STARTER COURSE SAMPLES

Here are four samples of Starter Curriculum. One for each of the areas in which we offer curriculum.

 
Table of Contents

SAMPLE LESSONS

Course Title Identifier
"Starter - Living Your Life I" 25723
"Starter - Creative Writing - Semester 1" 25715
"Starter - History III - Mesopotamia, The Start of Civilization" 25718
"Starter - Science III - Cause & Effect" 25722
Sample Lesson:
from STARTER CURRICULUM -- LIVING YOUR LIFE I
PART ONE - GETTING FOUND

LESSON # 1: NOT GETTING LOST

  1. INFORM: Tell the student(s) that today, we'll be working on ways he can help to make sure that when he goes out with his parents or with friends, that he never gets lost.

  2. DEFINE: Get the student(s) to tell you what "being lost" means. Make certain they fully understand that this doesn't only mean the student doesn't know where he is, but that "being lost" can also mean that the people taking care of him (parents, teachers, other adults) don't know where the student is.

  3. DO:
        If working with more than one student:
    Select one student to stand right in the middle of the room. Ask the other students "Is [name of student] lost?" (He is not, we're all looking at him. He knows where he is and we know where he is.) Get his answer. When he answers, ask him "How do we know you are not lost?" Get his answer. (Because we know where he is.) Thank that student and have him or her sit again.

        If working with one student:
    The tutor asks the student to stand in the center of the room. He then asks the student "Are you lost?" (He is not. He knows where he is and we know.) When he answers, ask them "How do you know you are not lost?" Get his answer. (Because we know where he is.) Thank that student and have him or her sit again.

  4. DO:
        With multiple students:
    Next example: Select another student, and have them stand at the back of the room, with everyone else facing away from this student, toward the front, so they "can't see him". Ask the students "Is [name of student] lost?" Get their answer. (He is not, we know where he is and he knows where he is.) When they answer, ask them "How do we know he is not lost?" (Because we know where he is and she knows where he is.) Get their answer. Thank that student and have him or her sit again.

        With one student:
    Have the student stand at the back of the room with his back to the tutor. Ask him "Are you lost?" Get his answer. (He's not. He knows and the tutor knows where he is.) Ask him "How do you know you're not lost?" (Because both the tutor and the student knows where he is.) Get his answer. Thank the student and have him sit again.

  5. DO:
        With multiple students:
    Next example: Select another student, and have them stand just outside of the room, with the door closed, carefully telling that student NOT TO GO ANYWHERE! Ask the students "Is [name of student] lost?" Get their answer. (He is not, he knows where he is and we know where he is.) When they answer, ask them "How do we know he was not lost?" (Because we all know where he is.) Thank that student and have him or her sit again.

        With one student:
    Have the student stand outside the room, just outside the door. for a minute. Bring them back into the room. Ask the student "while you were outside this room, were you lost?" Get his answer. (He was not, as the student and tutor both knew where he was.) Ask him "How do we know you weren't lost?" (Because you both knew where he was.) Get his answer. Ask him to sit again.

  6. DO: Ask the student(s) "If I put a student somewhere, and he stays where I put him, is he lost?" Get their answer. (No. We know where he is and he knows where he is.)

  7. DO: Ask the student(s) "For a student to be lost, who would need to not know where he or she is?" Get their answer. (The student's adult guardians, and/or the student.)

  8. DO:
        With multiple students:
    Ask all the students to stand in the middle of the classroom. Ask them "Are you lost?" Get their answer. (No.)

        With one student:
    Stand in the middle of the room with the student. Ask the student "Are you lost?" Get his answer. (No.)

  9. DO:
        With multiple students:
    Ask all the students to stand at the center of the classroom in a circle, each facing away (facing out) from each other so they can't see each other. Ask them "Are you lost?" Get their answer. (No.)

        With one student:
    Stand in the center of the room, back to back with the student. Ask the student "Are you lost?" Get his answer. (No.)

  10. DO:
        Multiple students:
    Ask the students to get in a line inside the room by the door. Let them do that. Ask them to follow you, and lead them right outside the room, until they're all standing outside the door together in a line. Close the door. Ask them "Where are you?" Get their answer. (Outside. Outside the room.) Ask them "Are you lost?" Get their answer. (No.) Ask them "How do you know you aren't you lost?" Get their answer. (Because we know where we are and the teacher knows where we are.)

