ereks mom
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Posts posted by ereks mom
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I'm looking for something simple with comprehension questions and vocabulary, and maybe a few paragraph-writing assignments. I haven't found anything free online, nor anything for purchase either, for that matter.
I had my copy of Calico Captive in a pile of books I'm considering for the upcoming school year, and EK (age 20) saw it and told me that I simply MUST have my students read it. She read the book years ago and has kept it on her top shelf (she has "top shelf" books, LOL) ever since. She hasn't read it for probably 5 years at the very least, and she just narrated the entire plot of the book to me from memory! I can only hope it will have that impression on my reading-hating students. But I don't want to write my own study guide; I have too much else to do! Help!
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A butter knife is not a real knife though. You can't cut yourself with one even if you tried.
Well, I did! And I was an adult. It was the week after I got married, and I somehow managed to slice my finger on a BUTTER KNIFE! I still remember it because, like you, I didn't think it could happen. I felt like an idiot. Now, 35 years later, I still sometimes manage to do things that make me feel that way. :p
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In my quest to find a version of Beowulf to use with my students, I ran across this very interesting article that compares five different versions [beowulf the Warrior by Ian Serraillier (1954), Beowulf Dragonslayer by Rosemary Sutcliff (1961), Beowulf by Kevin Crossley-Holland (1982), Beowulf by Robert Nye (1995), and Beowulf and the Monster by Brian Patten], and I decided to share it in case it might help someone else also:
http://www.academia.edu/476181/Beowulf_For_Boys
Since Michael Morpurgo's Beowulf adaptation was not included in the article, I am curious as to how it would compare in its faithfulness to the original. Anyone care to comment?
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My children have seen someone change a tire, and dh taught ER (25) how to do it--and ER has actually done it himself when he had a flat. EK (20) was shown how it's done but has never done it. I am 54 years old and I have never changed a tire. I have seen it done, but never did it myself. I do have AAA! :p
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Instead of these, I'd do Where the Broken Heart Still Beats. It's the story of Cynthia Ann Parker, and doesn't cast Native Americans as strictly the bad guys menacing the "good" white settlers. I looked up the reading level and it's 6th grade. It's set a little late for your time period, though. Another option is Streams to the River, River to the Sea, which is the the Lewis and Clark expedition with Sacajawea, at a 6th grade reading level. Naya Nuki, the Shoshone Girl Who Ran might be interesting to them, though it doesn't have much to do with conflict with white people. Kenneth Thomasma wrote a several books about Native American kids that are around 5th grade reading level.
I searched for Where the Broken Heart Still Beats: The Story of Cynthia Ann Parker by Carolyn Meyer after reading your post, but it doesn't fit the criteria. I need a book set about 1750, but this one is set approximately 100 years later than that. Thanks, though! I'll keep looking.
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Our homeschool doesn't have a name. Not sure why we'd name it at all.
On my own dc's college applications, we wrote "homeschool" in the blank for "name of high school." It was never a problem. In fact, EK's college actually has a "Home School Scholarship" and they awarded her a $2,000 per year scholarship just BECAUSE she was homeschooled.
Now that I am teaching other people's children full-time, my students asked if we could have a school name. Our property has lots of dogwood trees, which I love, so we are now Dogwood Home School. I didn't use "Academy" because I just don't like the way it sounds. No offense intended.
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Suggestion: Why don't you post this on the the MP forums for struggling students and see what kinds of responses you get? They might have some good suggestions for modifying the work.
I didn't even know they had forums! I've only bought some of their Latin materials, so I don't know much about Memoria Press.
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Thanks, everyone, for all the great suggestions! I do have one MAJOR question, though. I had settled on Green's Robin Hood and King Arthur because I wanted to use the Memoria Press guides with them--all nicely laid out with vocabulary, writing exercises, comprehension questions, AND available in workbook format for the moms to buy (I give them a list of curriculum, and they buy what their girls need), so for me, it's VERY freeing because I don't have to write vocabulary tests or quizzes, and I don't have to spend a lot of time making copies. So my question is... which versions of these books (and the others mentioned) have readily available reading guides to accompany them???? There is my biggest dilemma! I was so excited to find the Memoria Press workbooks because I REALLY, REALLY need to limit the amount of time I spend on lesson planning. I have PROMISED my wonderful husband that I will NOT spend so much time on lesson planning during the upcoming school year. This past year, I was up past midnight most nights, including weekends, working on lessons for the girls. I'm dedicated, but this is ridiculous!
