Live Zoom Meeting Id: 

Welcome to World History!

Week 1: The Anglo-Saxon Arrival
End of Roman Britain & Migrations (Angles, Saxons, Jutes)
Daily Life in Anglo-Saxon England
Faith & Culture (Paganism → Christianity, Beowulf, monasteries)


Week 1 Live Lesson - Anglo Saxons

End of Roman Britain & the Anglo-Saxon Migrations

Daily Life in Anglo-Saxon England

Faith & Culture in Anglo-Saxon England

Week 1 Quiz:

Vocabulary Flash Cards

Vocabulary Maze Chase

Week 1

Week 2: Scotland, Wales & Celtic Resistance 
Article 1: The Picts, Scots, and Celtic Britons 
Article 2: The Kingdom of Alba & Clash with Anglo-Saxons 
Article 3: The Legend of Arthur & Celtic Survival

9/8/25 Live Class

The Picts, Scots, and Celtic Britons

Hadrian’s Wall: Rome’s Northern Frontier

The Kingdom of Alba & Clash with the Anglo-Saxons

The Legend of Arthur & Celtic Survival

The Mysterious Historia Brittonum: History, Legend, or Both?

Exploring Cadbury Castle: History, Archaeology, and Legend

9/10/25

Week 2 Quiz

Week 2: Scotland, Wales & Celtic Resistance

Week 3: Vikings
Who were the Vikings?
Vikings In England: Danelaw & Alfred the Great
Viking Legacy in Language  Law
The Blood-Eagle: Viking Terror or Saga Legend. 

9/15/25

Who Were the Vikings?

Vikings in England: Danelaw & Alfred the Great

Viking Legacy in Language & Law

The Blood-Eagle:  Viking Terror or Saga Legend?

9/17/25

Week 3 Vikings—History, Culture, Law, and Legend 

Select a Writing Prompt and Compose a Written Response

Week 3: 

Week 4: 🏰 Norman Conquest
Edward the Confessor & the Crisis of Succession
The Battle of Hastings & William the Conqueror
The Domesday Book & Norman Rule
Haunting History: The Ravens of the Tower

9/22/25

Edward the Confessor & the Crisis of Succession

9/24/25

The Battle of Hastings & William the Conqueror

The Domesday Book & Norman Rule

🕯️ Haunting History: The Ravens of the Tower

Norman Conquest Quiz

Week 4: 🏰 Norman Conquest

Week 5: Feudalism & the Manor System
Article 1: Structure of Feudal Society (lords, vassals, serfs)
Article 2: Life on the Manor & Economy
Article 3: Knights & Chivalry


9/29/25

10/1/25

Feudalism and Manor System Vocabulary

Structure of Feudal Society

Life on the Manor & the Medieval Economy

Knights & Chivalry

Legends & Haunting Histories of the Feudal Age

Feudalism & the Manor System

Week 5: Feudalism & the Manor System

The Medieval Church
Article 1: Rise of the Catholic Church in Europe
Article 2: Monasticism & Learning (Benedictine Rule, illuminated manuscripts)
Article 3: Conflicts between Popes & Kings


10/15/25

The Rise of the Catholic Church in Europe

Monasticism & Learning

Conflicts Between Popes & Kings

Letters in the Snow: The Pope and the Emperor’s War of Words

Letters in the Snow Assignment

Week 6: The Medieval Church

Week 7: The Crusades
Faith, Fear, and Fortune: Why the Crusades Ignited a Medieval Firestorm
Kings, Crosses, and Crescent Moons: How Urban II, Richard the Lionhearted, and Saladin Shaped a Holy War
Gold, Silk, and Scars: How the Crusades Shaped Trade, Tolerance, and Bitter Divisions

10/20/25

10/22/25

Faith, Fear, and Fortune: Why the Crusades Ignited a Medieval Firestorm

Faith, Fear, and Fortune: Why the Crusades Ignited a Medieval Firestorm Quiz

Kings, Crosses, and Crescent Moons: How Urban II, Richard the Lionheart, and Saladin Shaped a Holy War

Gold, Silk, and Scars: How the Crusades Shaped Trade, Tolerance, and Bitter Division

10/29/25

Week 7: The Crusades

Week 8: Medieval Life & Towns:
Growth of Towns & Trade Fairs
Guilds & the Rise of the Middle Class
Daily Life in a Medieval City 
Town vs. Manor Life