        One student:
    Go outside the room together, tutor and student. Ask the student "Are you lost". Get his answer. (No.) Ask the student "how do you know you're not lost?" Get his answer. (Because you know where I am and I know where I am.)
-- End Lesson # 1 --
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Sample Lesson:
from STARTER CURRICULUM -- CREATIVE WRITING I
LESSON # 42:

(You'll need a dog, or a photo or drawing of a dog.)

  1. EXPLAIN: To the student(s) that we will now make up stories.

  2. DO: Ask each student to look at the dog. Let them study the dog carefully.

  3. DO: Ask each student; "What would people do if this dog suddenly could paint?"

    Let the student(s) each give their answer, and write it down as they do. (You can type or whatever.)

    DO NOT CRITIQUE THEIR ANSWER IN ANY WAY. DO NOT OFFER SUGGESTIONS. DO NOT WORRY ABOUT "PLAUSIBILITY" or "COHERENCY". DO NOT "HELP" IN ANY MANNER OTHER THAN IF THEY HAVE NO ANSWER. Then use the prompts;

    Prompts as needed:
    "What would your mother (father brother friend) say if the dog painted for them?"
    "What do you think I (the teacher) might say to the dog?"
    "What do you think an angry person might say about the dog?"
    "What might a person who loved dogs say about the dog?"
    "Who would like that the dog could paint?"
    "Who would not like that the dog could paint?"

    NOTE: For a single student, you could ask several of these questions and allow the student to lengthen the story a bit!

  4. DO: Write their answer down. If the answers are long, fine. If they're short, fine. Length is not an issue. We're not interested in language skills, either. DO NOT CORRECT THEIR USE OF LANGUAGE, and this includes any random not-nice word that slips in. THIS IS THEIR STORY. This isn't a course on language or morals or manners. At the end of this first story, print each students work. Have each student sign their name to the bottom, as the "author".

  5. DO: Have each student read aloud their story. Help them read as needed, but do NOT alter the story or comment on it OR THE STUDENT'S ABILITY TO READ IT. Do not allow others to comment in any sort of critical or negative manner, either. Just applause or positive responses. SAVE THEIR STORY FOR THE NEXT LESSON!!

  6. DO: Tell each student they did a great job, and that's all for Creative Writing today.

LESSON # 43:

(You'll need a dog, or a photo or drawing of a dog.)

  1. EXPLAIN: To the student(s) that we will now make up stories.

  2. DO: Ask each student to look at the dog. Let them study the dog carefully.

  3. DO: Ask each student to read the story they wrote from the last lesson, out loud, again. Let them do so.

  4. DO: Say to each student; "Your story about a dog who can paint is good. Let's create something ELSE that could happen to a dog who can paint. Something new."

    Let the student(s) each give their answer, and write it down as they do. (You can type or whatever.)

    DO NOT CRITIQUE THEIR ANSWER IN ANY WAY. DO NOT OFFER SUGGESTIONS. DO NOT WORRY ABOUT "PLAUSIBILITY" or "COHERENCY". DO NOT "HELP" IN ANY MANNER OTHER THAN IF THEY HAVE NO ANSWER. Then use the prompts;

    Prompts as needed:
    "What sort of trouble could a painting dog get into?"
    "Could a painting dog upset someone?"
    "Could a dog painting make someone happy?"
    "Where might a painting dog paint?"
    "What would a dog painting look like?"
    "What would make a dog WANT to paint?"

    NOTE: For a single student, you could ask several of these questions and allow the student to lengthen the story a bit!

  5. DO: Write their answer down. If the answers are long, fine. If they're short, fine. Length is not an issue. We're not interested in language skills, either. DO NOT CORRECT THEIR USE OF LANGUAGE, and this includes any random not-nice word that slips in. THIS IS THEIR STORY. This isn't a course on language or morals or manners. At the end of this first story, print each students work. Have each student sign their name to the bottom, as the "author".

  6. DO: Have each student read aloud their story. Help them read as needed, but do NOT alter the story or comment on it OR THE STUDENT'S ABILITY TO READ IT. Do not allow others to comment in any sort of critical or negative manner, either. Just applause or positive responses.

