What does your daily LA look like

[Nemom]

for a 7th grader? Are you doing every part every day-ie. grammar, writing, lit, or splitting it up during the week?

 

We used LLATL last year and it was just what she needed. This year it is definitely lacking and I have to rethink what she is going to do. But I'm thinking that I would like to take a different approach and work more in depth on different pieces on different days. I do like the BW approach to writing and follow her less is more approach.

[Momling]

I do a month unit on grammar, then sentence construction/writing style, then essay writing, then literary analysis and writing literary analysis papers. Finally we'll do a test-prep unit prior to taking a required standardized test. I've attempted doing it all consecutively and have been overwhelmed. Also, I try to align English and history, so there are some literature readings and author studies throughout the year.

[AimeeM]

We do composition and literature daily. We have grammar and etymology on a week on/week off rotation.

[mom31257]

I have a 6th grader, but LA is something that I'm going to be working heavily on during middle school.

 

Here are the resources and curricula I'm using. I really wanted a variety so that each day would not be the same. CLE LA is the one thing that is done daily along with reading books. 

 

Grammar-

CLE LA (love the solid teaching and spiral format)

 

Literature and Literary Analysis-

Figuratively Speaking (awesome book for learning literary terms; will spread out over middle school years)

CLE Reading (I can't believe how good this really is. I wish I had used it earlier. It has such tremendous vocabulary work, working with poetry, inference, literary terms, etc.)

MP Poetry for Grammar Stage (My plan is to spread this out through middle school.)

Book Club books (will use various literature guides as well; love the one I tried from Garlic Press)

MP American Literature Short Stories and Poetry (I haven't started this yet, but it looks absolutely fabulous. I'll spread this out over middle school, too. You do vocabulary work and comprehension with literary terms/analysis, and you work toward writing about the one central idea in a piece as well as giving supporting facts.)

 

Writing-

CLE LA (I will be using some of the assignments, but I'm not sure about all of them.)

IEW Ancient History (Ds has already completed SWI-A and some of US Vol. 1 in a co-op setting, so this will be to review and reinforce what he has already learned.)

 

[SilverMoon]

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Edited July 9, 2022 by SilverMoon

[Chrysalis Academy]

Shannon does literature daily, writing daily - either an across-the-curriculum writing project, usually multi-day, or a specific writing lesson.  She does spelling once a week and grammar/writing using Killgallon Grammar for Middle School once or twice a week.  We aren't doing separate grammar this year other than Killgallon.  We also aren't doing separate vocab, although she will do the vocab exercises in Lively Art of Writing.

[momto2Cs]

We do composition and literature daily. We have grammar and etymology on a week on/week off rotation.

 

Similar here (for 8th grade)... composition and literature daily, grammar 1x weekly, etymology 1x weekly, and literary analysis 1x weekly.

 

[happypamama]

DD is doing writing daily, four days of WWS followed by one day of The Creative Writer. She also does whatever writing is part of her history. We have grammar and poetry units spread thought the year, and spelling also. She also reads literature daily.

[hollyhock]

My son does writing every day (but writing about literature is reserved for Fridays) and he does English 4x a week, so almost every day. Spelling is less frequent. Right now we're doing spelling only twice a week but I'm not sure how that's working out for him. He seems to be missing more words on his spelling tests than he used to.

[Nemom]

Literature daily-does this mean some type of reading daily or does it mean a formal literature curriculum with possible analysis or questions?

[Chrysalis Academy]

For us, daily literature includes reading an assigned book daily (she does a ton of independent reading, but is required to do at least 1 chapter a day in the book we are studying), plus either discussion or writing about the book.  So far I've used various lit guides or my own reading of the book to come up with discussion / essay questions.  We do have Literary Lessons from the Lord of the Rings and will probably use parts of that this year.  I never use anything exactly how it was written though, more for ideas which we like to riff off of.

[Momto6inIN]

My 7th grader reads every day - either something related to history, a classic or Newberry honor book of his choosing, or working through one of two Progeny Press lit guides that he'll complete throughout the year.

