This is a modern world history course that I put together for my 9th grader. He is studying World War 2 through current times. While this is a world history course, it does have more US history than other countries. I’ve combined readings, documentaries, and writing to create a 1 credit history course. My son is doing his history course in one semester rather than entire school year. This means he is doing about 10 hours a week on history. I’ve split up his assignments into 18 different weeks.
Because I want to emphasize thinking and understanding, I’ve opted for writing assignments rather than tests. While I’ve assigned one research paper, the rest of the papers assigned are opinion papers. I’ve used a textbook to organize our topics, but the bulk of time will be spent reading other books and watching documentaries.
These are the books used in our study:
- McDougal Littell Modern World History Patterns of Interaction textbook – used as a spine for a documentary-focused study
- A People’s History of the United States
- A People’s History of American Empire
- Mein Kampf
- Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl
- Night
- The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb
- Why We Can’t Wait
- Overthrow: America’s History of Regime Change
Week 1
- Read Fascism Rises in Europe pg 427-430
- Watch Mussolini Italy’s Nightmare https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L–tIaau9o4
- Watch The Dark Charisma of Adolf Hitler Part 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KiD4Sps48U
- Watch The Dark Charisma of Adolf Hitler Part 2 http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x26flun_the-dark-charisma-of-adolf-hitler-e02_news
- Watch The Dark Charisma of Adolf Hitler Part 3 http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x26flci_the-dark-charisma-of-adolf-hitler-e03_news
- Read Mein Kampf Chapters 1-10
- Read Aggressors on the March pg 431-435
- Watch League of Nations https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pPmZm-zs-k
- Watch Nanking Massacre https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILS6wGvOWO8
- Watch American Isolationism https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=668zH17NP8w
- Watch Britain Appeasement https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jc5S6l7ecb0
- Read Hitler’s Lightning War pg 441-446
- Read A People’s War – A People’s History of the United States pg 407-442
- Read A People’s War? – A People’s History of American Empire pg 116-140
- Write 300 word opinion paper on historical topics learned this week
Week 2
- Watch The World at War: A New Germany https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1UU9iZsRa4
- Watch The World at War: Distant War https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwcZvc4wTLs
- Watch The World at War: France Falls https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Umlu-bcuIY
- Watch The World at War: Alone https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Umlu-bcuIY
- Watch The World at War: Barbarossa https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olYUrlIfWg0
- Watch The World at War: Banzai https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcU94-nN0BY
- Read Japan Strikes in the Pacific pg 447-450
- Watch The World at War: On Our Way USA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kSQjI5gXqM
- Watch The World at War: The Desert https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_QwBFvpcCk
- Read Mein Kampf Chapters 11 – 12 Vol 1, and Chapters 1-6 Vol 2
- Write 300 word opinion paper on historical topics learned this week
Week 3
- Watch The World at War: Stalingrad http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x13rsvc_the-world-at-war-1974-ep09-stalingrad_shortfilms
- Watch The World at War: Wolf Pack https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RE3hDbqJaWc
- Watch The World at War: Red Star https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEhrnp5SoVg
- Watch The World at War: Whirlwind Bombing Germany https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7P8Xu3nDAdw
- Watch The World at War: Tough Old Gut https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LTBUtm87rU
- Watch The World at War: It’s a Lovely Day Tomorrow http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x125tkh_the-world-at-war-episode-14-it-s-a-lovely-day-tomorrow-burma_shortfilms
- Watch The World at War: Home Fires https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdglGf9xTJI
- Watch The World at War: Inside the Reich https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFm5kGREG8s
- Read Mein Kampf Chapters 7-15 Vol 2
- Choose a WW2 topic for research paper
Week 4
- Read The Holocaust pg 451-454
- Watch I’m Still Here: Real Diaries of Young People Who Lived Through the Holocaust https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_cpvkIU6IY
- Read Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl
- Watch Auschwitz The Forgotten Evidence https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrUvmOoCa3A
- Watch The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
- Watch Science and the Swastika https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZquBH0CH24
- Read Night by Wiesel
- Write 300 word opinion paper on historical topics learned this week
Week 5
- Read The Allies are Victorious pg 455-461
- Watch Tora, Tora, Tora: The True Story of Pearl Harbor https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-XxTicNS0M
- Watch The World at War: Morning https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LK6-5lOoM8k
- Watch The World at War: Occupation Holland https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaUJMAu_rms
- Watch the World at War: Pincers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7wS8ffO5Pw
- Watch The World at War: Genocide https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiSbZNf0Qo4
- Watch The World at War: Nemesis https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElFFiQtdjUA
- Watch The World at War: Japan https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVINTfJOWz4
- Read The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb Chapters 1-6
- Turn in bibliography for WW2 Research paper
Week 6
- Watch The World at War: Pacific https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-w4r0D3iLM
- Watch The World at War: The Bomb https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIs5hohlca4
- Read The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb Chapters 7-34
- Watch 24 Hours After Hiroshima https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yez_gesztE&spfreload=10
- Watch Seconds from Disaster Nagasaki https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRosq6Q_yZE
- Turn in rough draft for WW2 research paper
Week 7
- Read The Devastation of Europe and Japan pg 462-466
- Read The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb Chapters 35-49
- Watch The World at War Reckoning https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4x69cIeLX4
- Watch The World at War Remember https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpUTl2KKn44
- Watch Visualization The Massive Death Toll http://www.washingtonpost.com/posttv/national/visualization-the-massive-death-toll-of-world-war-ii/2015/06/10/aa19c09a-0ee1-11e5-a0fe-dccfea4653ee_video.html
- Watch Japanese-American Internment During World War II https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mr97qyKA2s
- Finish 3-5 page research paper
Week 8
- Read Two Superpowers Face Off pg 474-481
- Read The Cool War – A People’s History of American Empire pg 142-150
- Read Overthrow: America’s History of Regime Change Chapters 1-9
- Watch Cold War: Comrades https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22KIQ1QNnhE
- Watch Cold War: Iron Curtain https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzcZBFlmLoA
- Watch Cold War: Marshall Plan https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0I6UVPkGWM
- Watch The Hollywood 10 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taancRcLQ8o
- Watch Cold War: Sputnik https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uGT0mZOhR0
- Write 300 word opinion paper on historical topics learned this week.
