Reading classics, am I expecting too much?

[Cakes]

DD 12 is reading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer for lit (LL& Comp) and we seem to have hit a stabling block. 

 

This is our first year HSing, so she has not had much in the way of classics and this one is proving to be a challenge to get thru. She started it on her own and struggled so we decided to do it as a read a loud.

 

Would it be helpful or detrimental to give her an easier to read version to knock out before tacking this one or do we just continue moving thru this one? I wonder if understanding the story will help her to understand the original better or if that will just become a crutch.

 

She is an incredibly bright girl but struggles with the writing style, and dislikes reading in general. It is important to me that we get over this hump and get her reading more! More quantity and quality.

 

I would appreciate any advice!

[Hyacinth]

Are you open to having her read along with an Audible or Librivox version of the story? Books written with dialects are sometimes difficult for my guys to read on their own.

 

ETA: I wouldn't have a 12-yo read an abridged version of Tom Sawyer. The original is too good :)

[Cakes]

Hyacinth, I am open to anything that will help her grow as a reader. I am just not sure which is the best path toward growth!

[ondreeuh]

I am reading it with my 7th grader soon, and he is going to listen the audible version along side. Reading in dialect would be way too distracting and frustrating for him.

 

How do you like LL 7? I have it, but I don't like how it's not scheduled. I was thinking of trying it out for Tom Sawyer... If not, then for Alice.

[Cakes]

So far she likes it. I like that she is able to be mostly self sufficient with it.

 

ondreeuh, so you will do it as a read a loud AND have your son listen to it on audible as well?

 

[Paige]

If my DS struggles, we do it as a read aloud, taking turns with the readings. I pause, explain language, correct pronunciation, check for understanding, and explain context. I do it as much for comprehension as for vocabulary and pronunciation. 

[Cakes]

Frankly Paige,I struggle with pronunciations and comprehension myself!

 

As of now she is reading it to me as I work in the kitchen making lunch and she has to frequently pause to look up words.Yesterday it took us nearly 40 minutes to get thru a chapter.

I am fine with sticking to this if this is the preferred way to learn to read the classics. If there is another way I would love to know! Audible looks good too...much easier for sure, but not sure she will get as much out of it. Or on the other hand perhaps she would get more out of it without the constant stopping to look things up.

[ondreeuh]

So far she likes it. I like that she is able to be mostly self sufficient with it.

 

ondreeuh, so you will do it as a read a loud AND have your son listen to it on audible as well?

No, we won't do it as a read aloud. He will read it silently while he listens to the audible recording, and I will read it by myself, then we discuss as we go.

[RootAnn]

My oldest, who is a reader, didn't like that particular book. Sometimes that happens. Since I wasn't doing it for a certain program, we just moved on.

She just finished unabridged The Three Muskateers, but it took her almost a month.

 

Reading classics is totally different, IMO, than reading "candy" fiction like Percy Jackson or Harry Potter. Your whole brain needs to be engaged. For some thoughts on how to get your kid to be able to read the classics by themselves, eventually, check out "How to work through progressively more challenging works." It gives some good food for thought.

 

My analogy for the situation is that asking someone who has only run a mile (or less) to run a marathon or even half a marathon with no training would be ridiculous. You need to train and build up to some of the classics. Audiobooks or read alouds until you get there are fine. But work on training now. You have time before high school!

[My dd#2 listens to many 'classics' as audiobooks. She gets quite a bit out of them, especially as she listens to some of them multiple times. However, there is nothing like having to work through the book on your own IF you are going to look things up. Neither of my two older ones look things up as they go along (reading or listening). If anything, they ask me or DH for help on meanings of words.]

[Cakes]

Thank you RootAnn. I will read through that link.

 

[Penguin]

I had a similar situation when we started homeschooling in 6th. I had to work with him gradually.

 

I alternated SHORT classics (stories like Rikki Tikki Tavi, H.C. Anderson fairy tales, A Christmas Carol, Sherlock Holmes) with novels. The novels were not difficult in the beginning. They included Detectives in Togas and The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.

 

Each novel became progressively more difficult. The short pieces did the work of getting him used to that type of writing without it being a slog.

 

I would not bother with an abridged edition of Tom Sawyer. I would continue to read it aloud. Stop along the way to discuss the funny parts or the difficult spots. Do some "popcorn" reading - you read a page then she reads a page. Search for Lori D.'s popcorn reading posts. I still make my son read out loud sometimes so I can catch mispronunciation errors before he internalizes them.