 

He does one lesson from Vocab from Classical Roots every week.

 

Right now he's completing Season II of Analytical Grammar and that takes a lot of time out of every day.  When he's done with Season II in a few weeks he'll finish the rest of Wordsmith Creative Writing that he started last year and just do a few reinforcement grammar exercises every other week or so.  Doing AG along with writing is just too much, so we just concentrate on one at a time.

[FriedClams]

Sonlight for reading,discussion, etc. (And our lit daily is pretty much daily)

 

CLE language arts and reading (reading is 3 times a week)

 

Writing - currently having kids write 2 excellent paragraphs each on 2 things we covered in history Monday through Thursday. Friday is creative writing.

[Nemom]

My 7th grader reads every day - either something related to history, a classic or Newberry honor book of his choosing, or working through one of two Progeny Press lit guides that he'll complete throughout the year.

 

He does one lesson from Vocab from Classical Roots every week.

 

Right now he's completing Season II of Analytical Grammar and that takes a lot of time out of every day. When he's done with Season II in a few weeks he'll finish the rest of Wordsmith Creative Writing that he started last year and just do a few reinforcement grammar exercises every other week or so. Doing AG along with writing is just too much, so we just concentrate on one at a time.

Hmm. Like the way Analytical Grammar looks but it is really expensive. Is it easy to find used? How long does your son spend on it?

 

Haven't had a chance to look at CLE yet.

[lewelma]

for a 7th grader? Are you doing every part every day-ie. grammar, writing, lit, or splitting it up during the week?

 

We used LLATL last year and it was just what she needed. This year it is definitely lacking and I have to rethink what she is going to do. But I'm thinking that I would like to take a different approach and work more in depth on different pieces on different days. I do like the BW approach to writing and follow her less is more approach.

 

My ds is in 8th.

 

Daily

1.5 hours of literature by time period (at night, this year is modern lit.  current read is The Book Thief)

1 hour of LA/day in rotation (using Common Threads - which sorts essays by theme and technique)

    week 1: read essay and discuss next day (M-F, 4 essays)

    week 2: discuss technique, write essay using technique

    week 3: discuss topic, write essay on topic

 

In term 1 we did the same 3 week rotation, but 1 1/2 weeks of 1 hour a day of discussing short story/novel.  and 1 1/2 weeks of writing literary analysis.

 

No grammar, no spelling, no exercises, no worksheets.

 

Ruth in NZ

[Laura Corin]

We did Galore Park English at that stage, supplemented with unit studies on particular works of literature.  We did it two different ways: sometimes we spent two days a week on the general English and three days on the unit study; sometimes we just dropped the general English for a bit and really concentrated on the unit study.  Both ways worked and it was nice to mix it up.  The GP English required him to read good works, so that was going on all the time anyway.

 

L

[Momto6inIN]

Hmm. Like the way Analytical Grammar looks but it is really expensive. Is it easy to find used? How long does your son spend on it?

 

 

I don't know if it's easy to find used or not, but for us it was totally worth the price and I consider it one of my best curriculum choices and will definitely use it with all of my kids.

 

My older son used it too and he has a really good grasp of grammar.  He did the whole program in 1 year, which was fine for him but will definitely be too much at 1 time to work with any of my other kids.  After going through AG with him, even I find myself diagramming tough sentences in my head as I'm reading to figure out which clauses modify which word LOL!  Sentence structure does not come as easily to my 7th grader as it did for my older son, but I've been very impressed by how well he's done with AG too.  Right now he's getting about a 90% on each exercise/test.  It takes him about an hour a day to go through a unit a week.  That's a lot of grammar in my opinion ... but he does it (mostly) willingly and even though it takes him a while, I can tell by his questions and how he does on the exercises that he really is getting it.