  7. DO: Tell each student they did a great job, and that's all for Creative Writing today.

-- End Lesson # 43 --
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Sample Lesson:
from STARTER CURRICULUM -- HISTORY III
Mesopotamia, The Start of Civilization
PART ONE - FARMING AND CITIES

LESSON # 1: WHY PEOPLE STAY IN ONE PLACE -- PART ONE

(Before Starting -- Get together some photos of farms, fields, fruit trees. Locate a tree nearby, outside the room. Locate a water source near the tree, like a sink or hose. Get a water bucket (small.) If there's a friendly farm nearby, do the lesson there and replace the photos with the real thing.)

  1. INFORM: The student(s);
    "At one time, thousands of years ago, most human beings wandered all over the place, living in tents, or even in trees or on the ground. About 6,000 years ago, people started making houses and building cities. Today we'll work to understand why people like to live in one place, instead of moving around all the time."

  2. DO: Ask each student; "Do you live somewhere?" Get his answer. (Yes.) Ask each student; "Describe where you live." Let them do so.

    (Help as needed:
    "Are you out of the rain, cold and heat inside your home?"
    "Is it nice and dry where you live?"
    "Are there people there that you like?"
    "Is there food waiting for you at home?"
    "Is there a safe place to sleep?"
    "Can you do things you like to do at home?"
    Etc.)

  3. DO: Ask each student; "Name one thing you really like about having a home." Get their answers. (If you have only one student, have him name three things.)

  4. DO: Have each student draw their home. Ask each student to place into the drawing things that make it nice to have a home.

  5. INFORM: the student(s);
    "Some of the same reasons you like having a home are the same as the reasons people first built homes, or even lived in caves."

  6. DO: Show the student(s) the photos of farms and fields. Ask what they are. Help as needed. (A "farm" is a place where things are grown to eat, like corn, wheat (which is turned into bread), and even fruit like apples and oranges. On a farm, cows, chickens and pigs are often also raised to help human beings like us survive by giving us food and other things.)

  7. DO: Explain;
    "Pretty much every living thing on Earth needs water to live. Draw where it is in your house that you get water from." Let them do so.

  8. DO: Take the student(s) out to your selected tree. Tell them; "Let's pretend we're taking care of this tree, so that someday it will make fruit to feed us. Trees need water to live." Give one of the student the bucket. Show the student(s) how to fill it and water the tree. Let them do so. Then, ask them to "Water the tree again, only this time pretend you've wandered very far away, over to there." Point to a place far away on the playground. "Go there with the bucket, come all the way back, fill the bucket, and then water the tree." Let every student do this.

  9. DO: Ask the student(s);
    "If you were wandering all over the place, as far away as you can imagine, could you also be here to water this tree and eat its fruit every day?" Get their answer. Then ask; "If this tree needed to be watered every day, and you needed its fruit to eat, where would you need to live?" Get their answer. (Here.)

  10. DO: Show the student(s) the photos of fields and trees again. (Or better, the real thing.) Then ask them "Can fruit trees move?" Get their answers. Then ask; "Can these fields filled with food like corn and wheat move?" Get their answers. (No and no.) Then ask the student(s) "If you were getting your food from trees and fields, could you move away from them, all over the place?" Get their answer. (No.)

  11. INFORM: The student(s)
    "One important reason people stopped moving around and stayed in houses they built was to be close to their fields and food."

  12. INFORM: The student(s) that's the end of today's lesson. Acknowledge each student, tell them they did a great job.

LESSON # 2: WHY PEOPLE STAY IN ONE PLACE -- PART TWO

(Before Starting -- Have five mid-sized suit cases available. You'll need a topographical world map. You can use Encarta Maps on the Internet for free. You'll need a gallon container filled with water.)

  1. INFORM: The student(s);
    "At one time, thousands of years ago, most human beings wandered all over the place, living in tents, or even in trees or on the ground. About 6,000 years ago, people started making houses and building cities. Today we'll work to understand why people like to live in one place, instead of moving around all the time."

  2. DO: Ask each student;
    "Name five things that belong to you that you really like." Get their answers.
    Then ask;
    "Do you each have even more things you really like and want to keep for a long time?" Get their answers.