 

FYI, he reads classics just fine now. I still try to move up the ladder with shorter works.

[Desert Strawberry]

I agree that I would have her listen to the audio and read along if the dialect is challenging. 

 

I'm not opposed to abridged versions in some cases, for instance for a younger child. We did an abridged version in k and third. But for a 12 year old, that seems redundant.

[Paige]

I would struggle with comprehension if I was doing something else too. I find some of the classics boring myself!  Classics are really good on a kindle or kindle app if you can have it. It makes looking up words quick and easy. The kindle dictionary doesn't include pronunciation, though. If DS is reading it aloud, I will look over his shoulder or have my own book to follow along to make sure he is getting it right. It is slow going at first, but I think the more you do it the less you will need to do it.  You can also stop reading along with a book if she seems to be catching on. Sometimes I'll read a chapter or two with him and then send him off to read some chapters on his own. He's 13 and we're reading The Crucible now. He's finding the first part very difficult and boring but I expect that midway through it'll pick up for him and he could do it alone. 

[Lang Syne Boardie]

If she has to look up a lot of words and is really slowing the flow of reading because of it, that's just too tedious. She will lose interest in the story.

Could you combine some strategies to help you both get over this hump? I suggest:
 

1. Reading along (each with your own copy) as you listen to a recording

 

2. Utilizing a study guide before and after each chapter's reading --beforehand, go over the vocabulary words you'll be encountering so she knows what they mean when she hears them and won't have to stop the tape to grab a dictionary. Afterwards, use the comprehension and analysis questions to make sure she understood what was happening. If she misses a question, go to that portion in your book and read it together

3. Narration -- see if she can "tell back" what happened in today's chapter, in her own words. She can summarize the whole reading, or just tell you about part of the action. You will probably need to model this for her.

 

[Cakes]

Thanks for the great feedback, Tibbie your post is especially helpful. 

 

Thanks!

[SparklyUnicorn]

I'm kinda in the camp of it's ok to ditch a book sometimes.  LOL  Or try again later.  I didn't get into Huck Finn the first time I had to read it.  I barely got through it really.  But later on no problem.  I read Tom Sawyer as an adult.  It wasn't a problem.  But I have to say it's not one of Twain's better books.

 

 

[happypamama]

It's either Tom Sawyer or Huck Finn that I remember reading aloud to myself at around eighth grade. It was much easier to understand the dialect when it was spoken and not just heard in my head.

[phathui5]

 

 

Yesterday it took us nearly 40 minutes to get thru a chapter.

 

That's ok if that's what needs to happen.

[Desert Strawberry]

It's either Tom Sawyer or Huck Finn that I remember reading aloud to myself at around eighth grade. It was much easier to understand the dialect when it was spoken and not just heard in my head.

Yes, I had to read Huck Finn aloud as well. I hadn't heard that accent very much so it was hard for me. 

[Julie of KY]

Some books are just easier to listen to. I think it is fine to do it as a read-aloud or listen to it on cd or audible. I don't make my kids read-aloud when listening.

 

If my child is balking at reading all classics then I'd take a step back and reevaluate. If it's just a few books here and there I'd just listen to them.

 

SWB says in her lectures that it counts as "reading" a book whether you read it yourself or just listen to it as long as it's the real book.

[SparklyUnicorn]

That's ok if that's what needs to happen.

 

Maybe, but that could really take the wind out of someone's sail. 

[Lori D.]

Welcome to homeschooling! :)

 

Tom Sawyer has a lot of vernacular, accents, and older vocabulary/sentence structure, so it is a tougher classic to start with. If you are only part way into it, I'd consider setting it aside for now and come back to it at the end of the year after doing some classics that are a little easier reading level and of more interest to DD.

