Book of Virtues
Shiver Academy's Book of Virtues Project
The Project was started because of a misplaced reader. I pulled out my copy of William J. Bennett’s Book of Virtue and set my daughter to the task. BUT I really needed to work with her on comprehension and So I began creating bits and pieces to work with her study. I have since found the reader but we have put it away for the time being. This project continued at the request of some of my readers. It has grown to be something way more than I ever envisioned. And I am excited to report that at the time of this posting I have had over 10,000 downloads of my project since I have posted the full download. That does not include the nearly 500 to 2000 downloads per individual unit (Depending on the unit of course!) Want to share this information?? Add a button to your blog or website!! Lesson Plan Information Twinklemom has offered a laid out schedule for The Book Of Virtues–Elementary Level. This schedule is a very basic schedule forcusing on the 10 virtues listed in BOV. (Book of Virtues). She has a place where you can type in the readings you would like to cover, Copywork, even has a suggestion for a memory Bible Verse and some optional suggested readings. Such as parables that would fit in with the unit’s theme. I am not sure what exactly this is–but I believe it is available on line. Keep in mind this is intended for the primary grades. Her children are truly in the YOUNG bracket. So if you are looking for something for a grade 7 study, this would not be it. I have also created a Lesson Plan for the study. It takes 2 weeks per unit. It also has laid out when to do which lapbooks, wrap up, and the projects. This is all part of the Full download. I will be posting links to the lesson plans as well at a later date. A couple of tips and FAQ: #1: Do you recommend that I do everything in the project. HEAVEN’S NO! Please do not do everything. It was never intended to be used 100%. It is meant for you to pick and choose what works for you. If your kids like lapbooks but hate worksheets–the just do the lapbooks. If your kids love doing crossword puzzles but hate word searches–just do the crossword puzzles. If you have one kid that wants to do the worksheet, and one that wants to do the notebooking page–GREAT! It’s that flexible. #2: Will this work for all of my kids? Well yes and no. It will take some adapting to make it work for each age group. It WILL work for all age groups though. Recommendations: K-Grade 2 should only do the lapbooks or the notebooking pages. The worksheet is much too hard for the younger kids. The youngest of these could just do the Unit wrap ups as a review of the unit’s virtue. Grades 3-5 really depends on their ability. I highly recommend doing the vocabulary with this age group.Along with the worksheet/notebook page and/or Lapbook. Grades 6-8 These are the tough ones. Again check the vocabulary to ensure that they are familiar with each term. I would also recommend that they start of the unit projects at this point. However be sure to check what the project entails. SOME projects are REALLY only meant for highschool level work. Also the long term project could be worked on with this group as well. I would suggest having the kids find stories or write short stories to go with the “My Own Book of Virtues” project. Grades 9-12. This is where it gets fun. Not only do they need to be familiar with the vocabulary, and the worksheet/notbooking pages. I really recommend that they do all of the unit projects plus the long term project. If done thoroughly the “My Own Book of Virtues” project can really challenge your child. And you can get it published by an online publisher–for pretty cheap. #3 Should I print it all out at once? PLEASE DON’T!! I had one gal write in to say she had just finished printing it all and that it took 2 reams of paper and 3 ink cartridges. PLEASE don’t do that! This project is 992 pages long! And you won’t use every piece. Just pick and Choose! See question #1!!! #4 Which version of the Book of Virtues goes with the study? The original version of the Book of Virtues by William J. Bennett is the one that I used. You can find it for really cheap! I have had people write me to say that they found one at their local library used book sale for 50 cents and at yard sales for about the same. I have also heard of people getting them off of Ebay and Amazon auction. You can buy them new at Amazon (or other online Book stores) for around $16.50 for paperback. Just so you are clear on which book to get here is a link to the one at amazon (I don’t receive any sort of kick back for this, it’s just to clarify which book!) http://tinyurl.com/Book-of-virtues #5: What all comes in the study? Well each unit has the following: Worksheets, Notebooking Pages, copywork, Lapbook, Unit Wrap up (lapbook style), Vocabulary flash cards, Vocabulary worksheets (Cross word puzzles and Word search for each unit plus answer keys) Unit Project–typically 2 per unit. There is also a lesson plan and a long term project that will cover the entire study. #6 How long does the study last? Each unit is roughly 2 weeks long. It covers 10 stories/poems per unit. With 10 units that gives you a 20 week study. It can easily be stretched out longer if you wanted to make this a complete years curriculum. To do this you would cover the stories as laid out and then work on the projects the following week. That will increase the study to 30 weeks and have the final project of “My Own Book of Virtues” be worked on during the final 6 weeks. This is obviously planned for the older kids, but event he younger kids can do the “My Own Book of Virtues” project by simply drawing pictures to show each virtue. #7: I have dial up, the file is too big, got a smaller version? Yes, On the left sidebar there are links to the large download and the separate units. They are only 2MB approximately. So they will download much easier than the complete download. If you have any problems with any of the downloads please feel free to email me–The button is at the TOP of the RIGHT sidebar. I will help as soon as I can. #8: Do you have a layout for the Lapbook? No I don’t. What I do for lapbooks is to use plain ordinary cardstock (ANY COLOR) and hole punch them and place them in a binder. Then I let the kids finagle the mini-books into their own layout. This takes up less space and is easier to store than the traditional lapbook. #9: Is this worth a high school credit? To be honest, I really don’t know. I would think that if you did ALL of the unit projects, all of the stories–including many of the ones not worked on in the study as extra reading, and the My Own BOV, I would think that it would qualify. To elaborate: Many of the stories that I selected were not the hardest stories. Some I chose because I really enjoyed them–and not for any other reason. Some I skipped because I felt they were just too much for this study. However, if you go through each unit, I am sure that you will find some more suited for a high school level work. The vocabulary will probably be well below the average High School student’s comprehension. For vocabulary ( I highly encourage you to continue vocabulary study at the high school level) I would work more on studying the SAT prep vocabulary lists. Here is a copy of a 5000 word vocabulary list Here is a copy of the 1000 most used words My Own Book of Virtues can really push this study over into the Credit worthy status. If you require the My own BOV to be used as a writing course complete with different writing styles (personal narrative, expository, fictional, etc) and have them do outlines, rough drafts, revisions, final drafts, etc. in order to accomplish each virtue, this really can become high school level work. FURTHER QUESTIONS???? If you have any further questions not already addressed, please leave a comment and I will respond!! Or you can feel free to email me as well! Thanks for stopping by and Checking out my Project. I would love to hear from you all how it’s worked in your homeschool. And if any teachers are using it in their classroom–I’d love to hear that as well!! ~T8ermomma |
Book of Virtues
These are the download links for my study project that goes with "The Book of Virtues" By William J. Bennett. Complete Download This is 18.92 MB. Please use the smaller unit downloads if you use dial-up or a slower DSL connection. Lesson Plan Twinklemom's Primary Lesson Plan Individual Unit Download Unit 1: Self Discipline Unit 2: Compassion Unit 3: Responsibility Unit 4: Friendship Unit 5: Work Unit 6: Courage Unit 7: Perseverance Unit 8: Honesty Unit 9: Loyalty Unit 10: Faith Character Sheets Further information can be found on the appropriate unit's page beneath the Book of Virtues tab above. |
