Literature for an 8th and 9th grader

[Kathie in VA]

I'm all over the board on this one. I've always just tied lit to history... but now I'm debating it. I know we will be doing CW Maxium next year, I'm not sure on history or lit. Part of me wants to do Omni I but part of me wants to read the suggested lit to go along with CW Maxium.... I could finally see the TTC DVD I already bought and make use of them... then pick some additional books to complete the year. However I just don't know how much SHOULD be targetted for high school. If we do Omni with the online class we'd do it all but if we went without the class I could taylor the prgm... but again how do I know how much to ask for?

Also if we do the lit off the CW list (& maybe add in TTC analysis) then I know we will be getting a really good literature study (lit terms, etc) However if we do lit from Omni or Notgrass or something I think that will focus more on how it relates to history then learning the lit terms and how to do a literary analysis (then again, which one is really needed for SATS and College??) (current interests of my oldest is Medical so she can work with people, but who knows?)

Anyway I'm just spinning my wheels here. We also want to put them into some outside class besides Biology, so who knows.

Thanks in advance for any wisdom you have time to share!
--Kathie
:bigear:

[Lori D.]

We tend to do a mix -- some lit. set in the time frame, some not.

For example, last year, we did the ancients, and did a number of classic ancient works -- but we also did the Literary Lessons from the Lord of the Rings, and so did the 3 books of that trilogy. (And, it being a modern fantasy epic written by an author steeped in ancient Greek/Latin classic epics, and teaching medieval classics -- it fit in very well!)

This year we are quite eclectic, doing 20th century world history, with the following mix:

non 20th-century lit:
- Beowulf
- Macbeth
- Much Ado About Nothing

20th century lit:
- All Quiet on the Western Front
- Diary of Anne Frank
- Cry, The Beloved Country


Younger son is also doing Lightning Lit. 8, which includes only 3 modern works:
- To Kill a Mockingbird
- A Day of Pleasure
- My Family and Other Animals


Older son is doing a worldview in sci-fi/gothic lit, which includes several 19th century works, plus the following 20th century lit:
- Animal Farm
- Farenheit 451
- The Giver
- Brave New World
- Canticle for Leibowitz
- short shories from Cosmicomics
- Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy


Next year we'll be doing US history and American lit., so we'll be much more closely linked again. But I do have to say, we're really enjoying the variety, and I'm liking doing 1-2 Shakespeare works and 1-2 classic lit. works per year outside of their time frame -- it has allowed us to make some connections we might not have otherwise. : )

BEST of luck, whatever you decide! Warmest regards, Lori D.

[Kathie in VA]

Lori,

Your post was very helpful (as you always are :D ). Doing a mix sounds like fun also, I don't know why I didn't consider that option. Perhaps I'll pick the CW suggestions, some to align with history and have them pick one or two from the Good Books or Great Books lists or maybe just for fun. (Then I'll get a guide for me or really learn how to use my Teaching The Classics lessons). I know it depends on the length of each book and amount of time chosen for each book but about how many should I target for a 9th grader? (& 8th grader)? Sounds like about 6 books, give or take?

hmm, looks like we need to get this year over on time just so I can get busy this summer getting all this together ;)

thanks again for sharing!

[Lori D.]

Perhaps I'll pick the CW suggestions, some to align with history and have them pick one or two from the Good Books or Great Books lists or maybe just for fun. (Then I'll get a guide for me or really learn how to use my Teaching The Classics lessons). I know it depends on the length of each book and amount of time chosen for each book but about how many should I target for a 9th grader? (& 8th grader)? Sounds like about 6 books, give or take?


Kathy, that's exactly what we do:
- pick books I want to make sure we cover at some point in high school
- also give the boys input on selection from a list
- use a guide
- get through maybe 6 in a year aloud together

And our boys were 8th & 9th last year, 9th &10th this year and we did it together, so that matches up exactly, too! :001_smile:

I also shot for some sort of paper (anywhere between 1 paragraph to several pages on each of those works, depending on how much time we had, the writing assignments in the lit. guides, or what we came up with on our own). It's good practice for beginning literary analysis.

Enjoy your Great Book adventure! It's been the highlight of our school day! Warmest regards, Lori D.

[Karin]

For this year, we're doing Stobaugh's Skills for Literary Analysis which does not tie history into literature. It does cover many things about literary analysis in bite sized (okay, week long) bits. We are planning on using the WEM list for high school, but will tweak it for each child. My budding scientist won't read it all, but my middle dd will likely do most or all of it.

Stobaugh is Christian, but most of the reading list is secular.

[MIch elle]

http://hrsbstaff.ednet.ns.ca/mshaw/Revised_Analysis_Sheets%5B.pdf