Reading/Lit. Program for 5th/6th Ideas needed

[Guest]

Okay, I have checked out Heart of Dakota. Anything else you use that you like? I prefer secular but will consider religious if it is not too heavy-handed. I know we can keep just reading as we do and writing reports but I feel like they are missing things that they would get if using a specific program. Plus, we want more writing. (Read as Mom wants more writing.) I am not looking for lit. guides. We tried one from VP and stopped after the second chapter. It was boring! They do not have comprehension problems. Thanks!

[Guest]

bump

[Sue G in PA]

I would recommend DITHOR, but you said you did already check it out. There is "some" Christian content but it is easily left out. Just don't do the worksheet on Godly traits if you don't want to. I like that you can choose your own books to read.

 

LLATL also has some lit. study/book study in each level. Yes, the program is more than just a reading program, but it's the only other one that came to mind if you don't want actual lit. guides, KWIM? You can check out LLATL at http://www.commonsensepress.com. I love the books in all the levels...especially for the 5th or 6th grade. LLATL has quickly become my "top pick" for curriculum for LA/reading. HTH a bit. Sorry I don't know of any more.

[Lori D.]

Discussion Questions

Here's a good list of questions from Susan Wise Bauer, listed on this website, under the heading of "Site Resources, click on the "Workshops and Handouts" link; then click on the "Academic Excellence, gr. 5-8" link (here: http://www.welltrainedmind.com/convention.php). Scroll down the page, and under the heading of "Reading" you'll find a great list of questions to get you started analyzing works.

 

 

 

Learn about Literary Elements

Learning about literary elements gives you something to look for as you read, and then you can discuss *how* those literary elements support the theme, etc. A bright 5th grader, and certainly a 6th grader could easily do all of these. We found these resources especially helpful, available at http://www.amazon.com or http://www.rainbowresource.com:

- Story Elements (gr. 5-6) -- pub. by Instructional Fair

- Story Elements (gr. 7-8) -- pub. by Instructional Fair

- Figuratively Speaking (Heidrich)

 

 

 

Book Club

Join with others to discuss a book; discussion with others always brings out things you didn't see.

 

 

Literature Guides

Don't discount all lit. guides. We were very unhappy with a SMARR guide we used this year for similar reasons you stated -- BUT, we were very, VERY pleased with one put out by Garlic Press publishers. Very meaty, and included all of the following:

 

- information on the author (in this case, background on 4 different translators of The Odyssey)

- background on the work itself

- chapter summaries

- 8-12 discussion questions per chapter (some were comprehension-based, but about a quarter of the questions are good, in-depth, prompting anaylsis, thought, and comparison)

- informative text on various literary elements and how they are used in the book

- writing assignments

- ideas for additional activities; resource lists

 

See Garlic Press guides at: http://garlicpress.com/cgi-bin/shop_gp.cgi?product=LITERATURE

 

No experience with Progeny Press (Christian worldview), but I have heard others on this board rate these guides well. Also, Spark Notes free online lit. guides are pretty good. We're using one on the Oedipus cycle of plays right now, and there's quite a bit of helpful background info. See Spark Notes at: http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/

 

 

BEST of luck in finding what works for your family! Warmest regards, Lori D.

[Lori D.]

Those questions by SWB also make a great starting point for writing assignments -- by answering the questions, your child can write a book review (which is more in-depth, with a little analysis than a straight book report which just tells the facts about the book's characters, author, and plot).

 

Another interesting resource is the book Deconstructing Penguins. Might be helpful for seeing how one book club worked, or you could use the books they cover in each chapter and use their line of questions to guide your own family discussion of the books. You could then crystalize the discussion into a paper on the book.

 

Other good writing assignment ideas are a compare/contrast, or discuss a theme in the book.

 

Best of luck! Warmly, Lori D.

[Perry]

I've been very happy with the Galore Park English Prep series.

[HollyDay]

We use DITHOR too. THe nice thing about that program is that you can make it whatever you want.

[WABeth]

Have you seen the Evan-Moor How to Report on Books series? They may not be quite what you are looking for, particularly because they don't require a lot of writing, but they do have a variety of book suggestions for each assignment (or you can easily use any book) and they introduce literary elements. You can look through the whole book on the E-M site, so you can figure out if it useful to you are not. Also it is secular and inexpensive. We have been enjoying them.

[Guest]

Thanks to you all for the suggestions...off to explore.

[Love2Learn]

Total Language Plus is another option. I don't recall that it really included literature analysis, but it did include vocabulary, comprehension questions, dictation, project ideas, etc. We used two guides this year, for 7th grade. My dd did not care for them because she does not like to read a book so slowly (6-8 weeks).

[Dayle in Guatemala]

Okay, I have checked out Heart of Dakota. Anything else you use that you like? I prefer secular but will consider religious if it is not too heavy-handed. Thanks!

 

You can totally skip the religious pages in DITHOR if you prefer. I've also used Total Language Plus, and while I think it's actually a good program, it just didn't work for us. I also have heard wonderful things about the book Deconstructing Penguins, but, unfortunately, I haven't read it.