 

He did Season I last year in 6th grade and is doing Season II this year and will do Season III next year in 8th grade.  Last year he and my older son worked on Season I together and that was actually a lot of fun, considering it was grammar!  ;)  They worked together on the first 2 exercises each week (Mon, Tues) and then worked independently on the 3rd exercise (Wed) and then took the test independently (Th) and then we graded the test on Fri.  They had a little competition thing going on as to who would do better each day, which made it fun and motivating for them.

 

But like I said earlier in my above post, doing that much grammar a day and writing on top of it was too much for him.  We concentrated on grammar until the Season was over, then started writing for the rest of the year.  Season I is 10 weeks, Season II is 8 weeks, and Season III is 17 weeks, so even breaking it up that way he still has ample time for writing.

 

Hope that helps!

[Nemom]

My dd is NOT a big reader. Hated it when I first brought her home in 5th and will now read daily on her own if it is a book she enjoys. Right now she is reading the prequel book (last) in the Maze Runner series. I am so grateful that she read all of the books on her own without complaint. Recently, her brother complained about reading being boring and she was quick to correct him stating "it's fun if you like the book." So, I will not be pushing her to read any classics right now. She can read whatever she chooses as long as she is reading every day.

 

However, I would like to have her start reading more short stories and poetry. I am thinking of doing this one day a week and incorporating literary analysis, comprehension, and discussion. We would likely be doing this out loud together-more enjoyable for both of us. I do have Figuratively Speaking to guide me.

 

She works on WW four days a week.

 

If I keep LLATL, she could have that done in 1-2 days. Supplement grammar with something fun like A Giggly Guide to Grammar and worksheets for this year and then plan on making grammar a priority next year.

 

Writing-pickup something from LLATL, History or free writing with some larger projects throughout the year.

 

Due to chronic health issues, dd will likely be headed to a local community college or trade school. The goal is for her to graduate and decide what she will be able to handle career wise for the future. So, I do not feel the pressure to prepare her with AP level coursework. We can re-evaluate this every year and decide how to move forward. In her perfect world, she gets to be a SAHM. I will take that as a compliment.

[....]

My 7th grader:

 

Easy Grammar Plus (this is the last year we ever do grammar - it's all review now)

8th Grade Spectrum Writing workbook 

Literature mostly from Ambleside Online Year 6, including 2 Shakespearean plays (MacBeth and Twelfth Night)

[Pen]

Currently the emphasis is writing, with at least one short essay or other piece each week (so far 5 short essays since school started, so a little more than 1 per week). Grammar and spelling are a subset of writing. In a few weeks there will probably be a separate short daily spelling and grammar component, but right now it is just writing with the spelling and grammar as part of that.

 

A lot of reading is done, but there is no "literature"  component as such right now, and I do not plan to have one until high school. In part, I do not want ds12 to be reading a category of "literature" which can mean required, dull, tedious, and not something one would choose for fun. So he just reads some of the things that others work on as "literature" such as LoTR, Odyssey translations etc., right along with Star Wars sci fi and mystery books. He has had Shakespeare since age 5 and Dickens since age 9, and it is has been kept enjoyable--as it probably was to Globe audiences and the many readers who could not wait for the next installment of a Dickens novel to come out in the papers. Currently we are reading John Grisham's Sycamore Row, which many on here would not consider "literature" and will then read To Kill a Mockingbird which most people here probably do. They have some themes in common which can be compared, and we can also compare the styles. And we may also discuss the word "literature" and what it means if we discuss the differences in how the books are generally regarded.

 

He also has recently been rereading some children's classics such as Trumpet of the Swan that I read to him when he was younger, which I think is useful.

 

When he is doing grammar he uses Saxon now (it will probably be done in alternating weeks with more writing in the other week), and for spelling it is Spelling Power which is a 15 minute per day program. I am thinking to get Killgallon paragraph book. He read and enjoyed Commas are our Friends over the summer.

[mommymilkies]

Apples and Pears Spelling (daily or when we remember)

 

Oak Meadow English 7 with daily lit readings-I think I'll drop this and go back to SYRWTLE

 

Writing assignments from history-Keynote presentations, short research paragraphs or papers, etc. 

