest you waste paper and ink. Read the verses it says to and the commentary underneath, on the day you do the associated lesson for history. You can move a sticky note or Post-it flag bookmark through the commentary pages, and just check off the checklist with a writing utensil. Not every lesson has a commentary! This is why you need both the checklist AND the commentary. The commentary is also INCLUDED inside your Student Review book right after your day's history questions if you'd prefer not to print it for ink and paper reasons, or if you'd prefer to do all your Notgrass at the same time of day instead of doing the Bible portion in the morning and the rest later. The checklist would still be good to print though. 

• Projects 
>Each week you will have to pick a project. On the list of potential projects for the week, it will say something like "see lesson 2" or "see lesson 23" at the end of each option. You only have until Friday evening to turn in your project, Sunday night at the latest. So if the essay you picked says "see lesson 3" don't wait until lesson 3 (which falls on Wednesday) to start writing down ideas! Have a rough draft written or at least a good list of topics and notes and then when the day the lesson it's associated with comes, read the history lesson and then use what you learned to polish up and finish your essay. You might even want to look ahead and read the photo captions so you sort of know what you're doing when you start your project. 

This is now the end of your orientation. On the next school day, you will do Lesson 1 as scheduled. 

*****Starting Autumn 2021 the assignments for Notgrass are scheduled as 2 subjects: Literature and History (Social Studies). Bible is only scheduled as Rod & Staff so far in case you choose to do the Notgrass Bible assignments during your history assignments instead of in the mornings with the Rod & Staff. Whichever time you decide on for your Bible assignments, you will need the checklist, which I have already printed, for Bible. You can keep it in the pages of your Rod & Staff if you plan to do it in the morning at the same time, or you can keep it between the pages of your History textbook if you plan to do it with History. 

Computer Level 4.5 - eMail

  

Lesson 1 - Your New Email Address 

Congratulations! You're now 13 years old. That means you are old enough to have an email address. Old enough to legally represent your own interests in the form of a contract. ...It also means private companies can track the data created when you use their websites. Everything has its upsides and downsides. It's a good time to remember that everything you put on the internet can be dug up later by someone - even if you delete it.
Today you're going to create your email address. You will need to have several options in case your first choice is already taken. You will also need a password. This should be a password that you don't use for a bunch of games and such. Ask your mom about options for remembering your passwords. If gmail.com still doesn't require a cell phone number in order to sign up, you can get an email account there. If they have started requiring a cell phone number then try mail.com instead. You will need to have a parent sit with you while you sign up because if they don't make you put in a phone number then you will have to put in someone else's email address to help you get back in if you ever somehow get locked out of your account. That's where the parent with you comes in handy. :) Once your email address has been created, you should send your first email to your parent as a practice run. Before you do anything else, wait until tomorrow's lesson on how to avoid getting a computer virus or having your email address hacked!

Lesson 2 - How to Beat the Baddies! 

Today is about how to beat the internet bad guys that try to harm you using your email account! If you know these bad-guy tricks, you can outsmart them! 

