Supplement for FLL?

[mamajag]

I'm not looking to replace FLL 3, I just need (a lot) more practice than FLL 3 gives. Diagramming would be great as would find the part of speech. Does anyone have any recommendations? I'd prefer secular, but at this point she needs some more meat in her grammar.

[Miss Tick]

Does she need more repetition or more challenge?

 

If it is just repetition you might try some of the workbooks out there, maybe Scholastic or Evan-Moor have something?

 

Grammarland is free out on Googlebooks (I think), someone here has made separate worksheets for it, but it will just go through the parts of speech, I don't know that it would give a lot more practice.

 

The Sentence Family is available for purchase out in the internet. It gives a gentle introduction/review of the parts of speech and moves into diagramming. So again, not a lot of practice, just a different presentation.

 

Kiss grammar is free and there are a number of posts about it. They don't do traditional diagramming, but it sounds as if there is a lot of work identifying parts of speech.

 

You could also look at Michael Clay Thompson or Analytical Grammar. I know (even) less about those. :D

 

Good luck!

[FairProspects]

What about the diagramming is she struggling with? Is it identifying parts of speech or figuring out the job of the word and where to place it on the diagram?

 

If it is parts of speech, a couple of things that worked for ds are the game Very Silly Sentences, and color-coding different parts of speech. We use blue for nouns, red for verbs, and aqua for pronouns like MCT does in their Grammar Island, but really any consistent color scheme would work.

 

If it is determining the function of words in the sentence that is the problem, can you just have her answer questions: Who is doing the action (subject)? What are they doing (simple predicate)? To whom or what (direct object)? Which word does this other word describe (adjectives & adverbs for placement)? etc.

[mamajag]

I think she needs both repetition and challenge. The lessons are so easy that she flies through them. She does one or two with me and then does the rest on her own. Then we get to review lessons that I think she can handle and I am having to prompt her with questions and re-explain the job of the parts of speech while she looks at me as though she's never heard of this before. She's not engaging, and there's not enough material to get the repetition over a couple of days that she needs to cement things in her brain. She's flying through it without retaining it.

 

We had planned on moving into MCT this year, but finances have not been what they were last year so I have been making do with what I have. It is clear to me now that FLL 3 is not enough.

[Sahamamama]

I think she needs both repetition and challenge. The lessons are so easy that she flies through them. She does one or two with me and then does the rest on her own. Then we get to review lessons that I think she can handle and I am having to prompt her with questions and re-explain the job of the parts of speech while she looks at me as though she's never heard of this before. She's not engaging, and there's not enough material to get the repetition over a couple of days that she needs to cement things in her brain. She's flying through it without retaining it.

 

Hey, my girl has been doing this, too. What is it about grammar that brings on the "deer in headlights" look? Sometimes I wonder if it's worth the effort to teach grammar in 2nd/3rd grade, when we could wait until 5th/6th and have better results with less repetition. I just wonder, but we keep on doing FLL 3.

 

We had planned on moving into MCT this year, but finances have not been what they were last year so I have been making do with what I have. It is clear to me now that FLL 3 is not enough.

 

Could you purchase the basics of MCT to reinforce the FLL? I've looked at the Evan-Moor books, but I didn't like them because they have far too much of this type of exercise:

 

Correct the sentences:

 

mr evans went too the bakery for bread

 

That kind of exercise is terrible for young students, IMO. Also, Evan-Moor has more of the same, with spelling:

 

Circle the correctly spelled word:

 

bowle boal bowl bole

 

I would rather give a student NOTHING than a steady diet of that. From what I've seen of MCT, he doesn't bother with that kind of "fix it" nonsense. Could you swing just the basic package for this year?

[FairProspects]

Play the Very Silly Sentences game. She will have those parts of speech down in a couple of days. Even my 5 y.o. got them all after that game. It is like magic.

[mamajag]

I am going to talk to DH tonight about going ahead and getting MCT. She just needs more on all levels.

 

The one concern I have is what the writing portion of MCT is like. DD1 was diagnosed with a form of aphasia when she was younger and has had difficulties with expressive language, and WWE has been wonderful for her as far as her confidence and ability to express herself are concerned. She was (and to be honest) still is resistant to attempts at therapy for this.

 

I have to agree with you on the types of exercises you posted. It just seems wrong to spend all my time hunting down good literature only to put bad sentences into their brain in grammar! It's one of my pet peeves. :)

[Sahamamama]

I am going to talk to DH tonight about going ahead and getting MCT. She just needs more on all levels.

 

The one concern I have is what the writing portion of MCT is like. DD1 was diagnosed with a form of aphasia when she was younger and has had difficulties with expressive language, and WWE has been wonderful for her as far as her confidence and ability to express herself are concerned. She was (and to be honest) still is resistant to attempts at therapy for this.

 

I have to agree with you on the types of exercises you posted. It just seems wrong to spend all my time hunting down good literature only to put bad sentences into their brain in grammar! It's one of my pet peeves. :)

 

:lurk5: I can't speak to MCT's writing portion (I'm still holding out on MCT, but your post is making me cave). :D But I'll give this a POP, so maybe someone else will chime in.

 

Lately, I've been thinking of curricula as resources -- pick and choose, tailor to the student, do part this year/part next year, do part this year/ part not at all. It's not all or nothing. MCT looks so visually/graphically appealing, and I know my oldest (very visual) daughter would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it. She would also adore the poetry component, and she loves words, vocabulary, roots, connections. Before our power went out, :glare: your post actually had me taking (yet) another look at MCT. When we get our power back (in NJ), I'm going to order MCT Island, either for this year (parts) and/or next. She's doing well with FLL 3, but I agree that there could be something added, for more practice or depth. For us, at least, I think MCT will be the perfect partner for FLL. I want it on the shelf, and we can take our time with it.

 

I noticed something this week while doing WWE 2 with my 2nd grader (7, nearly 8) -- it is sticking, it is becoming natural for her to express herself in the "WWE way." Also, after doing FLL 1 (in Kindergarten) and FLL 2 (in 1st), she is confident (cocky? ;)) with FLL 3 this year, yet enjoying what is new -- she calls the diagrams "Sentence Roads." :D Even so, there could be more reinforcement -- or something (not sure what) -- in FLL 3. I think it's a bit too "nuts and bolts" for it to be enough for every student.

 

If you are sensing that WWE + FLL is not quite enough, then add in something more. For me, I would like the other component to be different in its approach/perspective. That is, I wouldn't want to get something that is very similar to FLL. That would simply be "more of the same." From what I can tell, MCT is different enough, and approaches grammar/language from another angle. More ways to think about the same things.

 

Good luck with your year.

 

 

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