 

I love all the strategies the previous posters have suggested for getting through a tougher work:

- audio book

- do it aloud together, "popcorn" style ("you read a page, I read a page")

- stop every so often and ask a question or summarize

- study guide

 

I would add that you might also try:

- pick types of classics that fall more within DD's interests

- classic short stories (usually can read in 1-2 sittings, and then can discuss)

- start with some children's and young adult classics first and build up to traditional classics

- choose easier-to-read classics for this year

- watch a faithful-to-the-book movie version of a harder classic first

 

Ideas for newer young adult classics

( great practice for starting to think about / discuss / analyze literature)

- Across Five Aprils (Hunt)

- The Bronze Bow (George)

- The Great and Terrible Quest (Lovett)

- Island of the Blue Dolphins (O'Dell)

- A Wrinkle in Time (L'Engle)

- Tuck Everlasting (Babbitt)

 

Ideas for older children's classics

( great exposure to frequently alluded to works and characters, and also with older vocabulary/sentence structure to help strengthen reading of the classics)

- Tales from Arabian Nights (Lang)

- Bulfinch's Age of Fable (Bulfinch)

- books by Howard Pyle

- Five Children and It; The Phoenix and the Carpet (Nesbit)

- A Wonder Book for Boys and Girls; Tanglewood Tales (Hawthorne)

- Tales from Shakespeare (Lamb) -- OR -- Stories from Shakespeare (Nesbit)

- The Wind in the Willows; The Reluctant Dragon (Grahame)

- The Princess and the Goblins; The Princess and Curdie (MacDonald)

- The Golden Key, The Light Princess, The Wise Woman (MacDonald)
- Rikki Tikki Tavi; The Jungle Book; Just So Stories (Kipling)

 

Ideas for Easier-to-Read Classics -- female protagonist

- Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Carroll)

- Little Women (Alcott)

- Anne of Green Gables (Montgomery)

- Christy (Marshall)

 

Ideas for Easier-to-Read Classics -- male protagonist

- The Hobbit (Tolkien)

- The Old Man and the Sea (Hemingway)

- Sherlock Holmes mystery short stories (Doyle)

- Ben Hur (Wallace)

 

Ideas for Easier-to-Read Classics

- My Family and Other Animals (Durrell) -- a family

- To Kill a Mockingbird (Lee) -- sister and brother

- Call of the Wild (London) -- animal point-of-view

- White Fang (London) -- animal point-of-view

- Animal Farm (Orwell) -- animal point-of-view

- Watership Down (Adams) -- animal point-of-view

 

Past Threads with more ideas:

- Where do you start with a high school boy who has never read classic lit?

- Great Books question (how does your family read the books)

- Which 20 books help prepare for the Great Books?

[redsquirrel]

It is a tough book to start with. And, not everyone likes every book. My son enjoyed Little Women, but honestly, I couldn't stand that book when I was his age.

 

When my son has a rough patch with an assigned book, and I think it is due to language density etc I find it helps to give him a quick overview of the chapter he is about to read. Sometimes it helps to have a map. A map can let you relax and pay attention to some of the scenery along the way because you aren't worried about getting lost.

 

And Tom Sawyer is a fairly standard middle school assignment. I think any 'abridged' version is going to be way too juvenile to be useful. 6th grade is a tad young, in my mind it is a 7th or 8th grade book, but not out of reach for a bright 6th grader. My son read it as an 8th grader because we align our literature with history.

[Lori D.]

When my son has a rough patch with an assigned book, and I think it is due to language density etc I find it helps to give him a quick overview of the chapter he is about to read. Sometimes it helps to have a map. A map can let you relax and pay attention to some of the scenery along the way because you aren't worried about getting lost.

 

Love this idea! :)

 

 

And Tom Sawyer is a fairly standard middle school assignment. I think any 'abridged' version is going to be way too juvenile to be useful. 6th grade is a tad young, in my mind it is a 7th or 8th grade book, but not out of reach for a bright 6th grader. My son read it as an 8th grader because we align our literature with history.

 

Agree. The original Tom Sawyer usually is done in 7th or 8th grade. And for many people, I'd say yes to going ahead in 6th grade if the student is bright and a stronger reader and reader for a step up in literature.

 

 

DD 12yo is reading Tom Sawyer for lit (LL&Comp)

… This is our first year HSing

… she has not had much in the way of classics

… She is an incredibly bright girl but struggles with the writing style

… and dislikes reading in general.

 

Cakes:

In this case, taking into consideration all of those factors you mentioned in your original post, I personally would recommend setting aside the Lightning Lit 7 program for now, and focus on some of the gentler classics I listed above. Consider using a good lit. guide to go with the book, and slowly work your way through Figuratively Speaking this year to start gathering the tools for doing literature.

