Imperial China - Tang Dynasty - Poets and Poetry

Maples in the Mist: Poems for Children from the Tang Dynasty by Minfong Ho, Mou-Sien Tseng, and Jean Tseng

Discussion:
Tang Dynasty fosters the arts
Major poets of the Tang Dynasty
Poems

Activity:
History journal
Memorize 3 Tang Dynasty poems

Medieval India - Southern Rulers

Southern Rulers
Read-aloud: Tales from India by Jamila Gavin and Amanda Hall

Discussion:
Southern Hindu rulers
Temple building

Activity:
History journal
Map study - southern India
Picture study - India by Michael Wood

Medieval India - Harsha Vardhana

Harsha Vardhana
Read-aloud: Tales from India by Jamila Gavin and Amanda Hall

Discussion:
Harsha rises to power and reunites northern India
Religious devotion - important advances for Buddhism
Culture and arts

Activity:
History journal
Map study - extent of Harsha's Empire

Medieval India - The Gupta Empire

The Gupta Empire
Read-aloud: Tales from India by Jamila Gavin and Amanda Hall

Discussion:
Further stratification of the Hindu caste system
Advances in science and art, literature - exporting Gupta culture to Southeast Asia
The Hun Invasion, weakening of the government and its collapse

Activity:
History journal
Map study - extent of the Gupta Empire
Picture study: India by Michael Wood

Medieval Europe - Dante Alighieri

Read-aloud: The Inferno, ed. Mark Musa (skip the Florentine bits)

Discussion:
Life of Dante - general mess of Italian political states and the papacy
Divine Comedy - influences from Catholic theology and Scholastic physics
Influence

Activity:
History journal - draw a schema of the Inferno
Maps and Charts about the Comedy, Florence, Aristotelian science

Medieval Europe - The 12th-Century Renaissance

Read-Aloud: The Lais of Marie de France, Arthurian Romances by Chretien de Troyes

Discussion:
"Re-birth" of the arts and sciences in Europe
Flowering of culture, trade, technology
Centralization of government, expansion of cities

Activity:
History journal
Picture study - works from the 12th and 13th centuries, major painters and writers of the era
Recover from medieval feast of last night

Medieval Europe - Feasting and Celebrations

A Medieval Feast by Aliki
Food and Feasts in the Middle Ages by Imogen Dawson
Medieval Feasts and Banquets by Tehmina Bhote
The Original Mediterranean Cuisine by Barbara Santich
The Medieval Kitchen by Redon, Sabban, and Serventi

Discussion:
Foods native to Europe
Importance of presentation in banqueting
Foods for special feast days

Activity:
Medieval feast! (greatly reduced)

Medieval Europe - Music

On Secular Music and the texts of the songs presented
Read-Aloud: The Lais of Marie de France

Discussion:
Courtly love's influence on music
Types of musicians and music
Performance venues

Activity:
Listening to medieval music

Medieval Europe - Arthurian Romances and Courtly Love

Read Aloud: The Lais of Marie de France, Chretien de Troyes

Discussion:
Courtly love and chivalric ideals
Poetry based on King Arthur and his legends
Ideals of knighthood - modern ideas about the Middle Ages that persist from this time period

Activity:
History journal
Picture study: The Oxford History of Western Art

14th century depictions of Guenevere and Lancelot

19th century representations of courtly love:
John Keats, La Belle Dame sans Merci, and paintings
Leighton, God Speed! painting

Medieval Europe - Feudalism - Serfs

Life in the Middle Ages: The Countryside by Kathryn Hinds
Children and Games in the Middle Ages by Lynne Elliott
Medieval Society by Kay Eastwood
Gregory of Tours, History of the Franks, Book 5, Chapter 3
Medieval People by Eileen Power

Discussion:
Daily life for serfs
Serf's yearly calendar
Male/female serfs and their responsibilities

Activity:
History journal

Medieval Europe - Vikings - Social Structures and Lifestyle

The Real Vikings by Melvin and Gilda Berger
The Vikings by Virginia Schomp
D'Aulaire's Book of Norse Myths [read-aloud]

Discussion:
Life on a Viking farmstead
Family life and values
Men's and women's roles, children and childhood
Foods

Activity:
History journal
Viking feast!

