mamabear2three Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 We don't need phonics anymore, and I have a plan for spelling, but I feel like throwing books at her to read (so to speak) is not accomplishing what I want, and am wondering what curriculum options are good for encouraging critical reading skills/developing comprehension and teaching things like plot, main idea, literary elements, etc. I want to challenge her to think a little bit about her reading and be able to learn more from a book/story than just enjoying it for the literature. She will be in second grade in the fall but is reading on a 4/5 grade level. This year I've just asked her to tell me about the books she's reading for school in order to ensure comprehension and she is always able to retell the story accurately and can answer basic questions about the text, but I know I'm missing a lot of opportunities for teaching, I just need some hand-holding so looking for a curriculum to do it for me. I'm even thinking maybe something on a second/third grade level wouldn't be bad, if the lessons and discussions are challenging her to think. Suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 Junior Great Books is a nice program to teach kids to think beyond the text while tying them back to it. It's awesome used in a small coop setting. It encourages kids to think of and pose and interpretative question about what they read, and then to discuss it. For my DD it was a great lead up to developing a thesis in later years. Honestly, I would not encourage you to go too far with literary elements at this age. Maybe get 'Figuratively Speaking' and teach those terms gradually, working them into your book discussions, but not using the book as written per se. But I fear that too much analysis too soon will ruin her love of reading. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coco_Clark Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 Suppose the Wolf Were an Octopus has comprehension/critical thinking/analysis type questions for children's books based on Blooms Taxonomy. I like it, but have never been able to figure out how exactly to implement it into our day. Http://www.amazon.com/Suppose-Wolf-Were-Octopus-Grades/dp/0880922486/ref=pd_sim_b_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=02KY1NJ6MWFM07K1M6NB Deconstructing Penguins was also a useful read for me, in a "this is how you talk about books critically with children" way. It's all about the parent/child book club the author started, with very specific details on how they approached certain books and book suggestions by age. http://www.amazon.com/Deconstructing-Penguins-Parents-Kids-Reading/dp/0812970284/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1425162175&sr=8-2&keywords=Deconstructing And I've been absolutely drooling over Teaching the Classics. But unwilling/unable to take the $100 plunge. http://centerforlit.com 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 A Kick in the Head introduces poetic forms in a simple, picture book fashion. Maybe mix up your fiction with some poetry that way? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamabear2three Posted March 1, 2015 Author Share Posted March 1, 2015 Thanks for the suggestions! I'll take a look at those and see what I like :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smoore530 Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 I like the look of Reading Roadmaps from centerforlit.com. I haven't started using it yet, but I'm excited about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamabear2three Posted March 2, 2015 Author Share Posted March 2, 2015 I was just looking at reading roadmaps! And the ready readers... seems the ready readers might have more handholding than the roadmaps? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coco_Clark Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 They advertise the reading roadmaps/ready readers as extra hand-holding AFTER taking the teaching the classics course. I'd be curious to know if they could be successfully used without the course. It looks amazing but it's just so darned $$. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamabear2three Posted March 2, 2015 Author Share Posted March 2, 2015 the samples available of the Ready Readers looks pretty foolproof - I am really seriously considering going that route as the cost is doable. My daughter would do well with that style of lit study, and it's cheaper than buying an equivalent number of lit guides from progeny press or somewhere like that. We'll see how I feel as it gets closer to next year and I have some money to spend on curriculum :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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