 

As you mentioned in your original post of having the goal of enjoying reading, I'd suggest taking this year for transitioning into homeschooling, exposure to fun and enjoyable classic children's and young adult literature, exposure to beginning literary terms, and learning to enjoy reading.

 

And then you can come back to LL7 next year. :) JMO! :) Warmest regards, Lori D.

[Haiku]

How do you like LL 7? I have it, but I don't like how it's not scheduled.

There is a schedule in the TM, and there is also one available online.

[Reefgazer]

What I do with challenging works is have the child read an abridged version or re-telling first, or watch the movie, and then we tackle the original.  So for Shakespeare, we read the Lamb version and then tackle the real thing, and for Canterbury Tales, we'll select a tale or two and read the McCaughren version, followed by a translation.

[duckens]

I read Tom Sawyer for a class in 5th grade.  I remember what a challenge it was because I grew up with parents that had VERY good grammar, and I had very little exposure to hearing people speak in the same dialect as Tom and Huck.

I am a fan of Cliffs Notes.  I became a fan by reading "The Turn of the Screw" for a Lit class with a Lit professor who was no help at all.  I had read the story twice.  It didn't make a lot of sense to me.  I asked her questions for clarification because I knew the next class would have a quiz.  She refused to answer any questions, which is her right....but then it is my right to seek out alternative sources of information.   The Cliffs Notes saved my sanity and gave me a support as I read through dozens of other classics for free reading in the years that followed.

Most Cliffs Notes have a "summary" section, then an "analysis" section.  You could read the summary before or after a specific passage, just to make sure that you (your daughter) are on the right track.  The analysis is read after the section to give a steady diet of literary terms.  The author's biography often gives historic background or perspective to the novel.

Breaking the reading into bites of 1-3 chapters for Cliffs can make it bearable.

---------------------------------------------------------------

If we are still homeschooling in 5th grade, we will transition to reading Newbery Award Winners for our lit. 

By 9th grade, I hope to transition to "classics" and use Cliffs Notes as our spine. 

For Shakespeare, we will use Folger versions.  Folger has the text on the right page and translated phrases on the left.  There are synapses at the beginning of each Act and each Scene.  At the end of the book, favorite phrases are listed.  It's the only way I could survive pure Shakespeare.
 

[AimeeM]

That the original is good is a matter of taste ;)

Good, solid, classic literature? Definitely. 

Not my cuppa, though, personally - I didn't enjoy it.

 

I do think you're expecting a bit much, OP, to expect a 12 year old coming from public school, who has little to no exposure to such literature, to read it on her own. I do think it's a good idea to read it out loud, but I will encourage you not to EXPECT automatic enjoyment of such literature - and expect her to struggle. It's a pretty heavy book. For the life of me, I'm not sure when they started expecting 12 year olds to read it; my husband remembers reading it in 8th or 9th grade, and I didn't read it until high school literature class.

I *do* think that a 12 year old who has been home, and classically educated (or at least exposed to classic literature) could handle it, but I wouldn't expect many other 12 year olds to do it (of course there are exceptions).

[Upennmama]

My 12 year old DD has been making me nuts this year with Lit- she's been totally stymied by anything classic I've given her. Last year she read an entire book (Robinson Crusoe) and I found out after she read it that she didn't understand a word of it. But I have been working hard with her, and found huge improvement with some tricks.

 

1. I've gotten her a kindle, on which she can look up any words immediately. I find it's a lot easier to read and not lose the flow of the narrative if you can just look up the word by tapping it. 

2. I read aloud a chapter or two to orient her to the book, and we discuss the themes, or the setting, characters, etc. This sort of gets her set in the book. At the beginning of the year I would read several chapters, and then have her just finish the last two or three pages aloud. Then I moved on to having her read several pages independently, and narrate what she's read. Then I started letting her read a chapter, but I always gave her discussion questions to answer, and I've have her read the questions before reading the book, so she knew what to look for. Now she's reading To Kill a Mockingbird mostly independently, and doing well. I think it's a slow and painstaking process, but it's worth it. 

[Hunter]

Students that are spoon-fed a book can handle much tougher books than students that are being more independent. For spoon-feeding long chapters, I recommend reading only a portion of a chapter at a time, instead of a whole chapter.