Medieval Middle East and Africa - Review - History

Empires - give one to two sentences about the following empires: 

• Byzantine 
• Sasanid
• Ummayyad
• Abbasid
• Fatimid
• Ghana/Mali/Songhay
• Benin
• Kongo
• Great Zimbabwe

Art and Architecture - name some distinctive features of the art and architectural styles of each empire.

Social customs - give some examples of what society was like in each empire. 

Religion - briefly describe the religious views of each empire and how tolerant of other religions they were.

Government - describe the nature of governance in each empire.

Decline (if applicable) - explain why each government eventually fell into decline

Medieval Africa - Kongo

Kongo Ndongo by Kenny Mann
African Beginnings by James Haskins and Kathleen Benson, and Floyd Cooper
A Brief Political and Geographic History of Africa by John Davenport
Wonders of the African World by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

Discussion:
Foundation of Kongo after the Bantu expansion
Trade - cloth
Social and government structures

Activity:
History journal
Mapping Kongo
Picture Study

Medieval Africa - Great Zimbabwe

African Beginnings by James Haskins and Kathleen Benson, and Floyd Cooper
A Brief Political and Geographic History of Africa by John Davenport
Wonders of the African World by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

Discussion:
Zimbabwean architecture and building techniques
Trading partners - goods (gold, porcelain, glass)
Decline of Great Zimbabwe

Activity:
History journal
Mapping Great Zimbabwe
Picture Study

Medieval Africa - Western Kingdoms - Mali

African Beginnings by James Haskins and Kathleen Benson, and Floyd Cooper

The Royal Kingdoms of Ghana, Mali, and Songhay: Life in Medieval Africa by Patricia and Fredrick McKissack

Discussion: 

Extent of Kingdom of Mali, inheritance from Ghana

Timbuktu, Social structures and rituals, art

Decline

Activity: 

History journal

Map study

Picture study (The Royal Kingdoms...) 

Medieval Middle East - Abbasid and Ummayad Empires - Art and Architecture

Islam by Neil Morris
1001 Inventions & Awesome Facts from Muslim Civilization by National Geographic Kids

The Genius of Islam by Bryn Barnard

Islamic Art and Culture: A Visual Guide by Nasser Khalili

Discussion:
Muslim architecture throughout the Mediterraean
Spanish buildings and fortresses
Mosques, government buildings, palaces, homes
Decorative arts, illuminated Qur'an

Activity:
History journal
Visit the Freer and Sackler Galleries

Medieval Middle East - Abbasid Empire - Food, Music, Festivals

Foods of Iran by Barbara Sheen
Cooking Up World History by Suzanne Marchers and Patricia Marden
1001 Inventions & Awesome Facts from Muslim Civilization by National Geographic Kids

Discussion:
Important religious festivals and traditions
Foods of the region, methods of production and preparation
Music

Activity:
History journal
Listen to music of the Abbasid Empire - Safiy ad-Din et al.
Abbasid Feast! (Make Caliph's favorite pancakes in particular)

Medieval Middle East - Abbasid Empire - Social Structures

Islam by Neil Morris
1001 Inventions & Awesome Facts from Muslim Civilization by National Geographic Kids

Discussion:
Family life, extended family
Life in cities vs. rural areas
Cultural norms for men and women

Activity:
History journal
Picture study: dress, artifacts of daily life from the Abbasid Empire

Medieval Middle East - Abbasid Empire - Cities

1001 Inventions & Awesome Facts from Muslim Civilization by National Geographic Kids
Islamic Art and Culture: A Visual History by Nasser Khalili
Baghdad by Nikki van der Gaag and Felicity Arbuthnot

Discussion:
Centers of activity - mosques, markets, homes, stores, baths
Building materials, methods
Roads, city gates and walls

Activity:
History journal
Build a model of Baghdad ca. 900 CE

Medieval Middle East - Abbasid Empire - Harun al-Rashid

Wikipedia - Harun al-Rashid (yes, this is the best I could do)

Discussion:
Patron of the arts and sciences - Bayt al-Hikma
Relations with Charlemagne
Governing mistakes
Development as legendary figure

Activity:
History journal
Listening to some poetry and stories from centuries later about Harun al-Rashid (Thousand Nights and One Night, Tennyson, Longfellow, O. Henry, Haroun and the Sea of Stories)