DIY integrated language arts using books: Resources to learn how

[hs03842]

A) What resources or books are helpful to learn how to write DIY integrated language arts books studies?  2)  Are there good ready made ones to try out to get then hang of what they might look like that teach me by example?  3) Do you use them with picture books for younger kids?  4) Is it possible to do a literature study family-style around a read aloud for kids close in age? 5) What should I know about this in general?

Edited December 10, 2020 by JoyKM

[Lori D.]

#1 = resources

books
- The Three Rs (Beechick) -- math and LA at the early elementary grades
- You CAN Teach Your Child Successfully (Beechick) -- math and LA at the late elementary grades + other subjects
- 6 Weeks to Understanding Grammar (Herzog) -- specifically grammar, but helps you see the "big picture" of grammar for integrating
- Homeschooling at the Helm (by WTMer 8FillTheHeart) -- how to design a DIY course of study

past threads
- "Designing your own curriculum - Language Arts grades 1-5"
- and possibly "Support for designing your own curriculum"


#2 = examples of pre-made integrated materials
- English Lessons Through Literature -- copywork, narration, dictation + grammar in context, spelling, writing
- Learning Language Arts Through Literature -- grammar, writing, spelling, vocabulary all in one
- Total Language Plus -- literature study guides with writing, grammar, spelling, vocabulary
- Sonlight LA consumable worksheets  -- grammar in context of the literature
- Treasured Conversations: Teaching Writing Through Guided Analysis (by WTMer 8FillTheHeart) -- writing and grammar
- Writing Tales -- writing and grammar
- Grammar with a Giggle series (Kiester) -- grammar practice & review + vocabulary; we found the middle school level (Giggles in the Middle), but especially the high school level (The Chortling Bard) to be helpful

#3 = picture books for integrated LA?
I don't see why you couldn't. I wouldn't go with picture books exclusively, though. And note that just because they have many illustrations, doesn't mean they are at an early reading level -- many picture books are at grade 4+ reading level.

 I made my own integrated LA sheets for DSs; in grades 1-2, I tended to pull from their early readers/stepped readers, and starting in grade 3+ I pulled from their chapter books.

We tended to use picture books throughout the grades for other aspects of our studies, though. For example, the year we did a big World Cultures/Geography study, we used picture books for the myths and for the illustrations in the art style of the culture. There are some lovely picture books on WW1 and other difficult topics. And there are picture books for studying art. etc.


#4-5 = literature
Yes, even if kids are up to 4 years apart, I think you can, with some books and depending on the kids, do some lit. studies all together. Our DSs are 20 months apart, so we did all of our lit. studies together in high school, to enhance discussions. When they were younger, and one was so competitive, I tended to keep their school reading separate to reduce conflicts. We did do read alouds all together all through the years.

Note: we did not do formal literature studies until middle school. In the younger grades it was just informal observations and the occasional question as it came up naturally while doing read alouds. I think that before the late middle school years, it is very possible for the black-and-white thinking of elementary-aged children to turn literature studies into a sort of "checklist mentality", and end up missing out on the joys of all the riches to be found in reading deeper, and that reading great Literature is to enter into the Great Conversation. Example: "I found a simile, here is alliteration, there is repetition, and black always symbolizes death, so that must mean death... check, check, check, check! My work here is done!" 😱


Hope something here is what you were looking for. Enjoy your homeschooling journey! Warmest regards, Lori D.

Edited October 29, 2020 by Lori D.

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

If you're willing to spend a little money, the Teaching The Classics seminar is really wonderful, and covers literature from K to 12.  This will set you up nicely for discussing books at all ages in a family book-club type setting.  

 

 

[LostintheCosmos]

I second Ruth Beechick's book, and also recommend, especially for the ages you've got,  Ella Frances Lynch's chapters on "language culture" in Book-less Lessons for the Teacher-Mother and Educating the Child at Home. Bonnie Landry's little booklet on dictation is very nice. And I've gotten a lot of ideas from reading about Montessori language arts (especially, The Advanced Montessori Method and this elementary language album) and occasionally use actual Montessori materials with my younger, not-yet-fluent readers and writers. 

I did find it helpful to look at some of the Beechick-inspired programs out there - I mainly had access to the old, spiral-bound LLATL. And I love looking at vintage language textbooks which often take a more integrated approach - my favorites are probably the Aldine Language Books. 