 

If you are not using technology, my remedial students like the Merriam-Webster Concise Dictionary LARGE print edition, for pronunciations,

http://www.amazon.com/Merriam-Webster-Concise-Dictionary/dp/0877796440#

and the Scrabble Dictionary for definitions.

http://www.amazon.com/Official-Scrabble-Players-Dictionary-ebook/dp/B00MMO8YNC/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1414634276&sr=1-1&keywords=scrabble+dictionary

 

But most prefer technology, and to read along to audio. I "buy" free Kindle ebooks at Amazon, and then am offered professional audio for 99 cents that matches the ebook. Amazon is now updating most Kindle apps to immersion reading, so the student can read along in the text while being read to. In some apps the word being read is highlighted. Others just change the page according to the recording.

 

You can buy a different Kindle dictionary than the one that comes with the app, and then set it as the default dictionary. The Merriam-Webster Collegiate matches the above paperback dictionary for pronunciation respellings.

 

There are apps that combine Librivox recordings and Gutenberg text.

 

I tend to be a ground up instructor, rather than assisting students with work that is too challenging for them. There is another tutor that tutors the same group of students that I do, and after years, we are both still in complete disagreement with each other. That's okay, because the students are getting both. :)

 

The other tutor tried to show me how it should be done about a year or two ago. She taught a student all about Pangea, and then showed off how the student had a chance to work with age appropriate material. A week later the student told me how the earth was flat until Pangea broke up and that is when the world became round.  :eek:  And when I proceeded to explain how things in space are round, she told me to stop trying to fool her, and that I obviously had noticed that stars are pointy. :eek:  I went and got some 1-3 grade astronomy books, and a pile of books of suns and stars so we could look at picture and picture after picture, and I went on youtube to show a VIDEO, instead of a flat picture of Pangea. But that episode just made me dig in my heals to start and the bottom and work up.

 

[Cakes]

I can't thank you all enough for taking the time to share your thoughts and experiences!

 

I will re-read this post many times in the near future, I am certain.

 

The approach that we took today was to sit and read it together, DD with my iPhone in her hand for quick word look ups as well as the LL book also for quick reference. She pre-read some of the words to expect in the two chapters that we read so when we hit them she instantly told me the meanings. That was helpful to us both. She needed to look up about 5 words (in the span of two chapters) in the dictionary, and we got thru both chapters in about 30-40 minutes. Except this time we paused to laugh at the silliness of the story and the characters. All in all a VAST improvement over her reading to me. I did most of the reading, and we shared the character lines, she would read one and I would read the other. It was fun and we both enjoyed it.  There were several times when she was a bit lost as to what was going on in the story and I had to explain, but she was not the least bit frustrated or stressed, we just had fun reading together.

 

Thank you for telling me that this is a harder classic ( just breathe momma, breathe) AND that it is ok to skip one when it just doesn't resonate. I think we found a way to make this one work! 

 

PS I bought her a kindle years ago because she was reading ahead of her level but wanted the definition of each word she did not know. I thought it was brilliant. She hated it and still does. I have no idea why!

[Lori D.]

… The approach that we took today was to sit and read it together

...She pre-read some of the words to expect in the two chapters

… we got thru both chapters in about 30-40 minutes

… this time we paused to laugh at the silliness

… I did most of the reading, and we shared the character lines, she would read one and I would read the other. It was fun and we both enjoyed it. 

 

...I think we found a way to make this one work! 

 

Yea!  :hurray:

 

When I did LL7 with DS#2 (who has mild LDs in reading and writing), we did it aloud popcorn style and it REALLY helped him keep track of what was happening, as when he was just reading, he was so focused on trying to figure out the accents and vocabulary, he was losing all sense of what was happening. Doing it together was a lot of fun, and we laughed all the way through it, too. :) SO glad you found a good solution! :)

 

Just a quick FYI: The one work my DS really disliked in LL7 was Helen Keller's Story of My Life. The sentence structure is long, convoluted and flowery, and it just takes forever to get to the point. While Helen's actual life is fascinating, this book was a real trudge to get through. I don't know what to suggest; we very nearly dropped it, and I'm not sure that would have been a problem to do so...

 

At the end of LL7 is All Creatures Great and Small. A lot of accents and British terms to have to look up, BUT, a LOT of humor to help you get through it; that may be another one to do together to get past the language barrier.

[EndOfOrdinary]

Micheal Clay Thompson has a list of the 100 most used classical words that you could turn into memory or flash card work so she can stop looking everything up.

