Write With The Best did incorporate some grammar, but it is in context of the passages studied from great literature. It is supposed to be able to cover grades 3-12. It may have some ideas for you to see how to incorporate it into your own units.
Bookworm have you used the book you linked? Would you post some more information about it? Can you use it with students younger than 6th grade as long as you modify it a bit? Thanks
Des, I just got it when we were talking about it a couple of weeks ago. I plan on giving it a “whirl” this fall. I’ve read over it but not printed it off yet. I think it might be adaptable for younger ages, if you simplified the questions and shortened or eliminated the writing portions—but I’m less than sure of the necessity of beginning literary analysis any younger than junior high. Nearly everyone who loves books objects when they begin analyis. Most of us eventually adapt, but for younger than 6th grade, I’d think reading and loving literature to be more important.
HiddenJewel, i’m not exactly sure what type of info. i’m looking for at the moment. I would like to know how teacher intensive this guide is and if you really can use it with any novel? I would love to see a few more samples of it. I’m thinking of maybe not using anything with my stb 4th grader and getting this for my stb 11th grader.
The Any Novel Study Guide looks great. Thanks for sharing!
Bookworm (or others who’ve used/seen both this and Lightening Lit.)…can you tell me how they compare? I’m just gettting ready to buy LL for my 7th grader and was wondering if this might be a better option. I’d like something that would be strong enough to use through h.s. and be college-prep…but not kill a love of reading (which my eldest, unfortunately, doesn’t really have as it is). Thanks for any input:) Gina
Gina, for someone without a love of reading, I do think that Any Novel could be a good option. I myself will most likely stick with Lightning Lit for my current 16yo as I am certain he is college bound and it is more like a college course. BUT I am keeping options open with ds#3. I am going to see how it goes and evaluate over the next couple of years with Any Novel, I think. I’m not certain I’ll be happy with it all the way through high school . . . but I do think the potential is there for it to be a tool to be used in high school as well. So I can’t promise you that it would be the ONLY thing you would need all the way through high school to be perfect college prep—-BUT I do think you can use it extensively in high school, and I’m not sure yet how much else you might want. Perhaps one LL course in senior year as “college practice”? I don’t know for sure, mostly because it’s so new to me we haven’t road-tested it yet! But I can see it being something you use for much of high school then see what you might need to supplement if you are sure they are headed to college.
Thanks, Bookworm:) So, do you think for Jr. Hi. this is just as viable an option as LL? If you had it to do over with your 16yo would you be as apt to use Any Novel rather than LL for 7th/8th? Though my eldest is not ‘bookish’ like my youngest, I most likely see her as college-bound, or at least am planning education to be prepared either way:) Thanks for your help…I know it’s probably a tough qu. since you haven’t actually used it yet! Blessings, Gina
Yes, I think I’d definitely get our feet wet using it in 7th and 8th grades if I had it to do over again. We actually have never used the LL for junior high as it just seemed “too much” to me for those ages. I didn’t want it to be quite so programmed yet, kwim? But the Any Novel is very flexible and seems like a good introduction to thinking about literature in the junior high years, and could probably work, with longer essay/writing expectations, into high school years easily as well.