Momof3Maidens Posted July 16, 2010 Share Posted July 16, 2010 Do you think using these two together would be too much reading for a student in one year? My dd is an avid reader but I don't want to overwhelm her. Any suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MIC in OH Posted July 16, 2010 Share Posted July 16, 2010 Oh I am waiting for answers here because I want to do the same thing with my 9th grade boys. :lurk5::lurk5: Please someone chime in!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheri Warren Posted July 18, 2010 Share Posted July 18, 2010 :lurk5: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted July 18, 2010 Share Posted July 18, 2010 Windows to the World is designed to be a 1-semester course, so if you are spreading it out over a full year, I think you'll be fine; at a VERY rough guess, I'd say it will take you about 2 hours per week. It covers only 6 short stories, BUT, it is teaching annotating (by re-reading the story and jotting notes in the margins) which takes time. And it is teaching how to write a literary analysis essay, which also takes time. However, with both of those tasks, we found it quite simple to break each task up into smaller "bites" over more days; for example, only annotate 2 pages of a short story per day, and so allow an entire week to complete our annotations, only taking about 20 min. per day. Similar with the lit. essay writing -- break the writing into smaller chunks over a longer time. And if you find it takes you longer than 1 year to do Windows to the World, no problem -- just pick it up the next year, where ever you left off. :) Enjoy your Notgrass/Windows year! Warmest regards, Lori D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MIC in OH Posted July 18, 2010 Share Posted July 18, 2010 Did you use the skills from Windows to analyze the readings for Notgrass? I want to be sure that between the two courses I give them enough work for their credits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted July 18, 2010 Share Posted July 18, 2010 (edited) To clarify: We have only done Exploring America by Notgrass, and didn't do the Lit. portion -- just the History. We made our own American Lit. by selecting our own works and discussed/wrote about the works using various lit. guides, TWEM type of questions, etc. We used Windows to the World in a previous year, but at the same time we used another lit. program, and it worked fine. From what I have seen of the samples for Notgrass World History (which we have not done), it is very similar to the American History (which we have done) -- that is what I based my assessment on. While I think Windows to the World does a good job of teaching: - how to annotate - helps you see that you use annotation for discussing/writing about literature - and does an excellent job of teaching specifically how to write a literary analysis essay the program does not teach you literary elements (the "tools" of literary analysis), nor how specifically to go about analyzing literature. So, what skills we carried forward from Windows to later literature was not so much the analyzing (since Windows doesn't teach that), but more the annotating/essay writing aspects of literature. BTW; while we did not do Windows at the same time we did Notgrass, the year we did Windows we were also doing another full year literature program, and were not crowded for time, as we spread Windows over the course of the year. Notgrass has no instruction on literary analysis; does not teach literary elements; has only a few general comprehension questions; and a few writing assignment ideas to count towards the Literature credit. In addition, JMO, but I would only count about half the books in Notgrass towards Literature credit; the others I would consider supplement to either History or Bible. If you supplement with lit. guides and teaching information for those 6 books that could count as Literature, then I would say yes, you could count the Notgrass as 0.5 credit of Literature, and then Windows to the World as 0.5 credit of Literature. In case it is of help, below I have listed the Notgrass books, and ideas for how to supplement. BEST of luck, whatever you decide! Warmest regards, Lori D. LITERATURE Julius Caesar (Shakespeare) - Sparknotes free online guide - Absolute Shakespeare free online guide - Cliff's Notes free online guide - Cummings free online guide - Glencoe Literature Library free online guide - Parallel Text Shakespeare (book with original language and modern translation; teacher guide; student workbook; teacher editiion of workbook) - Progeny Press Christian guide - Brightest Heaven of Invention: Christian Guide to Six Shakespeare Plays Pilgrim's Progress (Bunyan) - free comprehension/discussion questions - Pink Monkey free online guide - free downloadable sermon series on the book A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens) - Sparknotes free online guide - Cliff's Notes free online guide - Glencoe Literature Library free online guide - Progeny Press Christian guide: Pride and Prejudice (Austen) - Sparknotes free online guide - Glencoe Literature Library free online guide - Progeny Press Christian guide Heart of Darkness (Conrad) - Sparknotes free online guide - Glencoe Literature Library free online guide - Progeny Press Christian guide Animal Farm (Orwell) - Sparknotes free online guide - Cliff's Notes free online guide - Glencoe Literature Library free online guide - Penguin Group free online guide HISTORY Historical Fiction -- (read as supplement to History) - The Cat of Bubastes (Henty) Biography -- OR -- Inspirational (read as supplement to History -- OR -- to Bible/Religion) - Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther (Bainton) - Eric Liddell: Pure Gold (McCasland) - The Hiding Place (Ten Boom) BIBLE (non-Fiction Theology -- read as supplement to a Bible, Religion or Worldview credit) - Mere Christianity (Lewis) - The Imitation of Christ (Kempis) -- The Great Books study guide (Christian worldview guided discussion guide) available - The Abolition of Man (Lewis) Edited July 18, 2010 by Lori D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MIC in OH Posted July 18, 2010 Share Posted July 18, 2010 Thank you for this list. I have saved it to my links. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momof3Maidens Posted July 18, 2010 Author Share Posted July 18, 2010 Thanks Lori for that explanation and list! I had decided to go ahead and spread WTTW out over a year like you suggested before reading your text so that's a confirmation. The list is valuable! Thank you for taking the time to respond to my post. Many Blessings! