Minimalist Literature

[sbgrace]

One of my son's has special needs that mean we need to prioritize the "musts" educationally. He has very little interest in or attention span for fiction.

Going forward (11th grade) in LA, I'm prioritizing communication (oral and written) over literature for him. Still, I want to cover necessary literature concepts. I just don't want to suck up a lot of his time. I'm not sure how to do that. Also, I'm trying to balance educating his brother who does love literature (and can do a full school day worth of focused work). 

Can you help me think through the "musts" to cover and how to cover them? Or suggest a resource or curriculum?

Or I'm open to input that might change my plans for him.

 

Edited August 16, 2021 by sbgrace

[Rosie_0801]

The BBC! The British National Theatre website has a lot of shows for rent.

Video as literature has a place in this world!

[hollyhock2]

Videos as literature is a good idea.

I also have one who has no patience for fiction. I've been dragging him through literature for all of high school. I finally decided to do minimalist lit. with him for his 12th grade year this fall, and for him that will mean probably 6 books for the entire year, re-reading at least one of his favourites that he would like to read again, and also reading quite a bit of non-fiction, like biographies and memoirs. I'm basically just trying to incorporate books he actually likes because I'm tired of making him read things he dislikes. He will just read them and discuss with me, plus we'll still do some short stories and poetry on the side, but no formal curriculum.

[Junie]

Agreeing with Rosie.

Also, audiobooks.

And if you want him to do some actual reading, I would recommend short stories by a variety of authors across different genres.

[EKS]

You could do some combination of short stories and essays (like what you might find in the Atlantic).  You could pair them thematically.  Also the idea to watch films/documentaries is good.

Also, it's totally ok to read aloud to your student and discuss on the fly.

Edited August 16, 2021 by EKS

[lewelma]

LOL. I thought you actually meant minimalist literature and I was going to recommend Hemingway's short stories because he actually studied what was the least you could write to create a story. Read up on 'A clean well lighted place.' Short and too the point!

[Farrar]

I might organize it into units where each one has one of the above along a theme. So a theme like "heroes" - and you choose a movie (or two), an audiobook, a short story (or two), and an essay. Maybe you only end up with 2-3 units for the year since your language arts program is focusing on other things.