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Then I wouldn't have them read Shakespeare, who is tough for strong readers to comprehend simply because the English he spoke was very different from the English we speak today. You wouldn't want a version that's abridged or simplified, you'd want something rewritten at that point.
This past school year, we read Julius Caesar readers' theater style using Shakespeare Plays in the Classroom from Good Apple (ISBN 0768200083). It's marketed for grades 6-9. The girls seemed to enjoy it, and they all did well on the test I gave at the end of our study. If there is something like this available for Macbeth or another play I think they'd like, I might try that again.
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My own children would have breezed through the Green versions, but the girls I am teaching now would become REALLY frustrated. And here I was all set to buy the Green versions and the study guides from Memoria Press instead of writing my own. My work would've been so much easier. Crud! Now I have to start over and find Robin Hood and King Arthur on REAL 5th or 6th grade level. Suggestions, anyone??My kids read Green around then, but I have a houseful of strong readers who work/worked down VP lists for elementary. Those two books are more challenging to read and easily thrice as long as the typical Mccaughrean book (whom we also read and loved).
So... I just found a King Arthur book by McCaughrean on my shelf. I need to research it to find out what reading level it is and if there's a study guide that goes with it.
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Okay, I did some searching and found that Green's Robin Hood is about 9th grade level and his King Arthur is about 8th grade level. So.... Why does Memoria Press have these listed in their 5th or 6th grade (it recently changed) literature program????
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Macbeth is bloody. I'd agree that Romeo and Juliet would reach teen girls better. Midsummer Night's Dream is fun and more lighthearted? It'd be fun to act out parts.
If you're really concerned about them getting through even 8 books, you might look for an easier author than Green for Robin Hood and King Arthur. Or else replace at least one of them. He's a serious jump from McCaughrean in difficulty.
What is the reading level or lexile level of those two books? Since we do everything as a read-together read-aloud, it shouldn't matter much anyway, right?
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I would also look at dropping either King Arthur or Robin Hood. I know King Arthur is long; haven't seen the Robin Hood. How accessible is Canterbury Tales? I like McCaughrean (though not familiar with this one), but this would be something I might read about rather than read. For kids who don't really like reading (eg my youngest), I would look at which books are physically less threatening--thinner books, larger print. And engaging story for girls. I like to do Shakespeare as a read-aloud--maybe that would be better than assigning it for them to read on their own. Or assign them roles as you all read it aloud.
Just so you know... We read EVERYTHING aloud together, usually taking turns "round robin" style. I rarely assign them more than a few pages to read on their own because they don't comprehend much.
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On a side note, SOTW 3 goes to 1850, and SOTW 4 starts at 1850. Did you mean 2 and 3?
Oops! Yes! I'll go edit that...
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I don't even know what kind of a planner I am. First, I plan out how many lessons or pages we need to do per week to finish all of my planned subjects/courses in 36 weeks. From that, I make a weekly schedule. Then, I only actually write down what we're going to do in my planner a week ahead of time. And then I write down some of what we do as we do it. So I'm a combination yearly planner, weekly planner and logger. :) I think.
I do, however, print stuff a week at a time. I use a lot of digital curricula and it would take ages and ages to print it all ahead of time.
I am like this too. I make a broad yearly plan, and as much as possible, I plan the whole year week by week. BUT I get SO tired of having to reconfigure my lesson plans when something unforeseen happens and we get a day behind, or someone completely bombs a math test and I have to go back and reteach for a couple of days. I find that it works better for me to make a general plan for the year and then make more specific plans week by week. I made a weekly assignment sheet in Word to use as a template, and I try to plan some subjects 4 to 6 weeks ahead on the assignment sheets, filling in the rest week by week.
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I developed a rubric for essay grading, and I use it as a checklist to look for particular elements--including handwriting, capitalization, punctuation, spelling, etc.) each time I grade an essay. I prefer grading assignments objectively, and essay grading was always so subjective that I felt like I wasn't able to be consistent. I'd be happy to share my rubric with you. PM me your email address if you'd like to see it.
