Bee Happy Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 Hi all! I'm trying to piece together my 9th grader's curriculum. Just when I think I have it all set, I rip it apart! UGH! My question is about English. I want her English to include grammar (she still needs a little), composition, vocabulary and literature. For literature we are planning to use some novels we have with literature guides. I was going to have her write narrations for compositions, but I don't think that will be sufficient. Won't she also need to learn to write different types of essays as well as how to complete a research paper? Do you have any composition recommendations? I have Writing Strands but I don't think that would be enough. For grammar, I have no clue what to use. I have R&S 7. Would that be enough to go towards a 9th grade credit? Vocabulary? Should I pull vocab from our literature readings, or would it be better to do a totally separate curriculum/book for it? If so, do you have any recommendations? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 If she still needs the work on writing, you could look at Writing With Skill. You can view a sample of the student and instructor book. I think R&S 7 would be good for a grammar credit. Vocabulary is an issue I struggle with too. We opted to go with a basic roots study for fall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bee Happy Posted June 23, 2012 Author Share Posted June 23, 2012 If she still needs the work on writing, you could look at Writing With Skill. You can view a sample of the student and instructor book. I think R&S 7 would be good for a grammar credit. Vocabulary is an issue I struggle with too. We opted to go with a basic roots study for fall. Thank you! I totally forgot about Writing with Skill. I was also looking at CK-12's Commonsense Composition course. Does anyone have any thoughts on it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny in Florida Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 Keep in mind that my background is in English and writing. So, I tend to be comfortable winging it a bit in those areas. With that said, here's what my son did for ninth grade English this year: - Duke TIP course "Growing Up Heroic" (about Greek mythology) - Imitation in Writing: Greek Myths - Reading (I think, if memory serves) 12-ish full-length books and plays and a few excerpts - Writing a brief (one-page) report about each work read - Reading and discussing Eats, Shoots and Leaves as a quick, fun grammar and punctuation review We didn't do any formal vocabulary study, just talked about or looked up words from his reading as necessary. Also, no formal grammar study, beyond what we covered with Eats, Shoots and Leaves. He hasn't done a research paper yet, but I'm planning to work on that with him next year. Do the literature guides you're planning on using include writing prompts? Vocaulary? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bee Happy Posted June 23, 2012 Author Share Posted June 23, 2012 Has anyone tried http://classicalcomposition.com/ for composition? I guess I should search the forums. LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngieW in Texas Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 I really liked using Windows to the World with Jill Pike's lesson plans to spread it out over a full year. I thought it worked very well for my middle dd's 9th grade year. Jill's lesson plans include vocabulary, literary analysis, and I seem to remember some grammar too. My youngest is not up to that level of work. I'm going to do Movies as Literature for 9th grade and then maybe try Windows for 10th. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bee Happy Posted June 23, 2012 Author Share Posted June 23, 2012 I really liked using Windows to the World with Jill Pike's lesson plans to spread it out over a full year. I thought it worked very well for my middle dd's 9th grade year. Jill's lesson plans include vocabulary, literary analysis, and I seem to remember some grammar too. My youngest is not up to that level of work. I'm going to do Movies as Literature for 9th grade and then maybe try Windows for 10th. Thanks! Was it enough for an entire year of work? I just bought Writer's Inc and plan to get the workbook as well. Has anyone tried these? I'm thinking the workbook as well as some written narrations on whatever we are reading may work for her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngieW in Texas Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 Jill's lesson plans spread it out over a full year by adding in To Kill a Mockingbird, Jane Eyre, and Hamlet along with a lot more short stories. I think it was a great program. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechWife Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 Won't she also need to learn to write different types of essays as well as how to complete a research paper? Do you have any composition recommendations? Look at The Elegant Essay and Writing Research Papers from iEW. For grammar, I have no clue what to use. If you just need a review, The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation is a good resource. If more than that is needed, consider Analytical Grammaar. Vocabulary? Should I pull vocab from our literature readings, or would it be better to do a totally separate curriculum/book for it? If so, do you have any recommendations? Either/both would work. Many people use SAT vocabulary prep books instead of a traditional curriculum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oakblossoms Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 We have been using Writing with Skill. It is really good for my guy. He is at the end of his official Grade 9 year. He isnt an advanced guy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oakblossoms Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 And, I have had a migraine all day which is why I sound like a valley girl:tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nykatie Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 We used Vocabulary from Classical Roots for my son's 9th grade vocabulary; it was helpful since he is taking Spanish rather than Latin & Greek. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 You might like to look at Galore Park English Year 9. Year 9 is the equivalent of 8th grade in age terms, but the GP books are used in private schools that run a year or more ahead. There are samples on the site - I haven't used it, but I did enjoy using the earlier books in the series. I used to add in extra literature study (Lightning Literature) but otherwise I found the GP books fairly complete for someone who is reasonably happy with teaching essay writing. Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbhrbooth Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 Many people use SAT vocabulary prep books instead of a traditional curriculum. :iagree: Yes, this is what I was going to recommend as well: SAT vocabulary books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpklehm Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 Look at The Elegant Essay and Writing Research Papers from iEW. If you just need a review, The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation is a good resource. If more than that is needed, consider Analytical Grammar. Either/both would work. Many people use SAT vocabulary prep books instead of a traditional curriculum. The top two (writing and grammar) are what I'm planning for my ds. I love the idea of using SAT vocab prep books. I was considering using English from the Roots Up or Vocab from Classical Roots, but I'm going to look into the prep books instead. I was leaning toward EFTRU or VFCR because he's never had Latin, but his vocab scores are always high so perhaps skipping to the SAT prep would work for him. Thanks for the suggestions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpklehm Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 We used Vocabulary from Classical Roots for my son's 9th grade vocabulary; it was helpful since he is taking Spanish rather than Latin & Greek. Ok, another thing to think about. My son is taking Spanish also. How did you like VFCR? Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
profmom Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 We used Analytical Grammar too. It was easy-to-implement and effective. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobbeym Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 DS14 is in 9th grade English this year and we chose to focus on grammar, writing, and vocabulary skills because he really struggles with them. Grammar components only - BJU Writing & Grammar 8 (grammar is a *major* problem for him) Vocab/Writing/minor lit analysis - 9th grade online text from http://completecurriculum.com I did delete one novel from the online text because I didn't want to teach it, but we still end up reading 10 short stories, 2 novels, a play, and a greek epic. Writing assignments cover summaries, autobiographies, narratives, business letters, formal essays, poetry, original epic stories, and formal research papers. My biggest issue at the moment is how to combine the grammar and writing on my lessons plans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bee Happy Posted July 2, 2012 Author Share Posted July 2, 2012 DS14 is in 9th grade English this year and we chose to focus on grammar, writing, and vocabulary skills because he really struggles with them. Grammar components only - BJU Writing & Grammar 8 (grammar is a *major* problem for him) Vocab/Writing/minor lit analysis - 9th grade online text from http://completecurriculum.com I did delete one novel from the online text because I didn't want to teach it, but we still end up reading 10 short stories, 2 novels, a play, and a greek epic. Writing assignments cover summaries, autobiographies, narratives, business letters, formal essays, poetry, original epic stories, and formal research papers. My biggest issue at the moment is how to combine the grammar and writing on my lessons plans. Hi Bobbey, I looked at Complete Curriculum for Language Arts. I think that was the only subject I didn't think was below grade level. Have you gone through the curriculum much? What are your thoughts? I have our English credit figured out (I think), but there is always room for improvement! hehe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mschickie Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 We used Jensen's Vocabulary and Jensen's Format writing. Both are excellent programs. I also found Easy Grammar Plus to be a very sound program and easy to use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobbeym Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 Hi Bobbey, I looked at Complete Curriculum for Language Arts. I think that was the only subject I didn't think was below grade level. Have you gone through the curriculum much? What are your thoughts? I have our English credit figured out (I think), but there is always room for improvement! hehe Hi Bee. I've gone through all their high school curriculums way more than I'd like at this point simply for planning purposes. I'm not 100% on board with it all but that's primarily because I'm still not really wanting to use it. I wanted to go with IPC for science and TOGyr1 for everything else, but DH balked at the high exepense since DS doesn't seem to have a good grasp of the basics and doesn't put much effort forth into his schooling. So we're going the cheap route and praying for an improved attitude this year. I have to admit that I do actually like the LA text. I think it has a decent variety of literature types, with each story tied to a writing assignment of some sort. That's really what my son needs most right now. We only started homeschooling at the beginning of 8th grade 2nd semester and I am shocked at how below grade level he is in some areas. I'm not sure if it's because of the school system or his input/output levels (or probably a mix of both) but I feel we have a long way to go this year to bring him back up to where he should be. Feel free to PM me if you want my thoughts on their other core subjects. I don't want to hijack an English thread with talk on science and history. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oakblossoms Posted July 6, 2012 Share Posted July 6, 2012 If your son is doing what is in your signature, he is just fine. Please don't compare yourself to TWTM book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barybar Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 Hi, We were seriously looking at One Year Adventure Novel vs. Prentice Hall-Literature which has Writing and Grammar, but want to include a separate BJU 9 Writing and Grammar book. The reason for the switch, I wanted to have her in-line with the PS curriculum as well. We are pulling apart our plans and rethinking them, as well. ;) Luckily, there is a light at the end of the tunnel, since school begins soon. We have already started some math...Char Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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