Week 9
- Watch Space Race: Race for Rocketshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ST4emxOd9Qo
- Watch Space Race: Race for Satellites https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6Kc-Zi4tU0
- Watch Space Race: Race for Survival https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8B94ftc9UVA
- Watch Space Race: Race for the Moon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZI8uLCsjlU
- Read Or Does It Explode? – A People’s History of the United States pg 443-467
- Read Children of the Empire – A People’s History of American Empire pg 152-176
- Read What Happens to a Dream Deferred? – A People’s History of American Empire pg 178-180
- Watch Ku Klux Klan A Secret History https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cayCYpxtIyo
- Read Why We Can’t Wait by MLK Jr.
- Write 300 words on historical topics learned this week
Week 10
- Watch Martin Luther King Jr. The Man and the Dream https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJOV-rUPGCE
- The March on Washington https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_c2lLYuYU1I
- Watch Freedom Riders https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcvsWXrS2PI
- Read Overthrow: America’s Century of Regime Change Chapters 10-14
- Watch Malcom X Make it Plain https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zIGNkR62Mo
- Watch Detroit Race Riots 1967 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hOoW0U6g_E
- Read Communists Triumph in China pg 482-485
- Cold War: China https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSPIonMrLq0
- Watch China: The Great Leap Forward https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdCgIHgu-KE
- Watch Mao’s Great Famine https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-woaDniFQc
- Write 300 word opinion piece on a historical topic from this week
Week 11
- Read War in Korea and Vietnam pg 486-490
- Watch Cold War: Korea https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYeWURHhr04
- Watch Korean War https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzMGZX9eJ1U
- Read The Impossible Victory: Vietnam – A People’s History of the United States pg 469-501
- Read War Resistance at Home – A People’s History of American Empire pg 181-186
- Read The Same Rotting Barrel – A People’s History of American Empire pg 194-202
- Watch Cold War: Vietnam https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6s0Z2mwTrXY
- Watch Cold War: Make Love Not War https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFSfq6AMhWM
- Four Dead in Ohio https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdCpI2qdsd8
- Why America Lost the Vietnam War https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzVWfZpQ4TI
- Read Surprises – A People’s History of United States pg 503-539
- Read The Second Battle of Wounded Knee – A People’s History of American Empire pg 187-192
- Watch Roe vs. Wade https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDRNypYU_KM
- Watch Sitting Bull Biography https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3b4-ph1W_1E
- Watch Siege at Wounded Knee movie https://vimeo.com/111258883
- Write 300 word opinion paper on historical topic this week
Week 12
- Read Cold War Around the World pg 491-495
- Read Resurgence of Empire – A People’s History of American Empire pg 210-230
- Watch Cold War: Reds https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0U-b1TNf1Q
- Watch Cold War: After Stalin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7K-hcgPom7Q
- Watch Cold War: The Wall https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVX-iOKty9k
- Watch Cold War: Cuba https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOxeZt217uw
- Watch Cold War: Mutually Assured Destruction https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MV8MdlxtqaU
- Watch Cold War: Red Spring https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1m5umoiFoXI
- Read Iran: Overthrowing Democracy – A People’s History of American Empire pg 232-235
- Read Operation Ajax – A People’s History of American Empire pg 236-248
- Read The Rule and Ruin of the Shah – A People’s History of American Empire pg 249-253
- Watch 1953 – CIA Overthrow of Iran https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urAjTX51ebc
- Watch History of Iran, Operation Ajax https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8ybj5KULmA
- Watch Anatomy of a Revolution https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDifaCVanaM&index=5&list=PL6DFC4B38C241DB0F
- Watch Iran Hostage Crisis 1979 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8bC1DEYbI4
- Watch Iran Hostages Released on Day 444 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNTRFHaexGw
- Cold War: Soldiers of God https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6zOcaKKxA8 (Soviet Union/Afghanistan)
- Write 300 word opinion paper on historical topic this week
Week 13
- Watch Nicaragua: An Unfinished Revolution https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpEhi9XYllA
- WatchBehind the Iran-Contra Affair https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCwsMiHV_AA
- Read The Seventies: Under Control? – A People’s History of the United States pg 541-562
- Watch Who Was Richard Nixon? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0jjCkwA0MQ
- Watch Year Zero: The Silent Death of Cambodia http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/year-zero/
- Read The Cold War Thaws pg 496-499
- Read Carter-Reagan-Bush: The Bipartisan Consensus – A People’s History of the United States pg 563-600
- Watch Cold War Detente https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6qd1Ai3yXw
- Watch Cold War: Good Guys, Bad Guys https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7KTtTK_J8c
- Watch Cold War: Backyard https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PuF5k9GoKc