You already know there are evil people in the world. I'm going to tell you about spam for starters. Spam is junk email that is trying to get you to click on something in it to go buy things. It's unsolicited advertisements in your inbox. Clicking them might take you to a legitimate eStore... or it might take you to a link that will lock your computer up or give bad people access to your computer or email address and all the information in it. Sometimes bad people make fake online stores that look just like the real one but when you click on it or give them your information, they steal your money! Sometimes bad people pretend to be kids online so they can find out the names, ages, pictures, and locations of real kids. They befriend kids who think that it's a real kid they're talking to and so it must be safe to talk to them. These bad guys usually belong to human trafficking rings - if you don't know what that is, ask your parents. Don't ever respond to an email from someone you don't personally know! If someone pretending to be a kid your age gets your email address they will be very nice and friendly in emails for a while but eventually they will send you inappropriate things or the whole time they are collecting little clues to find where your house is. They might not even want YOU, maybe they want your baby sibling you talked about online once instead. Another problem is called Phishing. That's when you get emails that tempt you to click something but when you click it, they know the email account is active and then they send you millions of scams to your email every day. Or worse, they hack your computer because you clicking the link in their email gave them access. Or that's when you get emails that tell you that you've won something, or that a distant relative has died and left you money. But in order to claim your winnings or inheritance, you have to give them your bank account information, or send them some money for something. For example they might say that you were found to be the only living relative of a Nigerian prince who has left you his entire fortune... Oh but in order to get the fortune released to you there is this tiny little $500 inheritance fee. But don't worry, after you pay the fee to have the Nigerian prince's billions sent to you, you'll never have to worry about money ever again! Except that in real life they will take your money and never send you anything, and they are usually working via phone and email from other countries so it's almost impossible to find them or have them arrested. Another version of phishing is when some bad people make fake email accounts that say they are from real websites that you might have an account for so they can steal your money. They really like making email addresses that say they are from PayPal or popular shopping sites like Amazon and then they send you emails saying that your account has been hacked or you were charged a lot of money for something and to "click here" and give them all your personal info so they can fix it. Except that you weren't charged and your account wasn't hacked... yet. Once you give them the info they say they need to fix the problem, they now have your account and can spend all your money! Even if all you have in your Amazon account is gift card money from your last Birthday, I'm sure you wouldn't want some bad guy stealing it! These tricky people will even hack into one person's email and use it to phish that person's friends, and then hack those friends' emails and use them to get to THEIR friends and so on. They will say things like, "Hey I saw this picture/video of you on the internet!" and a link that when you click it, they will be able to get your information or it will take you to a dangerous website. They might say things like, "Is this really you?" or "Remember this?" Something short that they think a person might say to their friend when sending them a link. So even if it's coming from a real friend who you really know, be very cautious about any links!
Bottom line; don't open anything from any company or stranger if you weren't expecting it, and don't give out your email address or sign up for anything without serious consideration for the dangers (and asking your parents)! And absolutely never ever ever click on a link in an email if you feel like the sender is acting off or talking strangely, if they hardly post an explanation why they are sending the link, or if you haven't heard from them in a long time and then out of the blue they send you a link. It's best not to ever click a link in an email if you haven't checked with the person who sent it (in some other way such as phone or text!) and asked them if they really did send a link!

 Lesson 3 - Reply 

Reminder: Never share your email password with anyone except your parents. Not even your best friend!

Your missions for today:

1. Inbox. Your Inbox is the part of your email account where new messages go! Check your email inbox and see if your parent replied to your email!
2. Reply. When you click on an email and read it, you should also find a button that allows you to type a reply. Not "reply all" - just the one that only says "reply." (We will talk about why later.) Try it! Click "Send" when you are done typing your reply. 

Lesson 4 - Spam Folder 

Your missions for today:

1. Find Spam Folder. One of the folders your email account comes with is called the Spam filter. Check it out! Just don't click on anything in them. Anything that has the typical features of spam will be automatically sent to that folder. Often, spam automatically deletes after a few weeks or a month. You should check your spam folder if you were expecting an email and it doesn't seem to have arrived! You can select a message in the spam folder and tell your email that it's not really spam. Be certain though! Check your spam folder once in a while to make sure nothing is in there that shouldn't be. On the flip side, it doesn't catch everything so sometimes you will have some spam in your inbox! You can select the spam messages in your inbox and tell the program that it's spam. It will remember where the message came from and send future messages from the same address to the spam folder.
2. Empty Spam Folder. Now that all your not-spam is taken out of your spam folder and all the actual-spam that sneaked into your inbox is marked and put INTO your spam folder, figure out how to empty (delete the contents of) your spam folder. Sure it will automatically delete after a while, but if you just made sure there wasn't anything important in there, it's best to delete the spam so it's emptier and less cluttered if you have to go looking in there for a missing message in a few days!
3. Has anyone emailed you yet? Probably just the email provider and Mom so far, right? Practice "forwarding" by opening an email from the email provider (they usually send a few telling you how to use your new email account or some ads for other things they are affiliated with) and finding the "forward" button, then putting Mom's email address in the To box. This will send her a copy of the email. It doesn't matter if it's just a junk mail; it's just practicing how to forward an email. You can also always do this if any of your contacts ever send you something inappropriate or something that upsets you or makes you uncomfortable, so Mom can read it and you can discuss it together and figure out how to handle it. Sometimes you might want to forward something to your friends so they can see it too, but always be careful about not violating other people's privacy by sending their personal stories/photos to others behind their back, or gossiping, or backtalking or bad-mouthing people. When in doubt, ask first. 