11/3/25

11/5/25

Growth of Towns & Trade Fairs

Growth of Towns & Trade Fairs Check

Guilds & the Rise of the Middle Class

Guilds & Rise of the Middle Class Check

Daily Life in a Medieval City

Town vs. Manor Life

Week 8: Medieval Life & Towns

Week 9: The Magna Carta & English Law
Article 1: King John & Barons’ Revolt
Article 2: Magna Carta (1215): What It Said & Why It Mattered
Article 3: Legacy of Magna Carta: Law, Parliament, U.S. Constitution
Extension: Primary source: Magna Carta clauses


11/12/25

🏰 King John & the Barons’ Revolt

🏰 Magna Carta (1215): What It Said & Why It Mattered

🏛️ The Legacy of Magna Carta: From Parliament to the U.S. Constitution

📜 Magna Carta (1215) — All 63 Clauses Simplified

🇺🇸 Simplified U.S. Constitution

⚖️ Magna Carta vs. The U.S. Constitution

The Magna Carta & English Law Quiz

Week 9 

 The Hundred Years’ War
Article 1: Causes & Early Battles
Article 2: Joan of Arc & Turning Points
Article 3: Consequences for England & France
Extension: Map of English vs French territories


Vocabulary Practice

⭐ THE BATTLE OF CRÉCY (1346): THE DAY MEDIEVAL WARFARE CHANGED FOREVER

⭐ Joan of Arc & The Turning Points That Saved France

Meeting invite

11/19/25

Week 10:  The Hundred Years’ War

The Black Death 
Article 1: Origins & Spread of the Plague 
Article 2: Social, Economic, and Religious Impacts 
Article 3: Art & Literature of the Plague Years 
Extension: Primary source – Boccaccio’s Decameron excerpts

12/1/25

12/3/25

ORIGINS & SPREAD OF THE BLACK DEATH

Social, Economic, and Religious Impacts of the Black Death

The Black Death and Its Influence on European Art and Literature

The Black Death — Weekly Mastery Quiz

Week 11: The Black Death

The Decline of Feudalism 
Article 1: Why Feudalism Weakened 
Article 2: Peasants’ Revolt & Social Change 
Article 3: Rise of Monarchies & Nation-States

12/8/25

12/10/25

Why Feudalism Weakened

Peasants’ Revolt & Social Change

Rise of Monarchies & Nation-States

12/10/25 

Week 12: the decline of Feudalism

Week 13: Early Renaissance (Italy)
Article 1: Why Italy? Geography, Trade, Wealth
Article 2: Humanism & Classical Revival
Article 3: Florence & the Medici Family
Extension: Art comparison activity


12/15/25

Why Italy? Geography, Trade, and Wealth

Humanism & the Classical Revival

Florence & the Medici Family

12/17/25

Week 13:  Early Renaissance (Italy)

Week 14: Renaissance Art & Culture
Leonardo da Vinci: Curiosity as a Dangerous Talent
Michelangelo: Strength, Struggle, and the Cost of Genius
Raphael: The Most Dangerous Artist no One Argued With

1/5/26

1/7/26

Leonardo da Vinci:Curiosity as a Dangerous Talent

Michelangelo: Strength, Struggle, and the Cost of Geniusy

Raphael: The Most Dangerous Artist No One Argued With

Week 14: Renaissance Art & Culture

Petrarch — The Man Who Turned Thought Inward
Niccolò Machiavelli — Power Without Permission

1/12/26

1/14/26

Petrarch — The Man Who Turned Thought Inward

Niccolò Machiavelli — Power Without Permission

William Shakespeare — The Mind Under Pressure

Week 15: Renaissance Writings

Week 16: Renaissance Music
Renaissance Music Foundations: What Are Masses, Motets, Hymns, and Offertories?
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (c. 1525–1594)
Josquin des Prez (c. 1450/55–1521)
Thomas Tallis (c. 1505–1585)

1/19/26

1/21/26

MLK Day

I Have a Dream

Renaissance Music Foundations: What Are Masses, Motets, Hymns, and Offertories?