 

It is a download off of royal firework press.

 

http://www.rfwp.com

[Hunter]

Micheal Clay Thompson has a list of the 100 most used classical words that you could turn into memory or flash card work so she can stop looking everything up.

 

It is a download off of royal firework press.

 

http://www.rfwp.com

 

Thanks!

 

Here is a direct link to the pdf.

http://www.rfwp.com/pages/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/100-classic-words.pdf

[Haiku]

I "buy" free Kindle ebooks at Amazon, and then am offered professional audio for 99 cents that matches the ebook. 

 

Can you link me an example of this?

[redsquirrel]

Sometimes we watch a movie or,TV serie from a book before reading the book itself.

 

In my youth wasn't that recommanded, but it helps here to start a more difficult book and to continue with it.

 

So she knew Herriot and Tom Sawyer from the DVD before reading the books.

We did the same for Cyrano the Bergerac in French.

Because she knows the plot, she can handle the more difficult words.

 

Yes, that is similar to my idea of giving the student a 'map'. If the movie is an excellent version, without huge plot changes or characters missing etc, then it can be a useful tool. Knowing the plot and the important characters ahead of time can really take some of the pressure off.

 

I usually do this after reading to really bring a work to life. My older boy recently read 'Of Mice and Men' and seeing the film, with John Malkovich, helped my son make the emotional connection to the story. Yes, there were some changes to the plot, mostly timing, but it was a good production. And after seeing my son rattle off a list of differences between the movie and the novella, it was clear to me that he really had read and understood what he read.

[Cakes]

Lori D thanks for the heads up on tough books coming our way. I think that we will keep reading together to help us through harder works, until she is ready to spread her wings and take off on her own with a classic. 

 

EndOfOrdinary and Hunter, that you for the link, that is a awesome list!

 

To all who suggested adding in movies. I plan to do that this winter with Shakespeare. We are fortunate to be attending A Midsummer Night's Dream ballet in the spring, so we are going to start by reading a kid friendly book first to get the gist, then read the play together, watch the movie and top it of with the ballet...I can't wait! .

 

I am choosing to do that with Shakespeare because it works easily for this first one and will be fun. I may do it with a few of the classics if I can put it together once or twice a year. I guess it would be wise to keep an eye open for theater productions in the future.

 

[LaughingCat]

Here is an non $.99 example

Tom Sawyer on Amazon for free --> with this verbiage listed a short way down in a "Whispersync for Voice" box:  Since you own the Kindle book, add narration for a reduced price of $2.99

 

Here is a list of $.99 classics (free on amazon, $.99 on audible), also if you go to the whispersync page there is usually a "book of the month" (and has a link to the $.99 classics page as well)

[Dramorellis]

I'm glad you guys worked out a solution! I'm very surprised to hear so many comment that it is difficult for that age though. I read it in 4th grade for class and had planned for DS(8) to do it next year as well. I did not enjoy it but it wasn't difficult and the whole class read it. I did end up reading it again in 8th grade I believe. This makes me want to reconsider now. 

[MiMi 4under3]

 

Students that are spoon-fed a book can handle much tougher books than students that are being more independent.

 

Hmmm... food for thought.

 

I'd have thought the opposite, but now I'm thinking you're right...

[Lori D.]

I'm glad you guys worked out a solution! I'm very surprised to hear so many comment that it is difficult for that age though. I read it in 4th grade for class and had planned for DS(8) to do it next year as well. I did not enjoy it but it wasn't difficult and the whole class read it. I did end up reading it again in 8th grade I believe. This makes me want to reconsider now. 

 

I think this highlights the difference in how different aspects of reading develop in stages. A student can be fluent in decoding in 4th grade and be able to read/understand most of the words, but may not have had enough reading experience to understand the vocabulary, culture of the author or setting, choice, or have developed the maturity to fully understand and appreciate the subtleties or complexities of the writing.

 

I find it very telling that The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is all over the map for results in the various measures (see below) used to help match books to reading levels. That indicates that while the characters and events of the story match the interests of late elementary ages (Tom Sawyer is a boy of similar age), the reading level as far as reading strategies required and difficulty of the text itself place it more in the middle school school category. There is also the aspect that younger students just haven't read as much as older students to have the background in how some types of stories and humor work, plus they have limited exposure and understanding of older cultures to "get it".

