Center for Lit - Ready Readers

[Juliegmom]

I am in the planning stages for my daughter's 6th grade curriculum. I have Teaching the Classics and want to purchase one of the Ready Readers packs. She is an advanced, avid reader and has done a bit of  literary analysis, but TtC will be new material for her. I'm looking at the titles in the Level 2 pack and she has read two (maybe 3) of the 6 books. The Level 2 pack is geared for grades 3-6 whereas the Level 3 books are geared for grades 6-8 and all of the titles would be new reads for her.

Looking for recommendations on which level to choose. Thank you!  :)

[Julie of KY]

I'd pick a level that the books look interesting.

 

I did the K-3 level with four kids, 1st through 9th grade. They were very basic books but we had some great discussions. My older kids do some of the online classes through Center for Lit so they also have that experience. "I" am not a good facilitator of the lit discussions no matter how much hand-holding I'm given. I just don't think that way.

[Juliegmom]

I don't think that way either. :-) It's encouraging to hear that it helped to bring out some great discussions. Thanks for sharing!

[Juliegmom]

I also emailed Mr. Andrews with my question and thought I'd post his reply in case someone else has questions.

 

"As long as you're discussing books at or below her reading level, you'll be just fine regardless of the titles.  Discussing easy stories is often more profitable than tackling hard ones!  Also, it usually doesn't matter whether the student has read them before - a good formal discussion will make it seem like a brand new story :)  

 

With high school students, we often use Ready Readers 1 to get them used to the questions and discussion style, then move on to books at their reading level.  You could try this as well.

 

To summarize, you can hardly lose!  Use the Ready Readers volumes as resources to support your own discussions, rather than a curriculum that students must fit into. As long as you're discussing books at or below her reading level, you'll be just fine regardless of the titles.  Discussing easy stories is often more profitable than tackling hard ones!  Also, it usually doesn't matter whether the student has read them before - a good formal discussion will make it seem like a brand new story :)  

 

With high school students, we often use Ready Readers 1 to get them used to the questions and discussion style, then move on to books at their reading level.  You could try this as well.

 

To summarize, you can hardly lose!  Use the Ready Readers volumes as resources to support your own discussions, rather than a curriculum that students must fit into."
 

I am so pleased to receive a timely and helpful response. This confirms my decision to go with the Level 2 readers.