Oliver Twist for someone most likely with dyslexia

[Jean in Newcastle]

I'm going to start out saying that I have not had dd evaluated and at this time it's not going to happen for financial reasons more than anything.  She is my late bloomer and I teach her at her own pace and make some accomodations for how she learns best.  Her brother (2E, Aspie, ADD, dyslexia according to the neuropysch -though I"m not sure where he got the dyslexia dx from) was tested.  

 

Anyway. . .   she is in the 8th grade this year.  She does her language arts work at public school grade level.  She likes to read for fun.  She hates to read historical fiction or classics.  I've let her skim on the classics until now because she had totally shut down for me a few years ago (anxiety and frustration) but she's bloomed on her own.  This year I feel like I do need to start expecting some more out of her on the history/literature front because I can't let her skim forever and high school is next year.  

 

We in our 4th year of the history cycle.  We're starting with the Victorian era.  Besides some non-fiction on the era I wanted to have her read Oliver Twist.  She does not want to listen to an audio book.  She tells me that she will tune out and will not listen if I put on one.  I looked at the copy of Oliver Twist.  The convoluted victorian prose!  Is this a bad idea to have her try to read it anyway?  I don't want her to shut down on her first book for the year.  I do plan on having her watch the musical Oliver! with me as well.  I think a child's retelling would be too easy for her but I'm afraid that the original Dickens would be too hard.  Can you help me think through this?  

[texasmama]

I think it is too much. Can you start with A Christmas Carol? Same author, same rich language, much shorter and also has movies. :)

 

I'm on my phone or I would wax eloquent.

[scoutingmom]

Can she read along with the audiobook?

 

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[OneStepAtATime]

I think it is too much. Can you start with A Christmas Carol? Same author, same rich language, much shorter and also has movies. :)

 

I'm on my phone or I would wax eloquent.

This. Start with something less intense.  Maybe even start with something even less intense than that (although I cannot think of what at the moment).

 

Honestly, I love reading and I read very early and very well, and read voraciously all my life but I never was really able to get into Oliver Twist.  Does she have to read that book?

[MysteryJen]

My dd2 is in 8th this year as well. She is willing to use audiobooks, but sometimes she balks because "no one else does." I don't think I would do Oliver Twist.

She bought into her ability to do "real" literature by starting this summer with Bernice Bobs Her Hair (short story) and The Old Man and the Sea and then she realized that The Great Gatsby was not the staggering book that the high schoolers were complaining about at swim team.

 

20th century literature has been a good starting point, especially Hemingway. She did tackle part I of The Pilgrim's Progress this fall and did okay.

 

If you are committed to Victorian literature, Sherlock Holmes might be better. Shorter stories and better film/tv adaptations.

[MysteryJen]

I found that my kids actually knew the Christmas Carol too well (thanks, Muppets) and they didn't try very hard when reading it,

[OneStepAtATime]

I found that my kids actually knew the Christmas Carol too well (thanks, Muppets) and they didn't try very hard when reading it,

:lol:

[Jean in Newcastle]

No, it doesn't have to be Oliver Twist.  I chose that because it was on TWTM's 8th grade list and not for any other reason.  Good suggestions.  Thank you.  

[shinyhappypeople]

I love Dickens, but I wouldn't force him onto a reluctant reader.  How about starting with some poetry as a warm up this fall and then move on to A Christmas Carol, if you really want Dickens.  Tennyson is wonderful.  She could start with something like The Eagle (nice and short). 

 

Does it have to be a Bristish author? There are many American authors that are more accessible than Dickens for a reluctant reader.  

 

Another thought is to look for short stories.

[OneStepAtATime]

No, it doesn't have to be Oliver Twist. I chose that because it was on TWTM's 8th grade list and not for any other reason. Good suggestions. Thank you.

If you do find a good substitute would you mind posting it? Now I'm pondering this and curious what might work well from that era for a potential dyslexic...hmmm. :)

 

And I loved the movie. I may have to dig it out and play it again. Its been years.

 

Good luck, Jean! Hope you find something awesome. :)

[geodob]

When Dickens wrote Oliver Twist, it was initially published in a monthly magazine as a serial.

With about 2 chapters per month.

Also an etching/ drawing accompanied the monthly chapters.

So perhaps she could read it in serial form.

Maybe weekly, rather monthly.  Which would take 24 weeks.

The drawings can also be found online.

So she could print out the drawing for each month/ week? As the drawings add something to the story and how it was originally read.

Before she started the next weekly chapters?

She could look through the drawings, as a reminder of what has happened so far.

The drawings could also be used for discussion?

 

The book can also be downloaded for free, in Epub and Kindle versions.