  3. DO: Show the student(s) the suitcases. Tell them; "We're going to pretend that these suitcases are things you each really like. In fact, if you were going someplace, you'd always want to take them. Now, let's say you didn't have a home, a place to live, and you had to take everything you owned everywhere you went, because you were always traveling from place to place. Imagine having to take all your things with you everywhere you go. Would that be hard to do? Let's find out."

    Have each student come up and pick up "all his things", the five suitcases. Ask him to bring them with him across the room and back again. If he or she can, let them do so. Ask; "Now imagine having to drag all your stuff everywhere you go. Your beds, your furniture, your toys and games, your pets, your brothers and sisters and parents...Would that be an easy thing to have to do?" Get their answer. (If they can go across the room, ask them to drag the bags all the way across the playground or farm or house and back again. If they can do this, have them do it over and over until they get the idea.)

  4. INFORM: The student(s);
    "One important reason people chose to stop wandering and to live in homes was to be able to keep all their important things in one safe place, and to not have to drag them all over."

  5. DO: Ask the student(s)
    "Do you think you're safer in a house, or out on a huge, open desert with many enemies and much heat and bad weather?" Get their answers.

  6. DO: Have each student draw a picture of life on a dry, dusty desert with no water, surrounded by enemies.

  7. DO: Ask the student(s) to follow you. Take the student(s) to the nearest supply of water, like a drinking fountain. Point at this (or a sink) and ask the student(s); "What is this?" Get their answer. Then ask; "What comes out of this?" Get their answer. (Water.)

  8. DO: Ask each student; "Take a drink." Let them. Then tell them; "Every human being needs water to stay alive. If this (fountain/sink/whatever) was the only place anywhere near here where you could get water, and you would have to walk for eight days before you'd come to more water, would you want to live far away from, or close to this water?" Get their answers. (Close to the water.)

  9. INFORM: the student(s)
    "Many people built homes to be near water, like a river, as well as to be near their food, and to have a place to keep important things." Then, take the student(s) back into the room.

  10. DO: First show the students the topographical world map. Explain; "This is a map of the Earth. The blue lines you see are rivers. The large areas of blue surrounded by land are lakes, where this is often a great deal of fresh, drinkable water. The largest areas of blue are oceans, where the water is salty and it cannot be used to drink or grow crops." Have each student locate three rivers and two lakes on the map. Help as needed.

  11. DO: Have the student(s) find the place they live, the general area or nation. Help as needed. Once this has been found, ask the students; "Find in our area the nearest river or lake." Let them do so. Then, show the the legend, usually found on or at the bottom of the map. (Bottom left, under the map, on Encarta.) Have each student figure out how far away the nearest water source is. Help as needed.

-- End Lesson # 2 --
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Sample Lesson:
from STARTER CURRICULUM -- SCIENCE III
Cause & Effect
PART ONE - CAUSE

LESSON # 1: First Actions

(The tutor or teacher will need a set of 5 dominoes for each student, at least 10 dominoes.)

  1. INFORM: Each student that "Today, we'll work on understanding how things happen."

  2. EXPLAIN:
    "Everything that happens has a start. Everything has a beginning. The way things start is very important. What happens after the start is also very important, but right now, we're just going to work on how things start. We're going to use dominoes, today."

  3. DO: Set up one single domino in the middle of the floor, not near anything. Ask each student to watch it for a whole minute. Let them do this. Then ask; "What did the domino do?" Get each student's answer. (Nothing.) Then, ask a student to knock over the domino. Let him do this. Then ask each student; "What did the domino just do?" Get his answer. (Fell over.) Ask each student; "What made that domino fall?" Get his answer. (The student who knocked it over.)

  4. DO: Give each student a domino. Ask them to have it do nothing for one minute. Let them do that. Then, ask them; "Make your domino do something that you want it to do." Let them do so. Ask each student if they were able to make the domino do what they wanted? Get each student's answer. If they did not succeed, let them do something else with their domino until it does do what they wish.

    Prompts as needed:
    "How could you make it move?"
    "How could you make it stand?"

  5. DO: With the student(s), lay out a small row of dominoes, about five of them. Then, with each student watching, have one student gently knock the first domino into the second one, to make the row fall. Ask the student(s) to each describe what happened. Let them. Then, ask each student "what started the dominoes falling?" Let each student answer. If a student says that it was the first domino falling that started the row falling, acknowledge this, but ask the student "And what made the first domino fall?" When the student realizes that HE made the first domino fall, move on.