Lesson 5 - Address Book, Duplicate Emails 

Today's mission is to figure out how your email Address Book works. Your email provider may call it a "Contacts List" instead of an address book. Collect the email addresses of your parents and (with permission for each one!) any friends and siblings and cousins you know who have an email address and tell them they will receive an email from you today. Figure out how to add them all to your email Address Book.

Click "Compose" a new message. Write one that could be to anyone, young or old, boy or girl, and say something simple like that this is to let them know your new email address so they can save it. [You don't have to type out your whole actual email address (you can if you want to) because it will be attached to the email you send like a return address is attached to an envelope you snail-mail.] Say something like:

Hi,
   This is me, ___(your name)__, and I'm just sending you a quick message so you have my new email address and can save it.
         Have a great day!
                               -___(your name)___

Now in the box that says To at the top, you can start typing the first person's name or email address. The rest of it should pop up for you to select. Is there an option for CC or BCC? CC stands for Carbon Copy. You can put the rest of your contacts' email addresses in the CC box and it will send them all copies of the same email too, BUT all of them will be able to see that you sent the same message to all the others. If you want them to not know you're sending the exact same message to everyone, put the other email addresses into the BCC box instead. BCC means Blind Carbon Copy - they will all get a copy but none of them will be able to see that you sent it to other people too.

Don't forget to put a subject in the subject line. Just saying "Hi" or "Hello" is a good way to get your email captured by their spam filter! Good thing they know it's coming so they can look for it if that happens. Better yet, make your subject something uncommon so it doesn't seem spammy. It could be something silly like "___(your name)'s___ Gone Digital!" or just something simple like "13 and Got Email"

Did you get everyone in the To/CC/BCC boxes? Did you type an email that could be for anyone? Did you think of a subject? If you're all set, go ahead and SEND it! 

Lesson 6 - "Reply" vs. "Reply All" 

If someone ever sends you a message that they sent to a bunch of other people at the same time, make sure that you click "reply" to write back to only the sender and don't accidentally click "reply all." "Reply all" will send the reply email to ALL the same people to whom the original message was sent! It's great for group conversations, but sometimes people accidentally click "reply all" instead of just "reply." If you receive a group message, remember that if you want all the recipients to see your answer click "reply all" but if you only want the sender to see it, just click "reply."

You could practice sending group messages by sending an email to both your Mom and Dad at the same time today, and asking them to "reply all" when they write back. Remember if you use BCC instead of CC they won't be able to "reply all."  

Lesson 7 - Sent 

Pick one person from your parent-approved Address Book to send a personal email to today. Not a group message this time, just something nice for one person, like a penpal letter but I guess this would be an e-pal letter. :) If someone replied to your Lesson 5 email with a nice letter, that would be a good person to pick. 

After you send it, try to find your "sent" mail folder. It should have copies of every email you've ever written. If you ever forget what you said to someone, or forgot if you've already written to them, you can check your Sent folder.

While you're at it, you may also have a Drafts folder where half-written but never sent emails go. See if you can find it!

Reminder: Tell your parents right away if anyone ever sends you something that makes you feel threatened, uncomfortable, or upset. 

Lesson 8 - Trash 

Have you checked your Spam folder lately? Make sure there's nothing in there that shouldn't be, or vice versa, and empty it. While you're at it, another folder you should empty sometimes is your Trash. That's where emails go when you delete them from your inbox and other folders. If you accidentally deleted something, you can go in your Trash and get it back out! But after you empty your trash it's gone for good - unless you're secretly a super-hacker who wants to spend a lot of time getting those lost data bits back. But you're not, at least not yet, so once you empty your trash, don't expect to see it again. Ever.

Pick one person from your parent-approved Address Book to send a personal email to today. Someone you haven't emailed yet. (That generic first email you sent to everyone doesn't count.) 

Lesson 9 - Folders 

Today, I want you to explore and see if you can figure out how to make new folders. I have a folder for my spouse, a folder for each of my friends, a folder for Amazon stuff, a folder for important info I don't want to lose. I sort the emails I receive into these folders. (Actually, I have set it up to automatically do that for me! Let's try that next time.) For today, make a folder for each person who has sent you at least one email, and put all the emails you've received from them into that folder.

