Starting Points or Literature Lessons from Lord of the Rings

[Suzybearybake]

I am looking ahead for literature programs for 8th and 9th grade. I really liked the look of both of these programs but am undecided which to do first. David Quine's Starting Points seems like its might have some easier reading included but it does have a lot (7 or 8)of essays involved. SP also has some tie-ins to American history which we will be studying in 8th. LLFLOTR would work fine in 9th as we do BJU Geography but I wonder if I should do this in 8th because the child will be 12yr old in 8th grade and may find all of the essays a bit much. He is my reluctant writer. Any input from anyone who has used either of these programs? I don't want to overwhelm him but from what I can tell they should be doable. How much of a writing component does LLFLOTR have? From what I could see it seemed to have a workbook type approach with many fill in the blank and matching type questions.Would this one be a better fit to start out with?

[sleepy]

I haven't used either of those, but I'm thinking about using LLFLOTR with my oldest.

You might want to ask this question on the high school board also, I know several people there are using LLFLOTR.

[Lori D.]

Hope something here helps! Feel free to ask me about Lit. Lessons from Lord of the Rings, or Lightning Lit. as we've used both of those. BEST of luck in finding what works best for your family! Warmest regards, Lori D.


Starting Points (SP)
Haven't used Starting Points, but in looking at the website, it looks like a program that is not about literary analysis, but rather, includes a unit on literary analysis in order to learn how to use literary analysis as a tool for looking at the worldview of a book, film or other medium, and seeing how it supports or doesn't support a Christian Biblical worldview.

Starting Points website: http://www.cornerstonecurriculum.com...ulum/SP/sp.htm



Literary Lessons From the Lord of the Rings (LLftLotR)
In brief, I would say that the Literary Lessons from the Lord of the Rings is a VERY in-depth study guide to the the Lord of Rings trilogy, plus 12 additional units of material on related topics. There are some suggested writing assignment ideas -- about one every 2-3 weeks. They are pretty open-ended and could be as long or short as you like, or could easily be skipped entirely.

Samples of LLftLotR: http://www.homescholar.org/samples.htm


We are using LLftLotR this year with 8th gr. and 9th gr. boys. Like your son, our 8th gr. is using Jump In this year, as he has always struggled with writing, and is just this year starting to turn the corner on it becoming a little easier. He will finish Jump In in one year, and does some additional writing in other curriculum areas. We are not doing any of the writing assignments in LLftLotR. We are enjoying the many themes and literary terms brought up by the additional notes, and are very much enjoying the discussions sparked by the additional notes, discussion questions, and the additional units.

We've slightly modified LLftLotR:
1. We read the books aloud together 1-2 evenings a week.
2. We don't do the "fill in the missing words" worksheets which review the main action for each chapter. (already know the story very well)
3. We do the vocabulary aloud, rather than fill in the worksheet blanks. (already know most of the words)
4. We read the Additional Notes for each chapter aloud together. This is the "meat" of the study, where all of the literary terms, the themes, and other things like author influences are introduced and examples from the chapter are brought up.
5. We do the Discussion Questions for each chapter aloud together. Again, the meat of the study for us -- lots of interesting parallels and other points get discussed at this time.
6. We read/discuss the additional units aloud together. (We've done them out of order, so that some of the information matches up with other things we're doing.)

In addition to LLftLotR, we are slowly reading/discussing our way through about 4-6 "great books" this year to go along with our history on the ancients, plus the boys are each reading 6-8 books on their own that are either historical fiction to go along with the history, or are classic lit. books for their grade levels -- not requiring much discussion or writing on those books.



Figuratively Speaking
If you're just looking for exposure to literary terms (what they are and examples of them in classic literature), a great resource is "Figuratively Speaking: Using Classic Literature to Teach 40 Literary Terms" (available at www.rainbowresource.com or www.amazon.com). We did 1-2 terms a week, each takes about 10 minutes; each term is covered in 3 pages, with definition, examples, and exercises for practicing or pointing out the term. As you learn the terms, you can start pointing them out in whatever literature you're reading.



Lightning Literature & Composition for gr. 7 or gr. 8 (LL7, or LL8)
Another option you might want to look into for beginning literary analysis is LL. I'd suggest starting with the full-year program for grade 7, even if he'll be in grade 8, as it is a gentler program, with 8 units, compared to LL8 with 12 units and slightly more mature literature that is read. Both LL7 and LL8 cover realistic novels, fantasy novels, short stories, and poetry. Each unit covers a different literary element with extensive teaching text (written to the student) and examples from the work being read for that unit. There are workpages to help practice the literary element, and then a 2-3 page "mini-writing lesson" in which "how to take notes" or "how to cite a source" is discussed. Each unit ends with 4-6 assignments from which to choose for an optional, longer writing assignment.

See downloadable sample lessons at: http://www.hewitthomeschooling.com/book/blight.asp

We did LL7 and LL8 last year and enjoyed both -- the literary selections were all enjoyable; the worksheets were helpful and not too much; the writing assignment at the end of each unit was not too overwhelming, and we were able to do it while also doing a separate writing program without it being too much. Our younger son (8th grade this year) who struggles with writing will do LL8 next year as a 9th grader, and it will be right on target for him.



Christian Light Education
I've also heard a few people recommend the Christian Light Education (CLE) literature materials as being very helpful and in depth in teaching literary analysis. I know nothing about this program.

CLE website: http://www.clp.org/index.shtml



Resources for YOU in teaching literary analysis:

- Teaching the Classics -- a DVD/video series on how to discuss/analyze literature (for you the teacher, to help you lead/teach your student through discussion on literature)

- The Well Educated Mind -- Susan Wise Bauer's book on how to read/think through a book and "enter the great conversation"; one of the early chapters has a great list of questions you can use with your students on thinking/talking about the literature you're reading.

- Deconstructing Penguins -- by the Goldstones; a book on how the authors ran an elementary aged child/parent book club -- great examples of walking through a book and thinking/discussing it to get to the author's underlining theme.

- How to Read a Book (Adler)
- How to Read Literature Like a Professor (Foster)
- Reading Strands (Marks)

[Lori D.]

Link to previous Literary Analysis:
http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5102