It is absolutely possible to do this family-style around a read aloud with the ages you are talking about, maybe with some copywork and/or dictation for the 2nd grader. Other than daily copywork and infrequent Montessori materials, we do primary grade LA mostly orally.

I now have a 12yo, 10yo, 7yo, 5yo, and 3yo tag-along, and I'm still doing a lot of LA integrated and family-style, with some extra assigned independent work for older students or sometimes a couple of students together. The more I have done it, the more comfortable I am picking a poem or book to read together and just winging it (or just grabbing "teachable moments" like a very random bedtime discussion with my 12yo last night about the comparative uses of prepositional phrases in English with different cases in Latin, lol), but I also plan a few terms a year to have a specific LA focus so I don't worry I'm missing something - this fall, for example, we are doing some more formal grammar together, and we've also done special studies for composition, like a term on fables and one on letter-writing. 

We have never done this with picture books, because part of my goals for formal language arts has been to use literature we are not going to pick up for pleasure reading, but you certainly could! Following EFL's recommendation, I use a lot of narrative poetry for the younger grades, and as the kids have gotten older, I have mixed in other things, especially short stories (we just read Hawthorne's Feathertop, for example).

Something that I have kept working on over the past few years which has been very helpful, is an evolving document of my own sort of "scope and sequence" for language arts. Because my goal is to do things together as a family as much as possible, I've organized it by broad topics and then broken it down into more age-graded skills within those topics rather than using age or grade as the foundational organizing principle. The structure I am slowly trying to create is a kind of annual cycle of language arts topics that we move through every year, often using the same text we read as a family, but with independent work assigned, as needed, to each child from that text targeting the sub-skill appropriate for their age.

[Zoo Keeper]

I think an integrated all-in-one LA program can work very well--if the teacher is very comfortable with grammar/writing/etc. to begin with.   LostCove's post above^ shows that she is is making her own list of topics to cover.  Something like CLE's Language Reference Charts or SWB's The Complete Writer could help you figure out your own scope and sequence. 

8Fill's post on how she teaches writing is also very helpful to see how to integrate.  I used her posts to help me when I did a more integrated approach for one of mine in elementary.  I described it here...

 

Sonlight has a more integrated approach to its LA; SL took inspiration form Ruth Beechick's books. To be honest, I don't think SL's elementary LA is done that well (too scattershot for most students), but one of my children did very well with their integrated approach in the high school cores (here's their American Lit core, for example) . 

I do like an integrated approach with LA, but I have found that it can be time consuming to plan out as the students get older and the skills keep building.  I default to a textbook grammar (R&S in late elementary, and then vintage Warriner's in high school) because it is easier for *me* to assign and get done and talked through. I do continue to tie (most) writing assignments into other subjects; I use SWB's guidelines in her writing/literature lectures for helping me with that.

[caffeineandbooks]

4 hours ago, Monica_in_Switzerland said:

If you're willing to spend a little money, the Teaching The Classics seminar is really wonderful, and covers literature from K to 12.  This will set you up nicely for discussing books at all ages in a family book-club type setting.  

 

 

I also love this program!  To get me started, I also bought their "Ready Readers" picture book set - it applies their method to ten picture books - so I could check that I was on the right track when beginning to teach this way.  I have since become a huge Center for Lit fan (the people that produce this) and recommend you poke around their website, centerforlit.com.  There are several free podcasts where you can listen to their crew discuss literature and literary education to both upskill yourself and get a feel for their style and perspective before you spend any $

Likewise, Ordinary Shoes mentioned some BraveWriter stuff - their website also has lots of free stuff that might give you some fun ideas for creating a "language rich lifestyle".

SWB's writing talks are great for talking me down when I look at other people's shiny and complicated writing curriculum and worry that I'm not doing enough.  They're clear and practical and show you the whole K-12 sweep (if you buy "A Plan for Teaching Writing K-12") or specifics for your current stage/s ("A Plan For Writing - High School" or "The Middle Grades" or "The Elementary Years").  From the store here on welltrainedmind.com.

JoyKM, I have the impression - and I may be totally wrong - that you were initially a Covid homeschooler.  I feel like there has been some unfairly negative talk around "crisis homeschoolers" on the board, and I just wanted to add that I'm glad you weren't put off by it, and that I'm impressed by the energy you put into learning all you can and blessing your kids in a difficult year.

[hs03842]

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Edited December 18, 2020 by hs03842