Pick one person from your parent-approved Address Book to send a personal email to today. 

Lesson 10 - Filters 

Okay, so today, you should try to set up a "filter!" That's what it's called when you set your email account to automatically sort your new emails into the folder for that person. It's probably in "settings" and then "filters" but you might have to look a little harder to fid it. Set up a filter for the person who has emailed you the most times so far. Next time you check your email, maybe they will have emailed you again and you can see if the filter worked!

Pick one person from your parent-approved Address Book to send a personal email to today. If there's someone you haven't sent a real email to yet (the "this is my new email address" generic group email does not count!) you should send one to them today. It doesn't have to be complicated or long. Maybe something like: "I was just thinking of you, so I said a prayer for you! I thought I'd drop you a line to ask how you doing lately?" ("Drop a line" is a colloquialism for sending a note.) 

Lesson 11 - Font 

Pick one person from your parent-approved Address Book to send a personal email to today. Experiment with the font. How many fonts do you have to choose from? Can you change the color and size? 

Lesson 12 - Photos 

Pick one person from your parent-approved Address Book to send a personal email to today. Can you attach a photo this time? You may have to wait for it to upload if your internet connection is slow. Make sure it's a safe photo to a safe person. Don't send one of someone in an embarrassing state and that includes the background of the photo, not just the person themselves. Ask Mom for guidance if you don't know what's appropriate. Also don't send a personal photo to someone you don't know well: as a general rule, don't send pictures of faces to people who have never met those faces unless you have permission from your parents and from the person whose face you're showing. 

Lesson 13 - Attachments 

Send an email to Mom today but first, create a document file and save it to your computer, then attach that document to your email to Mom! You could write a short story or just a 1-sentence note on the document. The point is only to practice sending an attachment that is a document instead of a photo.

Sometimes online, people shorten the word "picture" to "pic." 

Lesson 14 - Hotlink 

Think of one of your favorite websites and then think of one person from your parent-approved Address Book who would enjoy that link too. Today you are going to see if you can learn to "hotlink" a word or phrase in an email.
Write the email, mentioning the site but without typing out the .com part. For example;

"Dear Cousin,
     Today I was looking at all the neat free books on Project Gutenberg and was wondering if you've ever explored that site? Some of the books aren't good of course, because it's not a Christian site, but there are still some really neat books on there, such as The Hound of the Baskervilles! Do you like Sherlock Holmes?
     Love,
          Your Cousin"

Next, decide what you're going to hotlink. In my example, I could hotlink the words Project Gutenberg to the website's main page so my cousin could go browse the vast selection of books. I could hotlink the book title to the book's webpage on Project Gutenberg so my cousin could go straight there and start reading immediately. I could hotlink Sherlock Holmes to the author page on Project Gutenberg so my cousin could see all the available Sherlock Holmes books. Or I could hotlink all three so my cousin has a choice! The important part is that the link is relevant to the word it's attached to.
Let's say I choose to just hotlink the website to the words Project Gutenberg. I would first highlight "Project Gutenberg" and then I would look around for something that looks like just chain links, or like a globe with a chain link. Click that and it will bring up a little pop up that has the highlighted words in one box and another box which is for the web address. You can go to the website/page you want and copy the address right out of the address bar, then paste it into that box. There should be a button to Link or Save it. Now your words, in my case "Project Gutenberg" should be blue and underlined. This indicates they are clickable and will go to a website. Now when you send your email, your cousin (or whomever is your recipient) will be able to click right on those words and the website will open right up for them.

Now if you're worried your link won't work, you can send a test email to yourself first. Did you know you could do that? You could send a test email to Mom too... I don't mind being your guinea pig. :)

A link is a web address. To "hotlink" something means to turn a word or phrase into a button basically, so that when you click it, it takes you somewhere. 

Lesson 15 - Gifs & Stationery 

Pick one person from your parent-approved Address Book to send a personal email to today. This time, look around and see if your email comes with free Stationery, Gifs, or Emojis to use. It's probably near where you change the font options. Look carefully because sometime there will be a few free and the rest it will want you to pay for. Just stick with free ones! :) Have fun, but remember to consider what the recipient will like more than what you like! 

