Literature guides for elementary students

[Nichola]

As people are making curriculum choices for next year, I’ve seen some questions about literature guides. If you’re on the fence about whether to buy them, as many parents seem to be, I want to reassure you that it is ok to not use literature guides in the elementary years (or ever—but I’ll focus on elementary-age kids here). I think many parents sense that literature guides are not instilling a love for literature in their kids—they may even feel that the guides are pushing their kids away from a love of reading—but they worry that they don’t know enough about literature to teach their kids on their own.

I’m going to offer a bit of unsolicited advice—don’t let curriculum companies play on your insecurities. You don’t have to have an English degree to teach your child literature, and you don’t have to use literature guides either. I think many people understand that math curricula that push algorithms and memorization are not typically going to develop a love of math or a deep understanding of it in a student. Literature guides (at least the ones I’ve seen, and I’ve looked around quite a bit) are the equivalent of algorithm-based math. They will not help your child love books or develop a deep understanding of stories. Elementary-age kids do not need to understand a lot of literary terms. They need to read (or hear) lots of stories so they learn to love books and understand how stories work. Rather than using literature guides, it’s ok to just read the books and discuss them. By discussion, I don't mean teaching them literary analysis. I mean talking about what happened in the story and whether it reminded them of other stories they've read. This can be at a very basic level.

However, I think some parents worry that they can't talk about books at even a basic level because they didn't get a great education in literature themselves. I want to encourage those parents that they can develop their own knowledge without literature guides or pricey teaching courses. Here are some books that have helped me to educate myself about literature. I want to emphasize that these books are for parents to improve their own understanding of literature, not for them to discuss with their elementary-aged children. Kids just need to read and narrate. But if you're wanting to learn more about literature for your own benefit, these books may be helpful. 

C.S. Lewis was regarded as the most well-read person of his time, and many people forget that he was primarily an academic and that his roles as theologian and fiction writer were secondary to that. His scholarly essays and books were a good starting point for me. 

An Experiment in Criticism by CS Lewis

Tending the Heart of Virtue by Vigen Guroian

The Educated Imagination by Northrop Frye

Hard Times by Charles Dickens

On Fairy-Stories by JRR Tolkien

How to Read the Bible as Literature by Leland Ryken

A Preface to Paradise Lost by CS Lewis (I’m rereading this one right now, and it has a lot of information about epic poetry in general, not just Paradise Lost.)

Another helpful book when it comes to discussing literature with your children is Know and Tell by Karen Glass. I know I’ve recommended that book here several times, but if you want to break away from workbooks and literature guides, this is the best resource I’ve seen on how to do that.

I hope my post is seen in the spirit that it is intended—as a genuine desire to help in an area where many parents seem confused and overwhelmed. I think many of us are here on the forum because the spirit of classical education appeals to us, but much of that beauty gets lost in our modern culture’s attempts to systematize education, and, sadly, many classical curriculum companies play into that because they sell what we are used to: step-by-step packages that provide knowledge in bite-sized pieces. If that’s all we know, that’s all we will seek, even if we sense that something is amiss. But I want to encourage parents that there are alternatives out there, and that you can teach your child about beautiful literature without a guide or a degree.

Edited March 4 by Nichola

[Nichola]

Nm

Edited March 17 by Nichola

[cintinative]

Are you aware that you posted this on the K-8 Curriculum board?
 

We never did that high level of analysis at elementary ages. 

[Nichola]

1 hour ago, cintinative said:

Are you aware that you posted this on the K-8 Curriculum board?
 

We never did that high level of analysis at elementary ages. 

Yes.

I’m not advocating literary analysis for elementary ages. I’m saying the opposite, that you should just read the books and talk about them, mostly with narration.

The books I’m recommending are for parents to educate themselves so they don’t feel that they need to buy literature guides from curriculum companies, not because I think they should be teaching literary criticism to elementary children. It’s the same concept as learning upper level math so you can teach your young children better. You aren’t going to teach them high school math (unless they’re very gifted), but you will be able to teach the basics better because you understand where the subject is headed. It also gives parents more confidence in making curriculum choices.

Thanks for mentioning this. I added a note above so that hopefully others will better understand my intent.

Edited March 3 by Nichola

[chiguirre]

I agree that you don't need to spend a lot of time on literary analysis in elementary school. What I have found very useful in literature guides is the comprehension questions that can be used as writing practice. They're an excellent way to practice writing more complex sentences than you would get from writing prompts that are based on a child's own experiences. They're less intimidating than coming up with something to say on your own if you have a reluctant writer. They can fall back on rephrasing the text, sort of like the progym, but in smaller doses. I've been using MP's lit guides and comprehension questions I got on Teachers Pay Teachers and both have been very helpful in improving my nephew's English writing skills. 

Every learner is different and some kids would much rather use creative writing prompts, but for some kids comprehension questions are an excellent way to practice written responses.

[Nichola]

18 hours ago, chiguirre said:

What I have found very useful in literature guides is the comprehension questions that can be used as writing practice. They're an excellent way to practice writing more complex sentences than you would get from writing prompts that are based on a child's own experiences. They're less intimidating than coming up with something to say on your own if you have a reluctant writer. They can fall back on rephrasing the text, sort of like the progym, but in smaller doses. 

We use written narration for this. The child tells the story in his own words, including any insights or connections he made. 

Comprehension questions are a way for classroom teachers to evaluate students because they don’t have the time to talk to each student individually. As such, they often fall into a few categories:

1. They ask overly simplistic questions with one right answer to ensure that the child read the story.

2. They direct the child into reducing a complex story to a single moral.

3. They tell the child that a character made a bad choice and then ask the child what he would have done in that character’s shoes. Maybe the child would’ve made the same choice? He isn’t going to tell the teacher that!

4. They claim to be “going deep” when they’re really just asking questions that are over the child’s head. I’ve seen questions in elementary literature guides that could be thesis topics.

This is not an exhaustive list, just a few types of commonly asked bad questions. All of these questions lead to the child looking for “the right answer,” what she thinks the teacher wants to hear, which, at the very least, doesn’t produce good writing, if that is the goal.

The best comprehension questions I’ve seen in literature guides are things like “Describe the cottage” or “Describe Jill.” But those are likely to come up naturally in a narration, and if they don’t, they’re easy enough to ask. They aren’t the sort of questions you need a literature guide for.

I agree with you that writing prompts about the child’s own experiences don’t typically lead to good writing. I think asking them to write about something they’re interested in is better. I would consider that to be separate from writing about literature though.

For literature, I think narration is usually the best route because the child is just describing things, not looking for correct answers or trying to make judgements on things he doesn’t fully understand. In An Experiment in Criticism, CS Lewis talks about how good readers are able to enter into a story, set aside their judgments, and receive the story as it is. That way they aren’t seeing things in the story that aren’t really there, such as their own biases. I think most comprehension questions are doing the opposite. They are directing the child to make certain judgments or simplifications to the story. That doesn’t produce good readers or good writers.