 

The upshot to me is that younger students *can* (are able to) read it, but most probably don't *enjoy* it as fully as they would later on. I think this is true of a lot of classics. I think a lot of young strong readers would either appreciate the classics much more by doing them later on when their experience and processing catches up to their reading level, OR, enjoy the book as a read aloud at the younger age and do it as more formal literature again later on when additional skills and experience have more fully developed.

 

I would guess elementary ages would enjoy hearing The Adventures of Tom Sawyer as a read aloud or audio book. That removes the student from having to wrestle with the text just to get through it while reading it solo, and instead, all the brain energy can go to understanding what is happening, and connecting with the story and humor). In contrast, middle school/early high school ages will have the experience, vocabulary and maturity to understand and appreciate the book on their own.

 

JMO: Because everyone matures at different rates, and because everyone has differing amounts of exposure to reading books / hearing books read aloud, deciding when and how to introduce The Adventures of Tom Sawyer will vary widely from student to student.

 

Dramorellis:

Based on your own experience with the book (read it in 4th, but didn't enjoy it), what about reading it aloud or listening to a good audio book version next year as a fun family read aloud when your DS is in 4th, but then actually doing it as part of his literature studies somewhere in 7th-9th grades. Just a thought! Best of luck, whatever you decide! Warmest regards, Lori D.

__________________________________

 

Scholastic Book Wizard:

lexile measure = 950L (8th-10th grade)

guided reading level = Z (8th grade) -- "advanced reader"; long texts with older vocabulary/dialect, literary devices, social awareness, challenging themes

DRA = 70 (7th grade)

grade equivalence = 5.9 (5th grade, 9th month)

interest level = grades 3-7  (what age of reader would most likely identify with the work's characters/story)

 

Lexile Framework for Reading Level:

lexile measure = 750L (5th-7th grade)

guided reading level = Q (4th grade) --" self-extending reader", applies reading strategies

ability level = grades 4-5 (earliest age the work can be attempted based on reading skills)

interest level = grades 5-12  (what age of reader would most likely identify with the work's characters/story)

 

 

Lexile Measure explanation -- difficulty of the text being read

Guided Reading Level explanation, and, list of traits for each level -- measure of reading skills, abilities, strategies

DRA = Developmental Reading Assessment Level

chart for matching DRA and Guided Reading Level to Grade Equilavents

Lexile Measure and Grade Equilavents

[RootAnn]

Can you link me an example of this?

 

Examples: Walden is one that is a free e-book and once you "buy" it, it will take you to a page that offers you the audio companion for $.99.

 

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a free e-book. Audio companion for $.99 once you have the e-book.

 

White Fang e-book & then audio companion $.99.

 

Dracula is free this month, I believe. (I already have both the ebook & audio companion, so I can't verify that right now.)

[Haiku]

Thank you. Is there a reliable way to identify these, or do you just have to stumble across them?

[LaughingCat]

Thank you. Is there a reliable way to identify these, or do you just have to stumble across them?

In my post above the "$.99 classics" link takes you to a list of books where the amazon book is free and the audible book is .99

The whispersync page linked in the same post has both the book of the month and the a link to the $.99 page.

(edited post above to make it more clear)

[EndOfOrdinary]

I'm glad you guys worked out a solution! I'm very surprised to hear so many comment that it is difficult for that age though. I read it in 4th grade for class and had planned for DS(8) to do it next year as well. I did not enjoy it but it wasn't difficult and the whole class read it. I did end up reading it again in 8th grade I believe. This makes me want to reconsider now. 

 

I would not reconsider.  The only thing I would reconsider is if you were only going to go through it once.  My son and I read and listened to Beowulf last year (4th grade).  Normally that text is not covered until later, but my son LOVED it.  We did not go into crazy levels of analysis.  We just did the alliteration, meter, and intensity of what the story sounded like in important parts.  We found a few Biblical allusions (because they are very in your face).  But mainly it was just a really hardcore "Man-Lit" story.  Beowulf is sort of like the Chuck Norris of the Danes.

 

When he reads the text in a few years again, the pace can be much faster since the story is now familiar.  Some of the "knock you in the face" parts of the literature have already been discussed.  We can go through and really have a deeper conversation.  This is much like Lori D. talking about how the different ages get different things from the stories just because of experience.

 

So, you can still do Tom Sawyer.  Just do it a few times in different ways.