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (c. 1525–1594)

Josquin des Prez (c. 1450/55–1521)

Thomas Tallis (c. 1505–1585)

Week 16: Renaissance Music

🌍 Renaissance Science & Mathematics: A Time When Knowledge Was Reborn

1/26/26

1/28/26

🌞 Nicolaus Copernicus — The Man Who Moved the Earth

🌌 Johannes Kepler — The Mathematician Who Discovered the Shape of the Heavens

🔭 Galileo Galilei — Seeing the Truth in a World Afraid of Change

🫀 Andreas Vesalius — The Doctor Who Rebuilt Medicine From the Inside Out

❤️ William Harvey — The Man Who Discovered How Blood Circulates

🔬 Francis Bacon — The Man Who Changed How Science Is Done

📐 Gerolamo Cardano — The Man Who Solved the Impossible in Mathematics

Week 17

2/2/26

2/4/26

Week 18

Article 1: Printing Press & Spread of Ideas
Article 2: Erasmus & Humanism in the North
Article 3: Art in the North: Dürer, Bruegel, Van Eyck
Extension: Primary source analysis of Erasmus


2/9/26

2/11/26

Pre-Reading Vocabulary

The Printing Press and the Spread of Ideas in Northern Europe

Erasmus and Humanism in Northern Europe

Art in the North — Observation, Symbolism, and Everyday Truth

Week 19: Northern Renaissance

Protestant Reformation
Article 1: Martin Luther & the 95 Theses
Article 2: Spread of Protestant Ideas (Calvin, Zwingli, Henry VIII)
Article 3: Catholic Counter-Reformation (Council of Trent, Jesuits)
Extension: Map of religious divisions in Europe


2/16/26

2/18/26

Martin Luther, Indulgences, and the 95 Theses

The Expansion and Fragmentation of Reform

The Catholic Counter-Reformation

Turning Fourteen in Tudor England: Power, Visibility, and the End of Childhood

Seating, Invitations, and Social Control in Tudor England: How Gatherings Enforced Hierarchy

Gifts as Contracts: Symbolism, Obligation, and Social Power in Tudor England

Week 20: Protestant Reformation

2/23/26

2/25/26

Pre-Reading Vocabulary: Peace of Westphalia & Political Transformation

The Thirty Years’ War: When Belief Hardened Into Power (1618–1648)

The French Wars of Religion: Power, Fear, and the Cost of Civil Conflict (1562–1598)

The Peace of Westphalia: When Europe Chose Stability Over Uniformity (1648)

Week 21

Technology, Trade, and Power — Why Europe Turned to the Sea

Portugal and Spain Lead the Way — Maritime Strategy, Papal Authority, and the Reshaping of Trade