  6. DO: With the student(s), lay out the five dominoes again. Ask the students to look carefully at the row, and to spot the 2nd and 3rd domino. Ask the student(s); "When the row falls down, which domino will make the 3rd one fall?" Get their answer. (The 2nd.) Then ask, "Which domino will make the 2nd one fall down?" Get their answer. (The 1st.) Then ask, "What will make the 1st domino fall?" Get their answer. Then have a student gently knock the 1st domino into the 2nd. Ask the students if they were right.

  7. DO: With the student(s), lay out the five dominoes again. Ask the students to look carefully at the row, and to spot the 4th and 5th domino. Ask the student(s); "When the row falls down, which domino will make the 5th one fall?" Get their answer. (The 4th.) Then ask, "Which domino will make the 4th one fall down?" Get their answer. (The 3rd.) Then ask; "Which domino will make the 3rd one fall?" Get their answer. (The 2nd). Then ask; "What will make the 2nd domino fall?" Get their answer. (The 1st) "What will make the 1st domino fall?" Get their answer. Then have a student gently knock the 1st domino into the 2nd. Ask the students if they were right. Get their answers.

  8. DO: With the students, lay out 10 dominoes. Ask the student(s) to find the 7th domino. Ask them "Which domino will cause the 7th one to fall?" Get their answer. (The 6th.) Ask them all to keep an eye on the 7th domino. Have someone (you or a student) knock the 1st domino into the 2nd one. After they all fall, ask the students if they were right. Get their answers.

  9. DO: With the students, lay out 10 dominoes. Ask the student(s) to find the 10th domino. Ask them "Which domino will cause the 10th one to fall?" Get their answer. (The 9th.) Ask them all to keep an eye on the 10th domino. Have someone (you or a student) knock the 1st domino into the 2nd one. After they all fall, ask the students if they were right. Get their answers.

  10. DO: With the students, lay out 10 dominoes. Ask the student(s) to each explain; "What will happen when the 1st domino is pushed into the 2nd one. What will happen to all the dominoes, and why?" Get their answers. (The person knocking over the 1st will cause it to fall into the 2nd, and so on.) Have someone (you or a student) knock the 1st domino into the 2nd one. After they all fall, ask the students if they were right. Get their answers.

  11. EXPLAIN:
    "We can change what happens by changing how the dominoes are set up. In fact, if they're not set up right, we can make sure that NOTHING happens."

  12. DO: With the student(s), set up five dominoes...but place the first one all the way across the room from the other four. Ask each student what he thinks will happen when the 1st (remote) domino is knocked over. Get his answer. (Nothing.) Either knock over, or have a student knock over the 1st domino. Ask the students if they were right. If they say "nothing", point out that something happened. Ask them; "What DID happen, and what caused it to happen." Get their answers. (Someone knocked over one domino.)

    Prompts as needed:
    "Did anything happen?"
    "Did anything move or change?"

    Ask each student; "Why didn't the dominoes all fall down?" Get their answer. (Because they were too far apart. Because we put them too far apart.) If the student doesn't mention or realize that the dominoes didn't fall because you and he placed them too far apart, ask; "Who placed the dominoes too far apart to fall?" Get his answer.

  13. DO: Give each student 5 dominoes. Ask each student to line them up so that when the 1st one falls, it will knock the others over. Let them do this until they're successful. Ask each student to describe what happened.

  14. DO: With the same 5 dominoes, ask each student to lay them out so that when the 1st one falls, it will knock over the 2nd domino...but not any of the rest. Let them do this until successful. Ask each student to describe what happened. Ask; "Who caused the 1st and 2nd domino to fall, but none of the others." Get his answer. (He did.)

  15. DO: Ask each student "Do dominoes move without something starting them?" Get his answer. (No.) If a student is unsure, ask him to place a domino at the center of the floor and watch it for three minutes without touching it. Then ask the question again. If the student is still unsure, ask him to watch the domino again for 5 minutes, and ask the question again. If he still is unsure, ask him "In what ways can a domino move all by itself?" Get his answer. (It can't.)

  16. INFORM: Each student that's the end of today's lesson. Acknowledge each student, tell him that he did a great job.

-- End Lesson # 1 --
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