Unabridged Tom Sawyer for 6th grader?

[creekmom]

I know unabridged versions of classics are preferred in TWTM forums, but I picked up a copy of Tom Sawyer for my 6th grader and thought the language/vocabulary would be difficult for him. For example, on page 3:

 

"Like many other simple-hearted souls, it was her pet vanity to believe she was endowed with a talent for dark and mysterious diplomacy, and she loved to contemplate her most transparent devices as marvels of low cunning."

 

My ds would get lost in these phrases. Advice??

[AuntPol]

I guess it would depend on the child. Has he been exposed to a lot of high level read alouds and read other difficult books. My dd is in 6th and my DS is in 5th and they are reading the unabridged version of Tom Sawyer. However, they both have higher reading levels and we read a lot of difficult books as read alouds, including a lot of books with dialects. We also discuss each chapter so I can make sure they are comprehending.

[PeterPan]

Kids just differ. I know my dd has read it several times over the last couple years, and I never assigned it. You just never know what a kid will take to. Try it. If it flops, try something else. Lots of books in the world, lol.

 

PS. We don't read aloud anymore (I gave up, lol), and we don't discuss. If it ends up bathroom reading, it must have been good. Usually she reads things she likes multiple times. At that point, she's probably comprehending as well as anyone else would. I don't think we have to understand something perfectly or fully the first time for it to have been valuable. I don't even really assign stretch books at this point. I just mainly keep her going. However she's a pretty willing victim. Lots of reading and finding their niche helps. I usually just throw a pile at her and see what happens. If he doesn't dig Twain, try a different genre even, and keep trying till you find something that sticks. Then put a rack in the bathroom and see what happens. That's my reading program. :)

Edited February 28, 2011 by OhElizabeth

[prairiegirl]

My dd read it last year when she was in Gr. 5. She found it difficult but, the mean mom that I am, I made her continue. I told her to just keep ploughing through it and try to figure out the meaning through the context of the reading. She got the hang of it, eventually, and it became one of her favourites.

[Ohdanigirl]

My dd read it last year when she was in Gr. 5. She found it difficult but, the mean mom that I am, I made her continue. I told her to just keep ploughing through it and try to figure out the meaning through the context of the reading. She got the hang of it, eventually, and it became one of her favourites.

 

I think that this often works. I have also read some difficult books aloud, or found a good unabridged audio book. My dc love audio books just for fun. They have no idea I am sneaking in more school this way.:D

 

Danielle

[Michele B]

My just-turned-10 dd listened to it (recording from Librivox) and thought it was hysterically funny! She has asked to listen to it in the car since then. I don't know if the language would be visually difficult, but it has not stopped her from enjoying the story on audio. She has always listened to older literature on audio, so that may help.

[mamato3 all-boy boys]

My son read it and Huck Finn in 4th or 5th ish grade as free reading. I know he got something out of it, but didn't understand all of it, and I'm OK with that. He'll read it again, undoubtedly, as part of "school" and we'll work on deeper analysis and comprehension at that time.

 

Right now, I'm just glad he's reading good literature. He doesn't know that he's supposed to groan, roll over and pretend to die when he picks up classic literature. Hopefully, he'll have the same attitude when we get to Dickens :tongue_smilie:

[KAR120C]

A well-read audiobook can clarify a lot of the difficult sentences. DS has always listened to books more difficult than what he would read on his own.

[creekmom]

I love the audio book idea!! Thank you! I'm realizing that he doesn't have to understand every word to enjoy the story. I don't know why I get so hung up on that. :tongue_smilie:

[Testimony]

My younger son is reading Tom Sawyer right now as we speak. He says that he is not having trouble understanding it. He narrates the story back and he seems to get it as he tells me the information.

 

When he gets very stuck on a section, I tell him to read it aloud. Hearing it spoken back, he starts to understand better.

 

My older son is reading Huck Finn which is harder than Tom Sawyer. He sees it like the Shakespearean plays. He reads aloud if he is stuck because it helps him to understand the language. So, my sons both understand what they are reading and they feel that having read Shakespeare helped.

 

Blessings in your homeschooling journey!

 

Sincerely,

Karen

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony

[mamato3 all-boy boys]

Really, no big "wow." Like I said, it was free reading, I'm sure he didn't understand it all, but that is OK. He picked up a classic, read it, and he'll read it again.

 

Good point about reading some passages aloud. Especially when reading dialects, it is helpful to read it aloud to get the hang of it.

[Mom22ns]

My ds picked it up to read in 6th and didn't like it. Read it again for LL7 and loved it. Sometimes a small change in maturity makes a big difference.

[katilac]

We did Tom Sawyer as a family read aloud (kids are 5th and 7th). Whether or not my kids could have handled the vocabulary, I knew they didn't have the context for the race relations depicted in the book, so I definitely preferred the option of questions and discussion on the fly. My 10-yr-old had to have the n word explained to her, for example.

 

For Huck Finn, even more so. I wouldn't keep a child from reading these on his own, but I wouldn't give them as an independent assignment.

[Lori D.]

DS and I read Tom Sawyer aloud together "popcorn style" ("you read a page, I read a page") when he was in 7th grade, as part of the Lightning Lit 7 program and we thoroughly enjoyed it. However, DS would have been totally lost trying to read it on his own.

 

BTW -- for the first few chapters I had him stop (or stop me) any time he was getting lost to explain, which we did fairly frequently at first; after the first few chapters, he did start to get the hang of the rhythm, vocabulary, and the vernacular/accents and we didn't have to stop too often. Luckily, we had a version with vocabulary words printed right in the margin with their definitions, which made it a lot easier/faster for figuring things out. He really enjoyed the book and laughed through a lot of it. (Don't think that would have been the case if he'd had to tackle it alone.)

 

Just our experience! Warmest regards, Lori D.

 

PS -- We have read aloud to our DSs from the beginning, and often read aloud things above their comprehension level, and they've always done very well with that. But I do think there is a difference in books that are above your comprehension level in hearing it aloud, vs trying to read it yourself.

Edited March 1, 2011 by Lori D.