Conquistadors — Cortés, Pizarro, and the Structural Collapse of Two Empires

Week 22: Age of Exploration

<h1 id="d27ad8d2-e362-43ce-8322-0bb88a31e3c7" data-toc-id="d27ad8d2-e362-43ce-8322-0bb88a31e3c7">📅 Year-Long Curriculum: World History (8th Grade, Sept–May)</h1><hr><h3 id="ea73368c-c2a4-40ab-81a5-f823757b0072" data-toc-id="ea73368c-c2a4-40ab-81a5-f823757b0072">September – Anglo-Saxon &amp; Medieval Foundations</h3>Week 1: The Anglo-Saxon Arrival<ul><li>Article 1: End of Roman Britain &amp; Migrations (Angles, Saxons, Jutes)</li><li>Article 2: Daily Life in Anglo-Saxon England</li><li>Article 3: Faith &amp; Culture (Paganism → Christianity, Beowulf, monasteries)</li><li>Extension: Map of Heptarchy; Artifact study (Sutton Hoo)</li></ul>Week 2: Scotland, Wales &amp; Celtic Resistance<ul><li>Article 1: The Picts, Scots, and Celtic Britons</li><li>Article 2: The Kingdom of Alba &amp; Clash with Anglo-Saxons</li><li>Article 3: The Legend of Arthur &amp; Celtic Survival</li><li>Extension: Compare Celtic vs Anglo-Saxon society</li></ul>Week 3: The Viking Invasions<ul><li>Article 1: Who Were the Vikings? Culture, raids, ships</li><li>Article 2: Vikings in England: Danelaw &amp; Alfred the Great</li><li>Article 3: Viking Legacy in Language &amp; Law</li><li>Extension: Norse myths → influence on English</li></ul>Week 4: The Norman Conquest (1066)<ul><li>Article 1: Edward the Confessor &amp; the Crisis of Succession</li><li>Article 2: The Battle of Hastings &amp; William the Conqueror</li><li>Article 3: The Domesday Book &amp; Norman Rule</li><li>Extension: Bayeux Tapestry analysis</li></ul><hr><h3 id="25cc95c7-1262-4fc4-b5b0-f4b35811da1c" data-toc-id="25cc95c7-1262-4fc4-b5b0-f4b35811da1c">October – Medieval Europe</h3>Week 5: Feudalism &amp; the Manor System<ul><li>Article 1: Structure of Feudal Society (lords, vassals, serfs)</li><li>Article 2: Life on the Manor &amp; Economy</li><li>Article 3: Knights &amp; Chivalry</li><li>Extension: Feudal pyramid diagram</li></ul>Week 6: The Medieval Church<ul><li>Article 1: Rise of the Catholic Church in Europe</li><li>Article 2: Monasticism &amp; Learning (Benedictine Rule, illuminated manuscripts)</li><li>Article 3: Conflicts between Popes &amp; Kings</li><li>Extension: Primary source – excerpts from Gregory VII vs Henry IV</li></ul>Week 7: The Crusades<ul><li>Article 1: Causes of the Crusades</li><li>Article 2: Major Crusades &amp; Key Figures (Urban II, Richard I, Saladin)</li><li>Article 3: Consequences: Trade, Tolerance, and Intolerance</li><li>Extension: Map of Crusade routes</li></ul>Week 8: Medieval Life &amp; Towns<ul><li>Article 1: Growth of Towns &amp; Trade Fairs</li><li>Article 2: Guilds &amp; Rise of the Middle Class</li><li>Article 3: Daily Life in a Medieval City</li><li>Extension: Compare town vs manor life</li></ul><hr><h3 id="cb5917d8-e1dc-4f68-b8f2-5798cd62b310" data-toc-id="cb5917d8-e1dc-4f68-b8f2-5798cd62b310">November – High &amp; Late Middle Ages</h3>Week 9: The Magna Carta &amp; English Law<ul><li>Article 1: King John &amp; Barons’ Revolt</li><li>Article 2: Magna Carta (1215): What It Said &amp; Why It Mattered</li><li>Article 3: Legacy of Magna Carta: Law, Parliament, U.S. Constitution</li><li>Extension: Primary source: Magna Carta clauses</li></ul>Week 10: The Hundred Years’ War<ul><li>Article 1: Causes &amp; Early Battles</li><li>Article 2: Joan of Arc &amp; Turning Points</li><li>Article 3: Consequences for England &amp; France</li><li>Extension: Map of English vs French territories</li></ul>Week 11: The Black Death<ul><li>Article 1: Origins &amp; Spread of the Plague</li><li>Article 2: Social, Economic, and Religious Impacts</li><li>Article 3: Art &amp; Literature of the Plague Years</li><li>Extension: Primary source – Boccaccio’s Decameron excerpts</li></ul>Week 12: The Decline of Feudalism<ul><li>Article 1: Why Feudalism Weakened</li><li>Article 2: Peasants’ Revolt &amp; Social Change</li><li>Article 3: Rise of Monarchies &amp; Nation-States</li><li>Extension: Timeline activity</li></ul><hr><h3 id="e2e22a54-e337-4628-872b-dc9e53e93af6" data-toc-id="e2e22a54-e337-4628-872b-dc9e53e93af6">December – Renaissance Foundations</h3>Week 13: Early Renaissance (Italy)<ul><li>Article 1: Why Italy? Geography, Trade, Wealth</li><li>Article 2: Humanism &amp; Classical Revival</li><li>Article 3: Florence &amp; the Medici Family</li><li>Extension: Art comparison activity</li></ul>Week 14: Renaissance Art &amp; Culture<ul><li>Article 1: Artists: Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael</li><li>Article 2: Literature: Petrarch, Machiavelli, Shakespeare</li><li>Article 3: Science &amp; Invention in the Renaissance</li><li>Extension: Analyze perspective in Renaissance