A global studies and history unit on the RMS Titanic for homeschool, worldschool or just for fun.
Arguably one of the most famous ships and shipwrecks of all time, the RMS Titanic fascinates a pretty wide audience. This topic was requested by one of my daughters after she finished reading the I Survived book about it. I love letting the girls guide some of our learning so I was happy to oblige.
Printables
Here's this week's info, all wrapped up into an easy-to-read printable. Click here for the full color copy and click here for a low-ink black and white version.
On the Dining Room Wall
This image from Wikipedia: map of the ship's route.
A few images from our Who HQ Titanic book.
What We're Listening to
The Titanic soundtrack, of course!
Talking Points
Talk about the ship's policy of women and children first. Does that seem fair?
Here's a link to a chart that shows the survivors from each passenger class. What does that tell us about who was a priority for survival?
Books
One from each category plus an assortment of picture books is usually just perfect.
Not all book series are as good as the next. Get the scoop on some of our favorites here.
Library Haul
Not all of these books will get read. Most library systems allow you to browse online and put books on hold. They'll round them up for you and deliver them to your local branch. It's a big time saver!
Base Non-Fiction Books:
Read every word or simply flip through and reach what catches your eye.
Top Pick:
What was the Titanic? (Who HQ Book) An engaging introduction to the Titanic broken into manageable chapters.
Other Ideas:
Fact Tracker: Titanic (Magic Treehouse Fact Tracker #7) This goes along with the Magic Treehouse book. Jack and Annie break down some of the facts about that fateful night.
Base Fiction Chapter Book:
Some of these books are part of a series but all of them work as standalone books.
Younger Learners:
Tonight on the Titanic (Magic Treehouse #12) - My pick for the youngest learners Jack and Annie travel back to the Titanic and face a chaotic and emotional night.
Disaster on the Titanic (Ranger in Time #9) We love Ranger books! In this one, Ranger befriends a young worker in the Titanic shipyard who later sets out on its maiden voyage. He has to help his friend survive the famous disaster.
Older Learners:
I Survived the Sinking of the Titanic, 1912 (I Survived Series) I haven't actually read this one but my daughter read it, loved it and that led her to request we do a Titanic week!
Other Notable Chapter-Type Books
Have more time? Try these too.
Rescuing Titanic This is maybe little wordy to be completely qualified as a picture book but we read through it in one sitting and really enjoyed it. The real hero of the Titanic's story is the Carpathia!
Can You Survive the Titanic? (You Choose Series) Three storylines to follow and lots of choices. More sensitive learners should be aware that you, or your loved ones, will die in about half of these endings.
Things to Watch*
My YouTube Playlist for the Week It's a short playlist this week but what it lacks in quantity, it delivers in quality. My girls found the Titanic wreck exploration fascinating.
*Always vet material before watching it with your kids, especially if they are sensitive viewers. I try to note any potential issues but everyone has different parenting thresholds of what they consider appropriate.
What I Read/Watched this Week
Sometimes I read a book, watch a documentary or watch a non-kids movie to go along with the week.
A Night to Remember A nonfiction play by play of the events of the night that was both insightful and riveting. I listened to the audio book and I highly recommend it. At only 182 pages, it's a quick read/listen.
Interactive Learning: Crafts, Food, Activities
Check out this interactive map of Sunken Ships of the Atlantic. The Titanic is #245.
We didn't do this but apparently there's a recipe book for menu's of the Titanic's last night. It could be fun to make something from that.
Are there any famous ships near you that you could visit?
What about shipwrecks? Here's an interactive map to find them. Here's us at our favorite shipwreck, The Peter Iredale, off Oregon's North Coast.
Segue Ideas... Victorian Week, Survival Week
Wrap Up
Titanic Week was pretty popular with the kids. It's a topic that's a bit more self-contained than others, so when we finished, we really felt finished. In truth, it's kind of a depressing topic because no matter how many ways you hear the story, it ends in a lot of death. Still, the fiction books we read this week revolved around survivors which made the stories skew positive. All in all, a fascinating part of nautical history. All of this material would work great for a Titanic homeschool unit or, in our case, just some fun, extra learning.
Final Moment
Years ago, I was learned to scuba dive in Honduras. Our instructor pointed out a shipwreck and it was way cooler to see than you might think. Here's my post about it on my old travel blog.
