Michael Clay THompson books - which to use?

[Myra]

Hi -
I've been toying with the idea of using the Michael Clay Thompson
books for my two boys in the Fall (will be in grades 7 and 9).

These are some of the titles that looked interesting to me....
Magic Lens, Volume I
Word Within The Word. Volume I
4Practice Vol I: Student Workbook

So here's my questions:
1. Are these consumable books?
2. Would I need one for each child so they could work more
independently?
3. I couldn't afford all three if I need to buy 2 each along with a
teachers edition so........what's the pros and cons? Which would
you recommend?


Thanks,
Myra

[Melissa B]

The student book and teacher's book for both Magic Lens and Word within the Word are not consumable, so you would only need one book of each (4 books total - Magic Lens student, Magic Lens TE, Word within the Word student, and Word within the Word TE.)

The student book of 4Practice is consumable so you would need one student book for each child and the answer book. I do not purchase any student books for the 4Practice series. I purchase one answer book only and write the sentences on a white board or piece of paper for the student. We usually do one sentence a day - four days a week. So the white board works great.