- Watch Cold War: Freeze https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqXaGCBjfCU
- Watch Cold War: Spies https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bw-AdK-6rg
- Watch Cold War: Star Wars https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2RfVP3eOAQ
- Write 300 word opinion paper on historical topics this week
Week 14
- Read The Unreported Resistance – A People’s History of the United States pg 601-629
- Watch Ronald Reagan: The American Idol https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgKC_Se1xaA
- Watch George Bush https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bw9UhBlFUDA
- Watch The Panama Deception https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zo6yVNWcGCo
- Watch Gulf War https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMV_0iTk1qs
- Watch Selling the First Gulf War https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cx_VQf4eOQQ
- Watch The Fight in the Fields https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgMkX4eE3bs
- Read The Indian Subcontinent Gains Independence pg 504-511
- Watch The Nehru Gandhi Story https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tshyh8DnJzI
- Write 300 word opinion paper on historical topics learned this week
Week 15
- Watch India Pakistan Partition https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amnevwW0MJo7
- Watch Pakistan’s Benazir Bhutto’s Assassination https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cd0cZ8Ept0I
- Watch Sri Lanka Evolution of the Ethnic War https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1UnhPq8Pio&list=PL28E5D8FA6B24DCD5
- Read Southeast Asian Nations Gain Independence pg 512-515
- Watch US/Philippines relations https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1O5R7NXck_Q
- Watch Inside Burma: Land of Fear https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sERETR1BPg
- Watch Singapore: The Accidental Nation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0oF5HahQOI&list=PL9326DCB816E565D0
- Read New Nations in Africa pg 516-521
- Watch Africa States of Independence: DR Congo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LL0HiuPLBWQ
- Watch The French in Algeria https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOPfoaTaINU
- Read Conflicts in the Middle East pg 521-525
- Watch Promises and Betrayals: Middle East https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JW2sm0iR0E8
- Watch Birth of Israel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCC3BEwdS0M
- Write 300 word paper on historical topic learned this week
Week 16
- Watch 1967 The Six Day War https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxEXGA0RU5c
- Watch Palestine Divided https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mW0O0KIfsxs
- Read Democracy Case Study: Latin American Democracies pg 530-535
- Watch The Mexicans https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7oAsymxzZA
- Watch The War on Democracy http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/the-war-on-democracy/
- Watch South of the Border https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvjIwVjJsXc
- Watch Falklands War https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPab6Hhk9Rw
- Read Democratic Challenges in African Nations pg 536-540
- Watch Africa: States of Independence The Scramble for Africa https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgzSnZidGuU
- Watch Nelson Mandela The Fight for Freedom https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoC20GPmXc8
- Write 300 word opinion paper on historical topic covered this week
Week 17
- Watch Apartheid Did Not Die https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stSDNO30-nk
- Read Gorbachev Moves Toward Democracy pg 541-545
- Watch Glasnost and Perestroika https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9XtYPy4kM8
- Watch The Rise and Fall of the Berlin Wall https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiSfHuiHQJQ
- Watch Gorbachev: The Man Who Changed the World https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLujNV-9cf0
- Read Collapse of the Soviet Union pg 546-550
- Watch The End of the USSR https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0g6arFbKZ60&list=PLD9316DC99DA38798
- Read China Follows Its Own Path pg 551-555
- Watch China A Century of Revolution: Born Under a Red Flag https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHfXzG46faA
- Read The Clinton Presidency – A People’s History of the United States pg 643-674
- Watch Clinton: The American Experience https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AIQwdvYAsw
- Write 300 word opinion paper on historical topics learned this week
Week 18
- Read The 2000 Election and the “War on Terrorism” – A People’s History of the United States pg 675-682
- Read Permanent War: The Bipartisan Consensus- A People’s History of American Empire pg 254-258
- Watch 2000 Election https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OliETWsZxc0
- Watch World Trade Center Attacks https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3cS9f4CBPw
- Watch The Iraq War from the Frontline https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWXkepwOD2s
- Watch Breaking the Silence https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phehfVeJ-wk
- Watch The End of America https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5c99jLHp9o
- Watch Wikileaks https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvmfOaZ34Pk
- Watch Unmanned America’s Drone Wars https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpzk7OdbjBw
- Watch Capitalism A Love Story
- Watch Genesis of the Islamic State (ISIS) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5kTNcvVuBU
- Write 300 word opinion paper on historical topics this week.
This is excellent! I want to take this course 😉 Thank you for sharing