Has anyone used Drawn into the Heart of Reading?

[Wendy in ME]

The final piece of curriculum planning for next year is literature. I want to read about 6 books and discuss them completely. The rest of our reading is for enjoyment. I want to choose what they read so that some of it relates to our history but it doesn't all have to. I had thought that I would just choose the books I wanted and then use VP or PP lit guides but either there isn't a guide for the book I want or the guide is just comprehension questions and no literary analysis. I want to gently start introducing the boys to some of the literary terms and as a science major, I just don't feel comfortable doing this without some sort of guide to hold my hand.

[Sue G in PA]

If so, LL7 for the 7th grader would be good. It has the books already planned, but definitely would "fit" with what you are wanting. For the younger, DITHOR is a good program. There are 9 genres of literature that it discusses...You or dc choose the books. Historical fiction IS one of the genres discussed as well as realistic fiction, adventure, biography, mystery, etc. OR, I would think you could probably even combine them in DITHOR level 6-8 and just have them choose (or you choose) different books based on their own reading level. I liked DITHOR...my kids would rather just read and discuss (sometimes!). I'm going to try to implement DITHOR more fully next year w/ my 3rd and 5th graders (using DITHOR 4/5) and my 7th grader will be using LL7. HTH a bit.

[Dayle in Guatemala]

and it was great for us. It would definitely fit what you are looking for. It's great for choosing your own literature and also for discussion. We had fun. It was a great introduction to literary terms and discussion.

[HollyDay]

I'm using it and loving it! I am however using LL 7 next year for 7th. But, we have used DITHOR for the past 2 years and will continue to use it with my youngest until she hits 7th grade

[Wendy in ME]

They will actually be 5th and 6th. The older one has a December B-day. I do keep looking at LL for future use. It seems to get great reviews and I might use it later. Thank you both for the response.

[5wolfcubs]

I'm pretty sure I'm going to be using it! There is a new DITHOR yahoo group posted about here (http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8903&highlight=DITHOR).

[gardenschooler]

I'm planning on it next year w/dd9, but I might just go ahead and get it now. It sounds wonderful, and I really like that you can choose your own books.

[magpiegirl]

Hi! I'm Melisa, the moderator of the yahoo group that was mentioned called Elementary Classics. When I first advertised for the group, I was contacted by the author of DITHOR who was very firm that we not start a group about her book. After many difficult emails back and forth concerning the matter, it was agreed that I take any reference to DITHOR off of our group page, which I did. It's too bad, because I think that it probably would have encouraged more people to buy the book and use it with their kids. At any rate, the group is over 100 strong now and even though we are no longer going to be publicly guided by DITHOR, we are following a "genre a month" structure to keep us all on track. We've also compiled a vast amount of lesson plans and links that are in the public domain to use in the various genres. It's been a group effort and I'm proud of what we've done so far to encourage literature. Any of you are welcomed to join - I just wanted to be clear that we are no longer associated with DITHOR at all, unfortunately.

Melisa
ElementaryClassics@yahoogroups.com

[momto4boys]

Hi Ladies,

I am the author of "Drawn into the Heart of Reading" and although I rarely frequent the boards here I do pop in once and awhile. I did want to set the record straight about the following comment that was not correct: "I was contacted by the author of DITHOR who was very firm that we not start a group about her book."

I did contact Melisa to let her know that it would be a copyright infringement for her to do the following (as she posted in the thread linked below): "Questions drawn from the TM of DITHOR will be sent out to the group via email to help aid in discussion."

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8903&highlight=DITHOR

There were also other instances of copyright infringement and those had to be removed as well.

The matter is cleared up and the group is functioning onward now free from copyright restrictions.

If you have other questions about Drawn into the Heart of Reading, I would be glad to answer them on our board which has already been linked up above by someone else.

Blessings,
Carrie Austin