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The one thing I REALLY, REALLY miss from the old (well, previous) board format is the ability to categorize the posts you follow. I lost ALL of mine when WTM went to the current format a few years ago.
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Thank you so much for your thoughts!
Honestly, I would skip Macbeth entirely.
...If you have to have 8 and want them exposed to Macbeth, you could do the comic book version that Rainbow Resource carries. It's a graphic novel, and it's available in both plain text and quick text, which is the plain text edited down so there are even fewer words to read.
I'm just curious as to why you would skip Macbeth?? So you think it would be inaccessible to them, or just dull?
I don't have to have 8 books; I'd actually prefer fewer, because I doubt these girls could manage that many, given their lack of reading skills.
Thanks!
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I UPDATED MY LIST TO SHOW THE BOOKS I'VE DELETED AND/OR SUBSTITUTED (for now). :D It's still a work in progress, so keep the suggestions coming.
For those new to the game: I teach a group of 13-16 year old girls who are poor readers, and I need 7-8 historical fiction books set in AD 500-1750 that are actually 5th-6th grade level. I had planned to use the Memoria Press Robin Hood and King Arthur books (by Green) and guides in their 6th grade package, but that version of King Arthur is actually NINTH grade reading level, and the Robin Hood is approximately EIGHTH. These versions would be especially frustrating to the struggling learners I tutor.
(Incidentally, Veritas Press includes them in their FOURTH grade package. :o)
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Next year's history will be SOTW 2 & half of SOTW 3, so approximately AD 500-1750. I have narrowed down our accompanying literature choices to the books listed below. FWIW, I plan to use
mainlyBeautiful Feet's Intermediate Medieval History guide andMemoria Press literature guides.others. I need suggestions.
However, I don't think we'll be able to get through all of these--i'm thinking 8 of them at most??? Remember that I am teaching 13-16 year old girls with poor (slow) reading skills and therefore an aversion to reading. I would love to have your suggestions for which ones to leave out.
****ETA:
Just so you know... We read EVERYTHING aloud together, usually taking turns "round robin" style. I rarely assign them more than a few pages to read on their own because they don't comprehend much.****
Beowulf - Michael Morpurgo
King Arthurand His Knights of the Round Table- Roger Lancelyn Green- Core Classics edition?
One Thousand and One Arabian Nights - Geraldine McCaughreanThe Adventures ofRobin Hood- Roger Lancelyn Green- Core Classics edition?Adam of the Road - Elizabeth Janet Gray
The Canterbury Tales - Geraldine McCaughrean
an abridged or simplified version of Shakespeare's Macbeth
Tituba of Salem Village by Ann Petry
- OR - The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
Alone, Yet Not Alone by Tracy Leininger Craven - AND - I Am Regina by Sally M. Keehn
- OR -
Calico Captive by Elizabeth George Speare
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Indian Captive by Lois Lenski
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The Beaded Moccasins: The Story of Mary Campbell by Lynda Durrant
THANKS! :D-
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Ah, now it's working. Weird!
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Is it down for scheduled maintenance, or did it crash?
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I know that the OLSAT is sometimes used to screen for giftedness, but would the test have any usefulness as a screening tool for children who struggle? I need help in identifying specific areas of academic weaknesses and strengths, but in children (teens) who would be more likely to qualify for a remediation or special education program instead of a gifted program.
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Is there a free one online anywhere, or can you recommend one for purchase? Thanks!
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I am in Georgia as well. The girl I mentioned earlier in the thread (who entered public school at 7th grade) still lives in GA, in North Fulton County. She went to school in Cherokee County, and then graduated from Kennesaw State. OP, if you don't mind me asking, which school district is she attending?
Ruth
I'll PM you.
Calico Captive by Elizabeth George Speare--do you know of a reading/study guide for this?
in General Education Discussion Board
Posted
UPDATE: I kept searching and clicked on some unlikely looking links, and I found these:
http://somcanyons.enschool.org/apps/classes/show_assignment.jsp?start=70&classREC_ID=551669&showAll=true (search the page for "Calico Captive", then click "prev" at the bottom to find more assignments)
http://tjca.teamcfa.org/staff_pages/lyn_boeckx/view/58402/calico_captive
http://tjca.teamcfa.org/staff_pages/lyn_boeckx/view/42124/language_arts