Handmaiden Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 We just started Grammar Island yesterday, and am wondering when to start the poetry book. I read the recommended progression on the MCT site, and it says that the poetry book can be "woven in the matrix" flexibly. I think I read on one of the threads that someone said they were ahead in one book and wished they had paced the reading differently. Can't remember if this was for poetry or not. When have you all introduced poetry? Also, when I start the Town level with my 12yo does he read it independently? Or is it better if I sit down with him and read Grammar Town with him? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rafiki Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cindy in NY Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 We are doing town level and started the poetry book a week after we started Grammar Town. It is working well for us. We will wait for the other components until we finish Grammar Town. I read Grammar Town to my boys, even my 12 year old. That lets us discuss it and really talk about the grammar. I get to see what they really understand and what they just parrot back to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Handmaiden Posted January 22, 2010 Author Share Posted January 22, 2010 I waited until we were done with Grammar Island to start all the other books. Looking back, I wish I would have started Grammar Island and Music of the Hemispheres at the same time. In Building Language writing similes and 4 line poems are used to practice stems. Also, in Sentence Island and Practice Island you'll be able to pull more out of it, if you have the background from Music of the Hemispheres. Michele, I think it might have been one of your previous posts that pointed me this way. Thanks for the feedback! We are doing town level and started the poetry book a week after we started Grammar Town. It is working well for us. We will wait for the other components until we finish Grammar Town. I read Grammar Town to my boys, even my 12 year old.That lets us discuss it and really talk about the grammar. I get to see what they really understand and what they just parrot back to me. Thanks, Cindy. This helps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swimmermom3 Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 I would like to throw out an idea on Paragraph Town. We are working on the Voyage level. I decided to back up the writing to Paragraph Town. After my ds and I had read Chap. 2 about the chaos on Pequod Street, my ds (11) asked to continue reading the book on his own. This child would prefer I read all of his school work to him except mythology. With MCT, there is so much to discover within the text itself, I think it's intriguing for the student. For example, on pg. 90, Queequack is talking about the order of sentences in a descriptive paragraph. Fishmeal is not listening as he is enjoying the view from the roof. My son loved the fact that the paragraph with Fishmeal's meanderings was in fact a great descriptive paragraph. It has become a game to scrutinize the actual text to discover more examples of the topic. This is self-discovery at its best. For an older child, reading Paragraph Town for themselves and "seeing" the words could provide added benefits. It is just a thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capt_Uhura Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 I waited until we were done with Grammar Island to start all the other books. Looking back, I wish I would have started Grammar Island and Music of the Hemispheres at the same time. In Building Language writing similes and 4 line poems are used to practice stems. Also, in Sentence Island and Practice Island you'll be able to pull more out of it, if you have the background from Music of the Hemispheres. I can't comment on Town Level yet. Michele, can you provide an example from SI where you would be able to pull more out of it, if you had done MotH first? I'm not clear on this. We only have clauses to do before finishing GI so I guess it's a mute point for me lol but I would like to understand what you're saying. Perhaps we should do a good portion of MotH before starting Sentence Island? We could do PI, MotH, and Building Language together and wait a bit on SI. Capt_Uhura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Handmaiden Posted January 23, 2010 Author Share Posted January 23, 2010 I would like to throw out an idea on Paragraph Town. We are working on the Voyage level. I decided to back up the writing to Paragraph Town. After my ds and I had read Chap. 2 about the chaos on Pequod Street, my ds (11) asked to continue reading the book on his own. This child would prefer I read all of his school work to him except mythology. With MCT, there is so much to discover within the text itself, I think it's intriguing for the student. For example, on pg. 90, Queequack is talking about the order of sentences in a descriptive paragraph. Fishmeal is not listening as he is enjoying the view from the roof. My son loved the fact that the paragraph with Fishmeal's meanderings was in fact a great descriptive paragraph. It has become a game to scrutinize the actual text to discover more examples of the topic. This is self-discovery at its best. For an older child, reading Paragraph Town for themselves and "seeing" the words could provide added benefits. It is just a thought. Hmmm....thanks for the food for thought! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie in MN Posted January 23, 2010 Share Posted January 23, 2010 I would like to throw out an idea on Paragraph Town. We are working on the Voyage level. I decided to back up the writing to Paragraph Town. After my ds and I had read Chap. 2 about the chaos on Pequod Street, my ds (11) asked to continue reading the book on his own. This child would prefer I read all of his school work to him except mythology. With MCT, there is so much to discover within the text itself, I think it's intriguing for the student. For example, on pg. 90, Queequack is talking about the order of sentences in a descriptive paragraph. Fishmeal is not listening as he is enjoying the view from the roof. My son loved the fact that the paragraph with Fishmeal's meanderings was in fact a great descriptive paragraph. It has become a game to scrutinize the actual text to discover more examples of the topic. This is self-discovery at its best. For an older child, reading Paragraph Town for themselves and "seeing" the words could provide added benefits. It is just a thought. I've sort-of discovered this for older kids, too. My 14yo is going quickly through PT, and he enjoys my reading the chapters aloud. But then he doesn't mind at all going back and reading them himself the next week as a review. He's getting more out of it both due to the review and due to looking at it differently as a reader. Julie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted January 23, 2010 Share Posted January 23, 2010 This is how I'm doing it (and it seems to be working): Grammar Island--6 weeks Sentence Island--6 weeks Start Practice Island and continue through the school year Building Language--11 weeks (introduction then one stem per week) Poetry--10 weeks As for your older child, I think the power of MCT is in the daily interaction about language. I would go through it with him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swimmermom3 Posted January 23, 2010 Share Posted January 23, 2010 This is how I'm doing it (and it seems to be working): Grammar Island--6 weeks Sentence Island--6 weeks Start Practice Island and continue through the school year Building Language--11 weeks (introduction then one stem per week) Poetry--10 weeks As for your older child, I think the power of MCT is in the daily interaction about language. I would go through it with him. Right! I forgot to mention that even though my ds enjoys reading PT on his own, we spend a lot of time on discussion. The material is too rich not to talk about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.... Posted January 23, 2010 Share Posted January 23, 2010 One day, we work on Grammar Island...the next day, we work on Music of the Hemispheres... We just switch off. It seems to be working well for her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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