art</li></ul><hr><h3 id="6d924ee9-73f8-42fb-9c36-61e1a79df9e5" data-toc-id="6d924ee9-73f8-42fb-9c36-61e1a79df9e5">January – Renaissance &amp; Reformation</h3>Week 15: Northern Renaissance<ul><li>Article 1: Printing Press &amp; Spread of Ideas</li><li>Article 2: Erasmus &amp; Humanism in the North</li><li>Article 3: Art in the North: Dürer, Bruegel, Van Eyck</li><li>Extension: Primary source analysis of Erasmus</li></ul>Week 16: Protestant Reformation<ul><li>Article 1: Martin Luther &amp; the 95 Theses</li><li>Article 2: Spread of Protestant Ideas (Calvin, Zwingli, Henry VIII)</li><li>Article 3: Catholic Counter-Reformation (Council of Trent, Jesuits)</li><li>Extension: Map of religious divisions in Europe</li></ul>Week 17: Wars of Religion<ul><li>Article 1: Thirty Years’ War (1618–48)</li><li>Article 2: French Wars of Religion (Huguenots vs Catholics)</li><li>Article 3: Peace of Westphalia &amp; New Europe</li><li>Extension: Primary sources – Edict of Nantes</li></ul><hr><h3 id="43c2e60b-761c-4e5d-a510-6988bf239072" data-toc-id="43c2e60b-761c-4e5d-a510-6988bf239072">February – Exploration &amp; Encounter</h3>Week 18: Age of Exploration<ul><li>Article 1: Technology &amp; Motives (compass, astrolabe, gold, God, glory)</li><li>Article 2: Portugal &amp; Spain Lead the Way (Dias, da Gama, Columbus)</li><li>Article 3: Conquistadors: Cortés &amp; Pizarro</li><li>Extension: Map voyages</li></ul>Week 19: Columbian Exchange<ul><li>Article 1: Goods, Crops, and Animals</li><li>Article 2: Diseases and Population Impact</li><li>Article 3: Cultural Consequences in the Americas</li><li>Extension: Columbian Exchange chart</li></ul>Week 20: Empires of the Americas<ul><li>Article 1: Aztecs</li><li>Article 2: Incas</li><li>Article 3: Maya Legacy</li><li>Extension: Compare civilizations</li></ul><hr><h3 id="7fc526fd-25d4-4f8e-88e3-54e7ca214754" data-toc-id="7fc526fd-25d4-4f8e-88e3-54e7ca214754">March – Early Modern Europe</h3>Week 21: Scientific Revolution<ul><li>Article 1: Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler</li><li>Article 2: Newton &amp; Natural Laws</li><li>Article 3: Impact of Science on Society</li><li>Extension: Primary source – Galileo trial excerpts</li></ul>Week 22: Absolute Monarchies<ul><li>Article 1: Spain – Philip II &amp; the Armada</li><li>Article 2: France – Louis XIV &amp; Versailles</li><li>Article 3: Russia – Peter the Great &amp; Westernization</li><li>Extension: Compare monarchies</li></ul>Week 23: England’s Transformation<ul><li>Article 1: English Civil War (Cromwell &amp; Parliament)</li><li>Article 2: The Glorious Revolution (1688)</li><li>Article 3: English Bill of Rights &amp; Constitutional Monarchy</li><li>Extension: Primary source comparison</li></ul><hr><h3 id="4780c509-c303-4487-9918-eb76df47801f" data-toc-id="4780c509-c303-4487-9918-eb76df47801f">April – Enlightenment &amp; Revolutions</h3>Week 24: Enlightenment Thinkers<ul><li>Article 1: Locke &amp; Natural Rights</li><li>Article 2: Montesquieu, Voltaire, Rousseau</li><li>Article 3: Enlightenment &amp; Society</li><li>Extension: Primary source excerpts</li></ul>Week 25: American Revolution<ul><li>Article 1: Causes of Rebellion</li><li>Article 2: Key Events (Declaration, Battles)</li><li>Article 3: Impact on Europe</li><li>Extension: Declaration of Independence excerpts</li></ul>Week 26: French Revolution<ul><li>Article 1: Causes (economic, social, political)</li><li>Article 2: Revolution &amp; Terror (Robespierre, guillotine)</li><li>Article 3: Napoleon’s Rise &amp; Fall</li><li>Extension: Primary source – Rights of Man</li></ul><hr><h3 id="b685d4bf-21f4-4987-9020-b840fecd8ea9" data-toc-id="b685d4bf-21f4-4987-9020-b840fecd8ea9">May – The Modern World Emerges</h3>Week 27: Industrial Revolution<ul><li>Article 1: Why Britain? Technology &amp; Resources</li><li>Article 2: Urbanization &amp; Social Change</li><li>Article 3: Global Impact of Industry</li><li>Extension: Factory life vs rural life</li></ul>Week 28: Nationalism &amp; Unification<ul><li>Article 1: Italy – Garibaldi &amp; Cavour</li><li>Article 2: Germany – Bismarck &amp; Realpolitik</li><li>Article 3: Nationalism beyond Europe</li><li>Extension: Map of unifications</li></ul>Week 29: Imperialism<ul><li>Article 1: Motives for Empire</li><li>Article 2: Africa &amp; the Scramble for Colonies</li><li>Article 3: Asia &amp; Resistance to Empire</li><li>Extension: Map of European colonies</li></ul>Week 30: Wrap-Up &amp; Review<ul><li>Article 1: Connections from Ancient to Modern</li><li>Article 2: Lasting Legacies of Europe in the World</li><li>Extension: Cumulative review project</li></ul>

World History 8th Grade Online Curriculum

Debra Shepherd

Course Details

Course content

Includes