Favorite/Least Favorite Literature Guides

[sweetpea3829]

I realize that this can probably vary by grade and even the specific book but...

 

Who's lit guides do you generally like the best and why?  

 

Who's lit guides do you generally like the least, and why?  

 

 

I have tried lit guides from Total Language Plus and Progeny Press.  I have heard of Blackbird and have recently heard of Memoria Press.  

 

Who else is out there for lit guides?  

[alisoncooks]

Listening in....

[EmseB]

We are using a VP lit guide for Pinocchio right now.  It is mostly reading comprehension questions, a paragraph narration here and there, and some projects added in.  I think most of it could be done orally for the writing averse.  I do like it, but I have nothing to compare it to since this is our first year and our first book to use a guide.  We're doing MP lit guides next year, and they look great, but I haven't used any of them yet.

[FairProspects]

We love the MCT lit guides but they are only available for the sets. Suppose the Wolf Were an Octopus guides by RFWP are also good and they helped give me additional ideas for questions to use with any book. Logos Press guides are alright IMHO but more of my 2nd or 3rd choice for just comprehension questions or a place to start if one of the above or Progeny Press isn't available for the specific book.

 

I sort of feel guilty about using lit. guides because I really should be creating my own. Literature is right in my wheelhouse and my field of study, but I'm just flat out of time often and I'm looking for shortcuts. That said, the above are where I look first for my shortcuts. :)

[anmom]

We used the lit guides from MP and while they got the job done, my kids hated them and thought they were boring (they are a bit dry). We have used the lapbook style from Confessions of a Homeschooler and enjoy those, and DS and I are going through Further Up and Further In and it has been wonderful!

[mmasc]

We've used two from Memoria Press-Farmer Boy and The Moffats. They both had basically the same set-up, vocabulary words and comp questions. There were a few things mixed in occasionally (draw a map, etc) but were pretty much consistent for each chapter. I liked them, but we did them almost entirely orally. I could have easily just used the Teacher's Guide to help guide me with questions/discussions. I do remember the Farmer Boy guide having some pictures in the back of some of the farming equipment from the book, so that was nice to see.

Good luck!

[Melissa B]

I like the VP lit guides for elementary and the Kolbe lit guide for junior high.

[Peaceful Isle]

I like BJU booklinks that are used with the Journeyforth books. 

[ALB]

We are using the MP guides this year.  I understand why people say they are dry, but they do have some interesting activities interspersed here and there.  They also build a lot from year to year, growing in complexity and more in depth discussion.  I really enjoy the discussion topics because they have helped us bring out the main themes in the books and lend to character analysis.  They also include good writing activities.

[FawnsFunnyFarm]

Moving Beyond the Page and Teacher Created Resources (also called Teacher Created Material). Both are more like unit studies with much more than just vocabulary and quizzes.

 

An example of the TCR guide for Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, after reading the first 2 chapters you create your very own Juicy-O by mixing juices of your choice then create a commercial (which you can act out and record), then there is a graphing activity. Of course there are also vocab and questions included.

 

MBtP is similar. My kids love them, they are very hands on and making books hands on has really changed reading and read alouds for them.

[Lori D.]

Not a fan of lit. guides in the elementary years -- I agree with SWB in her article on "What is Literary Analysis and When to Teach It", plus DSs did NOT like/need busy-work and comprehension questions, so we waited until we started doing more formal Literature (literary analysis and discussion) in the late middle school years before using any guides.

 

Also, when we did use Lit. guides, we tended to just use them as handy background info sources, as a "springboard" to discussion, and/or the occasional writing prompt source. The further into high school we went, the less we used/needed/wanted Lit. guides...

 

As a result my experience is with guides for older students. And of course… YMMV. What we liked/didn't like about guides may be completely different than what your family is looking for. ;)

 

 

Garlic Press Publishers: Discovering Literature: Challenger series

secular; middle/high school level

My favorite guides: meaty and not expensive new for all that you get: author/times/work background, summary for every chapter, lots of GREAT discussion questions for every chapter, great writing assignment ideas, ideas for activities, resources, answers in the back (not a separate teacher answer key! :) ). In addition to the great discussion questions, what I really love are the literary lessons in every guide -- usually 14 to 16 lessons, each is a 1 to 2 pages of info on topics in literature, literary devices, themes, etc. with specific examples from the work being covered by the guide and connections to 

 

The big downside is that there are so very few of these: The Hobbit; Redwall (now OOP); The Giver; To Kill a Mockingbird; The Odyssey; Lord of the Flies. In the last year, a new guide was released for each of the 3 books of the Hunger Games trilogy: The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay.

 

The gr. 5-8 guides (regular level, not challenger level) are much lighter and more comprehension question based, and most really are for the young end of the grade level designation -- the last 2 titles are middle school level. But do have a few other things in them that might make them worth a look: My Side of the Mountain, Where the Red Fern Grows, Island of the Blue Dolphins, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH (now OOP), Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry, and The Outsiders.

