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MCT - Island or Town for my son?


jenL
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I can't seem to find this with the new search engine, so I apologize for a redundant question.

 

I managed to pick up Paragraph Town yesterday at my local hs store for a great price. I'm not sure if I should start it with ds though since we haven't done Island.

 

He's in 4th, is currently working through EIW4, and has done WWE3 until this year. Grammar has been FLL and R&S. He can write a good sentence and is still working on paragraph skills.

 

From what I can gather, Island really helps with the construction of strong sentences and helps the writer analyze what makes a sentence as such. I'm wondering if skipping this and moving straight to paragraphs will create a gap?

 

Or could I just fill it in on my own within the context of learning about paragraphs?

 

Or should I just run through Island quickly with ds? Money is a concern, so if I don't have to buy it, that would be incredibly helpful.

 

Should I just finish off the year with EIW and do Town next year since RFP's website suggests using it in 5th grade? Ds has very high intake, but low output, if that helps.

 

Am I making sense? :confused1:

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I think you'd find "island" too easy with a 4th grader who has a solid background in grammar & writing. I started my oldest in "town" when she was working at about a 4th or 5th grade level in LA and she did fine. The one issue was that she wasn't ready to continue on to Essay Voyage the following year. So she did CE2 and some other stuff like one of the Killgallon books, PWME, and now WWS.

 

My DS is finishing up "island" this semester and it's been the right level for him, but again he won't be ready for Paragraph Town next fall. So he'll need some interim materials.

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What I did with my 4th grader was to use Sentence Island - only - from the Island level, and then move straight into Town. It worked beautifully. And Mud the fish from SI is such a lovely character, it would be a shame to miss him! SI gives a gentle review of grammar in the context of sentence construction, so it would be useful, too, before jumping into Town. I wouldn't do the rest of Island level with a 4th grader, though, Town is great for 4th-5th grade.

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