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cocoabean Posted July 18, 2010 Share Posted July 18, 2010 Lori D, since you mentioned that WTTW does not include the lit analysis instruction, what program did you use for lit analysis, and in which order (ie: WTTW first then lit analysis; or WTTW after lit analysis instruction)? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura in OH Posted July 19, 2010 Share Posted July 19, 2010 (edited) We plan on doing this next year! I will also be using Jill Pike's WttW syllabus found on the IEWFamilies Yahoo group (Files>Lessonshare). She only added 3 books along with the short stories, etc, in Windows. We will be reading 10 books plus Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Edited July 19, 2010 by Laura in OH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted July 19, 2010 Share Posted July 19, 2010 (edited) Lori D, since you mentioned that WTTW does not include the lit analysis instruction, what program did you use for lit analysis, and in which order (ie: WTTW first then lit analysis; or WTTW after lit analysis instruction)? Thanks. JMO, but I think as a general rule you need to understand the "tools" (literary elements) of literary analysis FIRST, before trying to do Windows to the World, because WttW is teaching annotation and then using your annotations to discuss/write about literature. You have to have some sort of idea of what you are even looking for to have a clue of what to note in the margins of the story as you read -- and then, most importantly, what those literary elements MEAN -- how they support theme, characterization, worldview, etc. Of course, in my "fly by the seat of my pants homeschooling style" (lol), I did NOT think this all through formally in advance of high school. Also bear in mind, I have a very strong literature analysis and film analysis background, so it just came naturally to me throughout our homeschooling. I didn't tend to use formal programs, just tried to throw out the occasional question during a book or a movie to get them thinking; as they got older (middle school), I started to mention occasional cinema elements (lighting, sound, framing) etc., and explain how that element was visually supporting a theme or the development of a character or a character's choices. From films, I started applying that to books, especially once we went through Figuratively Speaking and understood the "tools" (literary elements) that support theme, characterization, worldview, etc. (While I never used any of these, I would imagine that programs or resources such as Teaching the Classics, Reading Strands, How to Read a Book, How to Read Like a College Professor, The Well Educated Mind, and others would be helpful to give you that background info and help in guiding discussion with question ideas.) Also, because our DSs are only 1 grade apart (less than 2 years apart in age), we can do alll of our Lit. and History together -- 3 makes a group for discussion! ;) We read aloud, define vocabulary in context "in the moment, and then discuss after reading, using TWEM questions for ideas, as well as various lit. guides. More and more, we find we refer very little to other materials. In case it is of help, below are the "formal" literature programs and when we did them. Warmest regards, Lori D. grade 6/7 - both = Story Elements (gr. 5-6) - both = Story Elements (gr. 7-8) - gr. 7 DS = Figuratively Speaking grades 7/8 - gr. 7 DS = Figuratively Speaking - gr. 7 DS = Lightning Lit 7 - gr. 8 DS = Lightning Lit 8 - gr. 8 DS = Walch Toolbox: Prose and Poetry grades 8/9 - both = English credit (lit. portion) = Literary Lessons from the Lord of the Rings, done together - both = Elective credit: The Great Books: Ancient Classics = 8 Great Books (ancients), done together, using various lit. guides/resources grades 9/10 - both = Elective credit: The Great Books (short stories) = Windows to the World, done together - both = Elective credit: The Great Books (20th Century classics), done together, using various lit. guides/resources - gr. 9 DS = English credit (lit. portion) = LL8 - gr. 10 DS = English credit (lit. portion) = "Worldviews in Sci Fi and Gothic Lit", made our own course, using various lit. guides/resources grades 10/11 - both DSs = made our own American Lit., done together, using lots of various lit. guides and resources; we did enough works to fulfill the lit. portion of the English credit, plus extra towards Elective: Great Books credit grades 11/12 (this coming year) - both DSs = make our own British Lit., do some solo and some together, using lots of various lit. guides and resources; we plan to do enough works to fulfill the lit. portion of the English credit, plus extra towards Elective: Great Books credit grade 12 (the following year) - probably a mix of World Lit, and Classic Fantasy and Sci-Fi Lit, enough for the lit. portion of the English credit, perhaps extra towards Elective: Great Books credit Edited July 19, 2010 by Lori D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LanaTron Posted July 19, 2010 Share Posted July 19, 2010 Also, because our DSs are only 1 grade apart (less than 2 years apart in age), we can do alll of our Lit. and History together -- 3 makes a group for discussion! ;) We read aloud, define vocabulary in context "in the moment, and then discuss after reading, using TWEM questions for ideas, as well as various lit. guides. More and more, we find we refer very little to other materials. I think I'll be doing something similar to what you've described with my 9th and 8th grade dc. Did you have your DSs do any writing, or did you do it all orally? TIA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom31257 Posted July 20, 2010 Share Posted July 20, 2010 :lurk5: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted July 20, 2010 Share Posted July 20, 2010 I think I'll be doing something similar to what you've described with my 9th and 8th grade dc. Did you have your DSs do any writing, or did you do it all orally? TIA We strive to do some sort of writing response for about half of the works we read -- sometimes just a paragraph, sometimes 3-5 paragraphs, once in awhile 3 pages or so. We generally use some question or writing assignment idea from a lit. guide as the prompt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LanaTron Posted July 20, 2010 Share Posted July 20, 2010 Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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