 

We go through cycles of Bravewriter and Writing Workshop type stuff, too.  Right now we're still trying to find our groove, so we haven't begun yet. My son does have fine motor issues, so we don't do as much writing as some people here and trade out for less taxing activities. 

[momto2Cs]

Literature daily-does this mean some type of reading daily or does it mean a formal literature curriculum with possible analysis or questions?

 

For us, it is pretty simple. I read aloud... a lot. And we talk about what we are reading. Ds reads.... a lot (both assigned and free choice), and we talk about what he is reading. I read a fair amount to dd on top of this as she is dyslexic and does not enjoy reading/is not up to reading good lit (she does read each day, just not at the level at which she is capable of comprehending if it is read to her).

 

We just really enjoy good books!

[Nemom]

It is interesting to see so many different grammar programs. Lots to look into. Just what I need...another reason to research different curriculum. I should just be enjoying this year and not worrying about the next thing...

[MrsH]

Dd12 reads an hour a day, mostly on assigned books.

 

She does 2-3 lessons of WWS2, begrudgingly.

 

This year, we added vocabulary using this school's web page:http://education.fcps.org/ums/node/2893. She looks up the prefix, then rates whether she totally, sort of, or doesn't, know the words and we choose 5 to learn. Throughout the week she looks up definitions and we talk about them. Quick verbal test at the end. She's reviewing old lists weekly, and I may add in a monthly test as well... She's loving it.

 

No separate grammar this year...

[momto2Cs]

It is interesting to see so many different grammar programs. Lots to look into. Just what I need...another reason to research different curriculum. I should just be enjoying this year and not worrying about the next thing...

 

Me too...

 

[mom31257]

I should have listed something else. I created this graphic organizer to use along with fiction reading. 

[Cottonwood]

For language arts as a whole I chose Moving Beyond the Page.  it rigorously hits most all points so I don't have to piece together grammar, writing, etc.  It only truly lacks spelling, which I do as needed (lists are created based on their misspelled words and the regular review and testing come from that). 

 

There's plenty of vocabulary in MBTP but for added root knowledge and some etymology, they use Vocab from Classical roots.

 

We are trying out block scheduling this year so their LA day is Monday after math.  They do a week's worth at once , about 3 to 4 hours which will include some breaks.  They are so much more productive when they can just GO instead of stopping every hour to change subjects.  Then they don't see LA again until next Monday, which totally floats their boat. LOL  So far this has been a fruitful change in our week!

[Pen]

For language arts as a whole I chose Moving Beyond the Page.  it rigorously hits most all points so I don't have to piece together grammar, writing, etc.  It only truly lacks spelling, which I do as needed (lists are created based on their misspelled words and the regular review and testing come from that). 

 

There's plenty of vocabulary in MBTP but for added root knowledge and some etymology, they use Vocab from Classical roots.

 

We are trying out block scheduling this year so their LA day is Monday after math.  They do a week's worth at once , about 3 to 4 hours which will include some breaks.  They are so much more productive when they can just GO instead of stopping every hour to change subjects.  Then they don't see LA again until next Monday, which totally floats their boat. LOL  So far this has been a fruitful change in our week!

 

Are you doing block with all subjects?  I hope you'll say how it goes after a longer trial. 

 

I myself like to work in a block way, getting into something instead of constant changing. But what I have been reading lately suggests that more frequent short sessions are more effective for many types of learning.   ????

[Cottonwood]

yes, it's going well.  However, DS11, who is new to HSing this year, has said that after doing block scheduling this last 4 wks, he'd like to try mixing subjects through the day to see how he likes it.  I'll let him try for a while.  He's the one with such little focus so I see it's working to give him lots of time to work through one subject..in a block.  If only given an hour I foresee him truly settling in too far into the hour and not working much, but he may surprise me and make the most of it.  DD13 said she likes it either way but I've noticed that this way, she's cranking out a lot of work.