 

Parallel Shakespeare

secular; middle/high school level

Love these as a great first "digging" into reading/watching a Shakespeare play. Unfortunately not many plays have all 4 components: Macbeth, Julius Caesar, Romeo and Juliet. A few more plays have the first 2 components: Hamlet, Othello, Taming of the Shrew, Merchant of Venice, Midsummer Night's Dream, and King Lear. The most helpful components (IMO) to get are #2 and #3. Pricey if you get all 4 components, so look for them used, or just get 1 or 2 components, or plan on spending 8-9 weeks on one play and "sucking all the marrow" from all 4 components.

 

The four components: 

1. side-by-side original and modern translation (can also use free online Sparknotes: No Fear Shakespeare)

2. teacher guide (lots of great background info and literature/literary element info)

3. student workbook (comprehension questions, discussion questions, literature info, 

4. teacher workbook (answers to student workbook -- not really necessary)

 

Brightest Heaven of Invention: Christian guide to Six Shakespeare Plays (Leithart)

Christian; high school/adult level; themes in 6 Shakespeare plays.

 

Portals to Literature

secular; middle/high school level

Downside is that, new, these are expensive ($20-22). Also, they are designed for classroom use, so you have to do a fair amount of adapting, and some parts just don't adapt. However, if there's a specific title you want to go in-depth with, and if you can find a cheaper used copy, these are pretty meaty, with lots of background info on author/times/work, discussion questions, and interesting activities and resources. Also some exercises that might be useful, as well as writing assignment ideas.

 

Glencoe Literature Library

secular; FREE online guides; middle/high school level

Esp. good for the author/times background info, and some useful discussion questions. Heavy weighting towards graphic organizers, but often there is one that is useful for comparing characters or other aspect in the book. And, did I mention -- free! ;)

 

Penguin Teacher Guides

secular; FREE online guides; high school/college level

Background info on author/times/work; comprehension questions, discussion questions, suggested activities and writing assignment ideas.

 

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For Literature programs, we especially liked:

 

Lightning Lit 7

gr. 6-8; one year program; 8 units; extremely gentle first intro into Literature; covers 2 short stories, 2 poetry units, 4 novels

 

Lightning Lit 8

gr. 7-9; one year program; 12 units; extremely gentle first intro into Literature; covers 3 short stories, 3 poetry units, 6 novels

 

Literary Lessons from the Lord of the Rings

gr. 7-10; one year study; gentle intro into Literature; chapter-by-chapter coverage of all 3 books of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy, and can include studies of Beowulf, Sir Gawain & the Green Knight, and The Iliad

 

Windows to the World

gr. 8-12; one semester study; focus on 6 short stories (included); covers annotation, how to write a literary analysis essay using your annotations as support, and seeing how 8-10 literary devices work

 

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We found parts of these individual guides to be helpful -- depended on the individual guide/author:

 

Progeny Press

Christian; high school; a bit of background info on author/times/work; lots of comprehension questions; a few discussion questions; a few questions comparing themes in the work to Biblical passages and Christian worldview; a few writing assignment ideas. Pricey for what you get, and some guides are better/worse than others.

 

Guides we found helpful: Intro to Poetry was THE best!. Useful guides: Frankenstein, Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, Fahrenheit 451. So-so guides: Great Gatsby, Old Man and the Sea. Not helpful for us: Huckleberry Finn, Tale of Two Cities, Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra.

 

The Great Books

Christian; high school; worldview guided discussion rather than Literature guide. Beowulf was a good one. Civil Disobedience was too abridged and so was not at all helpful.

 

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Sparknotes, Cliff Notes, Schmoop, Pink Monkey, Wikipedia

secular; FREE online guides; high school/college level

I used to like Schmoop (free online guides like Pink Monkey, Sparknotes or Cliff Notes), but they are SO ad-heavy now I refuse to use them. Sparknotes has gotten more ad-heavy too, but it's off to the sides, so a little easier to ignore. These free online guides are useful for chapter summaries and short article discussion of key themes. If you don't have time to read the book yourself, these are helpful websites so you can still have discussions with your high schooler.

 

Wikipedia is helpful for looking up background info on the author; sometimes there is an article on the specific work; also helpful is the info on literary movements.

 

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There are some great audio lectures for individual books when you hit the high school level. Best to do a search for those, or post a request for resources for individual books when you hit that stage. :)

[SilverMoon]

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Edited June 11 by SilverMoon

[arliemaria]

I don't like the idea of paying for a literature guide for first/second/third grammar year students.  These seem to be unnecessary.  If we are doing copywork as detailed in Bauer's WWE, pull the words he is unfamiliar with as vocabulary, and have a short narration after each small section/chapter along the lines of Charlotte Mason what benefit does the lit guide offer?

I am very interested however in Teaching the Classics by Adam Andrews.  http://centerforlit.com/Materials/TC.aspx A bit more self education, but could be extremely beneficial.