need help with English credit - hates lit analysis

[summerreading]

Ds 14 year old, dyslexic doing 9th grade

 

 

For 1 English credit we are doing

SWI-C and The Elegant Essay

and Lightning Literature but just the analysis part since we are trying to tackle writing with IEW

Spelling remediation with Apples and Pears and Vocab with English from the Roots Up. 

 

First of all, is this enough?

 

He always tests high on reading comprehension and loves to read. He will check out like 15 young adult books at a time. He last read Under the Dome by Stephen King to give you an idea where he's at.

 

But he is hating Lightning Lit. Today he said it's just different when I make him read it. He is not paying attention as much and wants to skim. I am using the 8th grade level but I don't think the level would matter at this point. I asked him do you want to make up a list of your own books and he said no it would be the same. I gave him the this is life lecture but yeah teenager. 

 

So what can I do here? He is obviously reading and processing literature but he's not at the point of me being able to say ok read your own books and write me a paper about the major themes. 

 

ETA: he's a STEM kid if that matters at all. 

Edited January 9, 2018 by summerreading

[MerryAtHope]

What about just letting him read for the most part?

 

I just had my kids tell me what was going on in their book. Sometimes we had short conversations, sometimes longer ones. I think it's more important that kids read a variety of works than that they do the kind of lit analysis that Lightning Lit requires. I usually downloaded 1-2 free lit. guides per year to discuss a couple of books in more depth. We often did those discussions orally rather than through a paper, though there were times I had them write. 

 

Our English credits typically involved:

reading (30-45 minutes per day, I gave the list of books)

writing (30 or so minutes per day)

vocabulary (informal through read-alouds that I continued throughout high school to cover more difficult works, and also some formal through our spelling program and working on some word roots).

 

We did do a grammar unit one year as part of the credit, but most years it was part of writing. 

 

One year I did speech in place of writing. 

 

I didn't find formal lit. analysis especially important as a college pre-req, but I did work in some of the "lingo" as we discussed (literary elements etc...)

[JanetC]

Yes. I'd say if those plans were working, it would be enough.

 

For my second daughter, one year I did an English textbook and gave her the teacher's edition to read from. That way she could read all the analysis questions and the answers as she went. It really demystified literary analysis for her.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

My $0.02.

 

Non-fiction writing is still writing.  It needs good organization, good word choice, and appropriate levels of rhetoric.  What makes a good piece on Wired compelling?  What makes an article in Smithsonian memorable?  How do you write an executive summary of an experiment or a grant proposal?  

 

If he is into science fiction, then pull heavily from that genre.  I did a full year where we mostly read books that the Steampunk genre is based on.  Sherlock Holmes, Frankenstein, Dracula, Jules Verne, some modern steampunk (Diamond Age was one title).  We talked about what made the books engaging, and something that authors and moviemakers keep going back to.  

 

What he needs to be able to do is get words down on paper.  His writing should be clear, organized, and have a point.  That is important even for STEM majors.  He doesn't have to practice his writing based only on works of fiction, but he should be prepared for some literary analysis in college.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

Also, drama is a big part of literature and watching it is at least as important at reading it, if not more important.  Use plays in your literature.  They tend to be shorter as well, which helps.

 

If you have some friends you can rope in, it can be fun to watch a Shakespeare, read it aloud, then watch a different version.  Talk about the different staging decisions.