This is the end of your eMail crash-course.

Remember: If you ever get an email that seems strange at all, even if it's from one of your address book contacts, it could be spam or phishing. Hackers hack email addresses and then send phishing emails to everyone in that person's address book, so it looks like it came from your friend. NEVER click a link in an email unless you're certain who it came from. An email that comes from someone you know but says nothing but "Hey, saw this video of you..." and a link; that's a classic phishing scam. If you click, they hack your computer/email next and send the same one to YOUR friends. If your friend says to you in person, "I'll email you the link!" and then within a few days you get an email that says, "Here's the link to that ___ we were talking about!" and a link that seems reasonable, it's very likely to be legitimate and is probably safe. However if you get a link out of the blue with a cryptic message or something generic or even no message at all, never click it until you call or talk to the sender in person and get verbal confirmation from them that they did indeed send you a link and an explanation of what it is for. 
You can ALWAYS come to a parent for advice if you find yourself in a difficult situation of any sort, even on the internet. 

16 NEXT 501: 

Your next course is going to be Easy Peasy Computer Level 5. READ the following and remember it to prepare yourself for this course. 

This time I (Mom) didn't check every lesson so I could say "don't do this part" about things. I'm just putting the links exactly to the lessons just as they are because my carpal tunnel is bothering me badly. So if anything ever looks fishy or not right or you think you might not be allowed, ASK FIRST.

The reason we are NOT scheduling this class through your Easy Peasy Assignments is because I can't change which day or how many days you have this class and what they have it set for won't suit our needs this year. So, for the time being, I'm scheduling it through your usual lesson scheduler so that I can change how often you do this class.

Remember, if it says to do a drill or game for typing, you don't do it (because you do Mavis Beacon instead). Skip all typing lessons on EasyPeasy and continue to do Mavis Beacon every day. 

Also remember that if you need help with something, it's best to ask. Don't be prideful - pride goeth before a fall. That means if you let your pride rule you then something bad will happen. Like if you're too prideful to ask for help lifting something heavy, you could injure your back and never be able to lift things again. On the computer and internet, being prideful could result in an accident that deletes something important, destroys the computer with a virus, or lets a hacker gets into your (or your family's) personal information. So be wise, not prideful! It's also good to remember that if you put it on the internet, it's FOREVER. There are programs that can get things you posted back after they were deleted - and if YOU can (and often even if you can't), so can a hacker. 

Try not to take a long time on your lessons. I know they are fun sometimes, but if you have other school to do, make sure it's done first before spending extra time on this one.

You might sometimes be asked to help your younger siblings with their computer lessons now that you've already done the lower levels! Remember to lead and guide them wisely and not teach them to do dishonest things. You love them and want to help them and keep them safe, so I know you don't want to teach them bad things that could get them hurt or in trouble. Be understanding and patient with them.  

2021 - Spring - Chores - Grade 4

 EVERY Day:

• Make your bed,
• Get dressed,
• Eat breakfast and take vitamin,
• Brush teeth and hair,
• Bring your water bottle to the Kitchen, 
• Put away your clean laundry, 
• Are your drawers/shelves/cubbyholes neatly folded? Closet is not a disaster?
• Is it your day for a shower/bath? If it's the first bath of a new month, please change all your sheets! If it's any other bath, please change your pillowcase. Your blankets can be washed if they get anything gross on them or twice a year on April 1st and October 1st. 

MONDAYs: 

• Check the bathroom responsibilities chart 

TUESDAYs: 

• CLEAN THE MICROWAVE 
• Breakfast Dishes (make sure YOUR water bottle gets in the dishwasher today) 
• Check the bathroom responsibilities chart  
• Make Lunch
• Wipe/sweep kitchen-cleanup after lunch 
• Lunch Dishes 
• Take out the kitchen trash

WEDNESDAYs:

• Check the bathroom responsibilities chart 
  
• Sibling Helper - if he needs reminders or help to do his chores and hygiene. 