[Carla]

My eldest son is a very slow reader (and is possibly a little dyslexic, too), but he loves Dickens because of audiobooks.  He first listened to Great Expectations and just recently Oliver Twist.  I think he found Great Expectations was more engaging, but I couldn't speak to how it compares to Oliver Twist in book form.

 

My son is an artist and listens to audiobooks while drawing.  Does your daughter have something she can do with her hands to keep her mind engaged while listening?  Maybe she could give audiobooks another try?

[J-rap]

How about another Dickens book instead?  I always thought Oliver Twist was so dark.  I love Little Dorrit.  Actually, I guess that one has its dark points too, but I always loved it, perhaps because it was about a girl and I could relate to her a bit.

 

BBC has an outstanding series on Little Dorrit.  It's in about 30 minute snippets.  I have no experience with dyslexia, but maybe what I would do is read it in small segments at a time.  Read the first segment of the book that corresponds with the first episode in the series.  Then watch the episode.  Then read the second segment that corresponds with the second episode in the series.  Then watch the episode.  Etc.  That way, even if she is totally lost in the reading, she will catch up when watching the series.  The series is so well-done, that hopefully it will pique her interest enough to read the next segment.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Little-Dorrit-Claire-Foy/dp/B001PU8N0I/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1442335175&sr=1-1&keywords=little+dorritt+bbc

 

 

 

[almondbutterandjelly]

I just wanted to throw out there that Usborne has a wonderful book on Dickens called Illustrated Stories from Dickens.  We love that book at our house.  Has several of the stories, illustrated, in easy language.  It's a nice way to gain familiarity with Dickens without torturing oneself with the tough language.  

 

http://www.usborne.com/catalogue/book/1~CG~CGI~3848/illustrated-stories-from-dickens.aspx

[Pen]

I think BBC also had a good Oliver Twist which followed the story far more accurately than the musical or other versions I have seen.  

 

I would not make a struggling reader read Oliver Twist.  In its day it was a serial, but it also was entertaining entertainment for the time, and my guess is the language was not a reach for people of the time.  Honestly, if this were my child I would let her read something that is to today what Oliver Twist was in its own day.  That is something that is currently accessible, popular and entertaining.  And if she does not want to listen to an audio book to let  one or more BBC series of one or more Dickens novels suffice for exposure to Dickens.  

 

 

 

In addition to Little Dorrit, the BBC also has good versions of Old Curiosity Shop, Pickwick Papers, Martin Chuzzlewit, Bleak House.   Our library had several and we saw all they had.   

 

The Pickwick Papers first as BBC series and later as audiobook was my son's first Dickens, and is pretty accessible (as film and audio) even though it is pretty long, and I think the Old Curiosity Shop was his favorite.   But he has not read any as ink on paper and is probably around the same age as your daughter.  I think that being required to read ink on paper versions would have made him hate it.  I don't expect he will be up to that until maybe high school.

 

 

I would possibly suggest Hunger Games to read, and then to compare that to Dickens in a BBC version in terms of society depicted and so on.

 

[Pen]

How old are people on here's dyslexic children when able to read and enjoy (actually reading in the paper with ink markings on it sense, not audio, or read aloud, or movie, or abridged illustrated versions) full length versions of Dickens? If ever.

 

 

[Guest]

We are not dealing with dyslexia here so take what I say with a grain of salt.

 

I use the lexile rating of books to determine the books I/ we choose for my oldest (currently in 6th grade). We decide on the titles together. He has been reading at a 12th grade level since 4th grade but his comprehension level is just above his age/ grade. For me comprehension and getting the most out of what he reads comes first, so he is reading primarily abridged although he just started his first unabridged title a couple of days ago. We will be slowly transitioning him to unabridged keeping lexiles in mind.

 

Anyway, I checked the lexile for the unabridged version of Oliver Twist and it is 1000, placing it in the 8th-10th grade. You could perhaps save it for grade 10 and try to find books for her that their lexile has 8th on the higher end rather than the lower end.

[LaughingCat]

My older DD is aprox same age and is reading Call of the Wild, which is Lexile 1120.  She reads some on her own, some out loud and I read to her.  When reading on her own, she is able to follow the actual story (but not the philosophizing).... but she definitely has attention issues when reading something this hard for her-- based on the large difference in time it takes to read a page spread on her own vs. out loud to me.

 

I do think there is a lot of benefit in attacking hard prose like this -- but there is no way I would have agree to a long book to do it even if DD was begging for that book and most definitely not if I was assigning it!  Personally I would have even preferred to start our venture into hard prose from short story format instead of a novella-- but sometimes you've just got to go with what falls in your lap.