Literature...again! :(

[wehave8]

Has ANYONE done The Arrow from BW for a stand-alone literature and liked it/thought it was enough?

 

 

Pam

Edited August 22, 2016 by wehave8

[Haiku]

I used it and liked it, but it is not a complete literature program. But then again, at the ages my kids were when I used it, we weren't doing formal literature anyway.

[wehave8]

I used it and liked it, but it is not a complete literature program. But then again, at the ages my kids were when I used it, we weren't doing formal literature anyway.

How 'bout 3rd-7th?

What would make it complete?

 

Pam

[Haiku]

How 'bout 3rd-7th?

What would make it complete?

 

My daughter was in 3rd when we used it. It was pretty much all copywork and dictation with a few little notes about literary elements in the passages. The parts about the literary elements were not the focus and there was not enough mention of them/work with them for the concept to really be explored and retained.

 

So, what would make it complete? Actual exercises to work with the literary elements that are mentioned, not just short notes to notice the element in the copywork/dictation. There would also need to be (in my opinion) more of a focus on the book as a work of literature and not just the source of a few snippets to copy.

 

I should probably have mentioned that it has been six years since we used the Arrow, so maybe things are different with it now. But especially for a seventh grader ... there is really absolutely no comparison between The Arrow and what we used for literature in seventh, which was Lightning Literature. Some people think LL is light for literature, but next to that, The Arrow would cover virtually nothing.

[MerryAtHope]

My daughter was in 3rd when we used it. It was pretty much all copywork and dictation with a few little notes about literary elements in the passages. The parts about the literary elements were not the focus and there was not enough mention of them/work with them for the concept to really be explored and retained.

 

So, what would make it complete? Actual exercises to work with the literary elements that are mentioned, not just short notes to notice the element in the copywork/dictation. There would also need to be (in my opinion) more of a focus on the book as a work of literature and not just the source of a few snippets to copy.

 

I should probably have mentioned that it has been six years since we used the Arrow, so maybe things are different with it now. But especially for a seventh grader ... there is really absolutely no comparison between The Arrow and what we used for literature in seventh, which was Lightning Literature. Some people think LL is light for literature, but next to that, The Arrow would cover virtually nothing.

 

Yes, I hesitated to respond because I wasn't sure if these had be redone (it's been about 7-9 years or so since I tried them), but I felt they were very light for the cost too. Most of the time there were only about 10 days of assignments, which meant that I had to come up with another two weeks of assignments each month. I tried a sample before purchasing, but the sample I tried was meatier and did seem like it would fill out a month; not all of the issues I purchased had as much to them. 

Edited August 22, 2016 by MerryAtHope

[ondreeuh]

I am aggravated by The Arrow. I bought several of the new ones and they are just so LIGHT! The literary elements are so anecdotal without any real application; it's not nearly enough for a full literature program. In one whole week you read a few chapters of a book and learn about one or two little things without any reinforcement or application. If you compare it to something like Moving Beyond the Page, Calvert, K-12 literature, or even the Teacher Created Resources guides, The Arrow is just not even in the ballpark. Maybe it appeals to families who normally don't talk about the literature they study at all? It's more than nothing but to me it's only useful as a supplement. I think it is worth about $3 per guide. I bought through HSBC so I think I paid about $6 per guide? The MSRP is $10.