LNC Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 Can anyone compare/contrast 1. Garlic Press Discovering Literature 2. Progeny Press 3. Memoria Press I definately want some comprehension chapter questions, but also literary analysis. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 I have used the high school level guides from Garlic Press and Progeny Press, and can compare those... No personal experience with the middle school guides from either, or with the Memoria Press guides, but I did just now look at the online samples to get a feel for them. Below are my thumbnail reviews. In each case, I've included cost of the guide per book -- you would still have the cost of the books to purchase, too. Hope something here helps! BEST of luck in your literature journey! Warmest regards, Lori D. Garlic Press Discovering Literature Secular. Of the guides I have used, they are consistently excellent. The regular guides are for grades 5-8; the challenger guides are for grades 8-12. The high school guides are very meaty, with: - background on the author/work - list of vocab. words in each chapter - chapter summary for every chapter - discussion: 10-12 thought-provoking discussion questions for every chapter - literary analysis: 12-18 one-page "literature lessons" (explains how plot, setting, theme, mood, irony, etc. work) - literary analysis: 1-3 literature activities and assignment ideas for putting each literature lesson into practice - writing: 6-12 one-page "writing forums" (explain a type of writing) - writing: choice of writing assignment ideas for putting each writing forum concept into practice - suggested activities page - suggested resources page - answers included in the back The middle school level guides look to be lighter/easier (but grade appropriately so), and they still look very worthwhile -- the questions are a bit more like comprehension questions rather than discussion, but definitely are more than "fill in the blank" and do require some thinking and supporting of your answers. They also include one-page literature lessons and writing forums, at a very gentle, but informative, level. At $8.50 to $9 per guide (www.rainbowresource.com), you REALLY get your money's worth. Progeny Press Christian. Of the guides I have used, the quality varies quite a bit; some are better guides than others;These are divided into several age ranges: gr. 1-3; gr. 4-6; gr. 6-8; gr. 9-12. The guides are organized by sections, with each section covering several chapters. All level of guides: - background on the author/work - ideas for pre-reading (extension activities) - answers included in the back (however, many are "answers will vary" when it comes to the discussion questions) Each section includes: - comprehension questions - vocabulary exercises - discussion questions - reading Scripture verses and comparing with ideas/themes in the book - 2-4 writing assignment or activity ideas to choose from From the samples, it looks like the younger levels are like the high school guides, but at a gentler, "lighter", age-appropriate level. Progeny Press covers a larger portion of text with fewer questions, and more of the questions tend to be comprehension, rather than discussion, plus not much more than a paragraph every once in a while on literary analysis or literature topics; on the other hand, Progeny Press includes Christian "Bible study" or Scripture comparison questions in each section for moral / philosophical / worldview discussion and personal application, which is not found in a secular guide. At $15 (middle school guides) to $17.50 (high school guides) (www.christianbook.com price) for less material and more variable in how good or not so good the guides are, I'd buy used. Or, make sure to flip through the specific guide I was interested in to see what I thought before buying new. Memoria Press Christian. Grade-level appropriate. Each chapter looks like it includes: - vocabulary list - 5 comprehension questions - 3 discussion questions - choice of 1-2 extension activities From the website, it looks like the guides also contains study guide materials that cover additional subject areas (character studies, life lessons, language arts, writing, and Bible) with additional information and activities -- rather than literary analysis types of instruction and exercises or writing assignments. The 5th grade program covers 3 works ($69 for the guide) The 6th grade program covers 4 works ($95 for the guide) The 7th grade program covers 3 works ($69 for the guide) The guides appear to be more like a language arts and Christian character unit-study rather than literature guide and informative about literary analysis (reminds me of the Learning Language Arts Through Literature series). This can be a great option for a literature study, BUT, you would definitely want to look through the entire guide to make sure that really is the kind of information you specifically want for your literature. Also, you want to make sure you really want to use ALL of the books in that program to spend that much on a guide (comes out to about $23 per book). Totally JMO, and nothing against Memoria: these look nice as a bit of a transitional program from "just reading" to moving towards actual literature studies for grades 5 and 6 -- but I personally wouldn't want to pay more than $25, MAYBE $30 per program. There are just way too many free resources out there for these same books with similar ideas, questions and activities, for me to pay almost 3x that amount... Lightning Literature & Composition 7 Non-religious. (Written by a Christian, but with no overt religious statements or studies included.) For a strong 6th grade reader/writer, geared for 7th grade, or for an 8th grader with no previous literary analysis or formal literature studies. A very gentle beginning literary analysis program. Written to the student, so can be fairly independently done. Gentle reading schedule. Organized into 8 units, with each unit including: - 1-page intro on background on author/times, and tips on what to look for as you read - vocabulary list for words in the work - a few comprehension questions - a 6-8 page lesson explaining the literary element - 8-10 workpages for the student to practice putting the literature lesson into practice (most help student put into practice the literature lesson; a few practice grammar aspects (punctuation, capitalization, etc.), and some are guided questions for beginning analysis of an excerpt from literature) - 1 to 2-page mini-writing lesson on some aspect of writing a literary analysis (how to outline; citations, strong openings, etc.) - slim teacher book with answers, questions, teaching ideas, resources Below are the books and topics covered. The Student Guide; Student Workbook; and Teacher Book are each $20, so $60 for the guide materials to cover 3 novels, 2 short stories, and 2 units of poetry. (About $7.50 per unit.) 1 = "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi" (short story) literary lesson: plot line mini writing lesson: openings 2. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (realistic novel) literary lesson: plot line in a novel mini writing lesson: outlines 3. poetry unit -- 7 poems literary lesson: rhyme mini writing lesson: limerick and haiku 4. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (fantasy novel) literary lesson: creativitiy mini writing lesson: nonce words 5. "The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky" (short story) literary lesson: saying it with style mini writing lesson: writing about yourself 6. The Story of My Life (autobiography) literary lesson: autobiography mini writing lesson: brainstorming 7. poetry unit -- 6 poems literary lesson: sound mini writing lesson: cinquain and the list poem 8. All Creatures Great and Small (realistic/humorous novel) literary lesson: character sketch mini writing lesson: choosing a topic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homeschooling Again Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 We are using Memoria Press's literature guide for The Trojan War and so far it's working well for my 5th grade boy who is not a great fan of reading. This is our first guide of this sort and I'm finding it a gentle yet meaningful first foray into intentional reading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clear Creek Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 Memoria Press Christian. Grade-level appropriate. Each chapter looks like it includes: - vocabulary list - 5 comprehension questions - 3 discussion questions - choice of 1-2 extension activities From the website, it looks like the guides also contains study guide materials that cover additional subject areas (character studies, life lessons, language arts, writing, and Bible) with additional information and activities -- rather than literary analysis types of instruction and exercises or writing assignments. The 5th grade program covers 3 works ($69 for the guide) The 6th grade program covers 4 works ($95 for the guide) The 7th grade program covers 3 works ($69 for the guide) The guides appear to be more like a language arts and Christian character unit-study rather than literature guide and informative about literary analysis (reminds me of the Learning Language Arts Through Literature series). This can be a great option for a literature study, BUT, you would definitely want to look through the entire guide to make sure that really is the kind of information you specifically want for your literature. Also, you want to make sure you really want to use ALL of the books in that program to spend that much on a guide (comes out to about $23 per book). Totally JMO, and nothing against Memoria: these look nice as a bit of a transitional program from "just reading" to moving towards actual literature studies for grades 5 and 6 -- but I personally wouldn't want to pay more than $25, MAYBE $30 per program. There are just way too many free resources out there for these same books with similar ideas, questions and activities, for me to pay almost 3x that amount... I guess Memoria Press needs to put up better samples, because I have the Lit programs for two grades (3rd and 5th) and they are nothing like what you are describing. :D There is no Bible or Language Arts in them, the only writing is optional writing assignments (i.e. write several paragraphs retelling a specific section of a chapter from a different character's perspective, or write a summary of the chapter), and any character studies/life lessons are done in the form of character analysis. It is most definitely not a Christian character unit study!!! There is vocab for each chapter, comprehension questions, quote identification, discussion questions (often compare/contrast or "why" questions, very open-ended and thought-provoking; the student usually has to form an opinion and be able to support it), and optional enrichment activities (dictation, writing assignments, mapwork, acting out an event in the chapter, further study on historical elements). Some of the lit guides have more overt discussion of different literary elements than others, but they are definitely covered. The cost is a bit high, but it is worth in IMHO to have in-depth answers to the discussion questions provided in the TG so that I can still have a good discussion about each chapter even if I haven't read the book (or read it so long ago that I don't remember enough detail to discuss it with that much depth). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amsunshine Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 We use the Memoria Press lit guides and like them very much. They have vocabulary for every chapter, quotation identification, character identification/description, and a few discussion questions for each chapter. The discussion questions are well done -- they are not just the standard regurgitation-type of questions. There are usually enrichment writing activities for each chapter. Quizzes, a midterm exam and a final exam are typically included. There is also some lit analysis included in the guides, and other things, depending on the book being studied. For example, we are now using the Hobbit guide. There is also an extra three-part section on the Dwarves Song where the student is required to memorize the poem/song, learn the vocabulary, answer discussion questions about the poem/song and rewrite each section in prose. There is also a section on allusion that requires the student to read a section of Beowulf and then discuss how Tolkein alludes to Beowulf in the Hobbit. The midterm and final exam include some nice essay questions. Each of the guides includes something a little different, but all of the ones we've used have been well-done. Hope this helps! Can't comment on the other guides as I haven't used them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 Clear Creek, thanks so much for clarifying this! FAR better to get reviews from those who have actually seen the whole program and are using it! :D The samples for each grade level of the Memoria Literature packages have only 3 pages, each from a different book. It sounds like there is a whole lot MORE in the Teacher Guide, but there are no samples for that above grade 3. I added the other items based on what they say on the website of what is in each lit. package: Look at what's inside! Pronounce & Spell Vocabulary Quotations Facts to Know Comprehension Questions Discussion Questions Character Studies Illustrate & Color Noticing Details Language Lessons Life Lessons Composition Scripture From that list I assumed "Bible" from the Scripture bullet point, and assumed "Language Arts" from the "Language Lessons". I also assumed "Christian Character study" from the character studies and life lessons bullet points. Again, thanks for clarifying. And I totally agree -- for package programs like this, they really NEED to post about 6-8 pages from EACH of the student and teacher guides so you understand what depth the program has. Drives me nuts trying to make decisions of spending $75, $100, or more, based on a table of contents and 2 pages! :eek: Warmest regards, Lori D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom31257 Posted December 14, 2012 Share Posted December 14, 2012 :lurk5: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalanamak Posted December 14, 2012 Share Posted December 14, 2012 I looked through a Garlic Press one, and was impressed. I have it on my "get" list for the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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