Anyone care to discuss using alternate lists for TOG

[momee]

I am considering loosening up with my oldest and TOG rhetoric. We've done it since year 1 unit 1 at this level and he's not interested and burnt out on this type of learning. I need to engage his brain!

 

This unit's history rec, The Colonial Period is fine but very dry for him. I was considering using some of the alternate rec's.

 

Have any of you done this for a period? Are we going to have troubles with the thinking questions? Will I be stepping back?

 

I was looking ahead to unit 4 and one of the rec's is 1776 by David McCullough. This isn't the same type of reading as the assigned Revolutionary Period or the Presidents Fact Book.

 

Any thoughts?

 

The literature choices aren't engaging him either, but I'm starting with the history first.

[Leanna Tomlinson]

I am assuming you're in Year 2 Unit 4.

 

Here are some of the things we did to mix things up a bit.

 

This movie: http://www.nccs.net/constitution-week/a-more-perfect-union.html

 

We rented the John Adams mini series (applies to wks 32-36 if I remember correctly). There are a few troubling scenes, but OK for MY 15yo - you can judge for yourself. There was a thread on this last fall.

 

Watched:The Patriot - a lot of violence, but OK for my teen.

 

I had one student in my co-op class last year that did not want to share books with his sister. He googled every topic online and came up with amazing answers to his Accountability and Thinking questions. That's an option if your son needs a break.

 

About the Lit...hands down, my entire Rhetoric class voted Tartuffe as their favorite read of the year. Make sure you get the version TOG recommends. A big part of the humor is the rhythm and rhyme of the play. One of my students got another version that was more of an exact translation and did not rhyme. She did not see the humor until we read excerpts in class.

We skipped Phaedra for my beginning students. My co-op class had mixed opinions on Gulliver's Travels, but IMHO you could skip it if your ds is burned out. Remember to look at the "cutting list" on the loom under "Rhetoric Literature helps".

 

BTW- the same series that includes The Colonial Period is continued in year 3, but for some reason my son liked the later books better.

 

HTH,

Leanna