Grammar/LA for 5th grade

[blessed2fosteradopt]

I am looking for suggestions for 5th grade for my son. He has never experienced narration/copywork/dictation in school that I have seen and has been taught BJU English for the last two years. He has not done much writing this year at all. :( What would be good for him, challenging but not overwhelming for either of us?

[Alana in Canada]

Get a highly recommended edition of Aesop's Fables.
(Milo Winter's comes highly recommended.)

Read them to the child.
Have him tell you what the story was about.

Once he's comfortable, write down what he says.
Have him copy it out. Check it over for correct punctuation and spelling.

You can be imaginative with this, if the child will be OK with it. Leave out all the punctuation (and capitalization one day, for example--misspell three words and tell him to find them, that sort of thing.)

Then dictate the first, then the first two sentences back to him....

Just take him through the process, only more quickly, progressing through each step as he is ready. Until a child can write his own narration, he really isn't ready for anything more formal.

Well, that's just my two cents.

[BizyPenguin]

If you're looking for a gentle Charlotte Mason approach (narration, dictation, copywork) check out SimplyCharlotteMason.com (http://www.simplycharlottemason.com)for ideas. If you're looking for regular curriculum, I recommend CLE Language Arts (if you are Christian). I reviewed CLE language arts and Bob Jones English and Writing on my blog. All the best! (My blog link is below.)

[mcconnellboys]

Well, Simply Spelling includes daily copywork. Primary Language Lessons includes quite a bit of copywork, as well as some dictation work. I believe that Intermediate Language Lessons includes some of this, as well. Or you can do copywork/dictation from any good book.

He can narrate back any short story for you, such as fables. There are many short stories and narration work in both PLL and ILL, that I mentioned above.

Regena