THURSDAYs: 

• Breakfast Dishes (make sure your sibling's water bottle gets in the dishwasher today) 
• Check the bathroom responsibilities chart 
  
• Make Lunch
• Wipe/sweep kitchen-cleanup after lunch 
• Lunch Dishes

FRIDAYs: 

• Check the bathroom responsibilities chart 
• You are Mom's apprentice/helper today 

SATURDAYs: 

• Check the bathroom responsibilities chart 
  
• Sibling Helper - if he needs reminders or help to do his chores and hygiene. 
• Take out the kitchen trash 

SUNDAYs: 

• Breakfast Dishes (ask Dad & Mom if they need their water bottles washed) 
• Check the bathroom responsibilities chart 
  
• Make Lunch
• Wipe/sweep kitchen-cleanup after lunch 
• Lunch Dishes 

2021 - Spring - Chores - Grade 6

EVERY Day:

• Make your bed,
• Get dressed,
• Eat breakfast and take vitamin,
• Brush teeth and hair,
• Bring your water bottle to the Kitchen, 
• Put away your clean laundry, 
• Are your drawers/shelves/cubbyholes neatly folded? Closet is not a disaster?
• Do you need a shower/bath? Don't skip more than 2 days or you'll smell bad! If it's the first bath of a new month, please change all your sheets! If it's any other bath, please change your pillowcase so your skin stays clear. Your blankets can be washed if they get anything gross on them or twice a year on April 1st and October 1st. 

MONDAYs: 

• Check the bathroom responsibilities chart 
• You are Mom's apprentice/helper today 
• Make Lunch
• Wipe/sweep kitchen-cleanup after lunch 

TUESDAYs: 

• Check the bathroom responsibilities chart 
• You are Mom's apprentice/helper today 

WEDNESDAYs:

• Breakfast Dishes (make sure YOUR water bottle gets in the dishwasher today) 
• Check the bathroom responsibilities chart 
  
• Make Lunch
• Wipe/sweep kitchen-cleanup after lunch 
• Lunch Dishes 

THURSDAYs: 

• Breakfast Dishes (make sure your sibling's water bottle gets in the dishwasher today) 
• Check the bathroom responsibilities chart 
  
• Lunch Dishes
• Take out all the trashes to the curb 

FRIDAYs: 

• CLEAN THE MICROWAVE
• Check the bathroom responsibilities chart 
• Make Lunch
• Wipe/sweep kitchen-cleanup after lunch 
• Bring trash can back from curb with sister 

SATURDAYs: 

• Breakfast Dishes (make sure your sibling's water bottle gets in the dishwasher today) 
• Check the bathroom responsibilities chart 
  
• Make Lunch
• Wipe/sweep kitchen-cleanup after lunch 
• Lunch Dishes

SUNDAYs: 

• Check the bathroom responsibilities chart 
  
• Sibling Helper - if he needs reminders or help to do his chores and hygiene. 

2021 - Spring - Chores - Grade 8

EVERY Day:

• Make your bed,
• Get dressed,
• Eat breakfast and take vitamin,
• Brush teeth and hair,
• Bring your water bottle to the Kitchen, 
• Wipe stove/counters, 
• Sweep kitchen, 
• Put away your clean laundry, 
• Are your drawers/shelves/cubbyholes neatly folded? Closet is not a disaster?
• Do you need a shower/bath? Don't skip more than 2 days or you'll smell bad! If it's the first bath of a new month, please change all your sheets! If it's any other bath, please change your pillowcase so your skin stays clear. Your blankets can be washed if they get anything gross on them or twice a year on April 1st and October 1st. 

MONDAYs: 

• Breakfast Dishes, 
• Wash your Water bottle, 
• Check the bathroom responsibilities chart, 
• Lunch Dishes. 

TUESDAYs: 

• Check the bathroom responsibilities chart. 

WEDNESDAYs:

• Check the bathroom responsibilities chart, 
  

THURSDAYs: 

• Check the bathroom responsibilities chart, 

FRIDAYs: 

• Breakfast Dishes, 
• Wash your sibling's Water bottle, 
• Check the bathroom responsibilities chart, 
• Lunch Dishes. 

SATURDAYs: 

• Check the bathroom responsibilities chart, 
  
• You are Mom's apprentice/helper today.

SUNDAYs: 

• Check the bathroom responsibilities chart, 
  
• You are Mom's apprentice/helper today.