Katie Glennon, Author at Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network

What to Include in your Middle and High School Language Arts Study

A Production of the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

August 22, 2023 by Katie Glennon Leave a Comment

LCP Ep 5: What to Include in Your Middle and High School Language Arts Study

What do you need to include during the middle school years in Language Arts to make sure your learner is ready to tackle high school work? What kind of Language Arts and English program would colleges be looking for and what can count as credit for the high school transcript?

Visit Katie’s website for more fun ideas and tips to use in your homeschool at Katie’s Homeschool Cottage or her Facebook Group.

Join Katie Glennon as she discusses what skills and concepts you should include in your Language Arts study during the middle and high school years. Katie shares an outline with some specific areas to make sure you include them in your Language Arts study during these critical years. She will suggest and discuss curriculum resources she found useful in her homeschool when her sons were in middle and high school that work efficiently and effectively to meet English requirements and make sure your learner is prepared for the next step – moving from middle into high school or high school into college.

The Areas of Language Arts you should include in the Middle and High School Years

What-to-Include-in-your-Middle and High School Homeschool-Language-Arts-Study pdf (Printable for you to download)

Show Notes

The Areas of Language Arts you should include in the Middle and High School Years
Reading/Literature

For literature during these years, I recommend a mix of short stories, poetry, essays (non-fiction), drama, and novels. These can be found either separately or in the form of a literary anthology and additional novels to read alongside the anthology.

Along with the novels, you will want to use some kind of novel study guides (that will also assist you with suggested vocabulary words and various questions).

Suggested Homeschool Literary Resources to Assist you in your Literature Study –

Total Language Plus (novel study guide)
Progeny Press (novel study guide)
Mosdos Press Literature Anthologies

Skills and Concepts for Literature Study

There are a number of skills and concepts you will want to include in your literary study.

These skills include –

• Vocabulary – I recommend using words from your reading for your vocabulary words because it saves you time and money from using a separate vocabulary program or curriculum. Most of all, in my experience it is more effective. The words are in context of what your learner is reading and will be understood and remembered more effectively because it is part of a story they will remember. It also gives your learner the practice in figuring out what words mean using their context within a sentence.

• Comprehension and Higher Order Thinking Skill Practice

Recalling details
Comprehending and understanding what they read (being able to identify the “main idea” or “theme” of the story)
Application skills – using what they have learned from the reading to problem solve
Analysis – drawing conclusions, comparing this written work to another from the same author or another author, or comparing what they have read to a personal experience.
Evaluation – critiquing the writing, selecting an issue from the writing and debating it.
Synthesis – taking a point, idea, theme, character from your reading and creating something new from that piece.
Elements of a story – plot, conflict, setting, characters, point of view, mood, tone
Literary devices and writing techniques such as similes, metaphors, imagery, personification, onomatopoeia, hyperbole, alliteration.

• Study different Genres – forms of writing and rhetoric – speeches, drama, essays, short stories, poetry, non-fiction, and novels.

• Study different literary time periods and areas around the world.

American Literature – Native American, Pre-colonial/Puritanism, Colonial, Revolutionary (age of Enlightenment/Reason), Romanticism (includes American Gothic, Transcendentalism), Realism/Naturalism/Regionalism, Modernism, Contemporary

British – (some crossover from American) Old English/Anglo-Saxon, Middle English/Medieval, Renaissance, Puritanism, Enlightenment, Romantic (Regency), Victorian, Modern

World Literature – (Western, Eastern, Other) Can focus primarily on Ancient works from Greek Philosophers or Christian authors, or a broad cross-section of countries, authors, and time periods from around the world.

Semester Specialty Classes – Poetry, Shakespeare, Drama, Journalism, Creative Writing, Research and Composition, specific types of literature or specific authors or parts of the world.

• Worldview – Christian Worldview expressed by author and content or Secular/Humanist view.

• Author Biography and Time Period in which he/she lived or wrote about.
Literature can be a reflection of cultural, religious, societal, and historical views, beliefs, and events written from the author’s point of view or the content itself.

Literature can also be an influencer of cultural, religious, and societal beliefs from the time period and society in which it is written or the author’s point of view and intent. It can influence thinking and historical events.

Writing and Composition

I recommend using your literature study as the jumping off point for essay writing and composition. However, before you can begin with that practice, your middle schooler and early high school student has to have some basic foundation in writing skills.

Middle schoolers should master the proper format of a paragraph –

A Hook to capture the reader’s interest and a Topic Sentence
At least 3 detailed supporting sentences that gives more information directly related to the topic sentence.
A concluding sentence that brings that paragraph to a close.

By the time learners start their first year in high school, they should be working on mastering the proper 5 Paragraph Essay (in this case an informative essay).

I recommend having your learner pick a topic they could talk to you about off the top of his/her head for 15 minutes without really having to think much about it. This topic lends itself to writing this kind of essay and the learner can concentrate on the format of the paper instead of what to write.

Proper 5 Paragraph (Informative) Essay
A Hook and topic (thesis) sentence with an introductory paragraph that include mentioned the three subtopics (or details about the main topic) that you will be discussing in the paper.
3 Body – detailed, supporting paragraphs in the order in which they were mentioned in the introductory paragraph. – Include transition words and sentence variation.
Concluding paragraph which includes a rewording of the topic sentence with a mention of the 3 subtopics and a Clincher sentence (could be a big statement, last thought, question, or a call to action).

Then you are ready to use your literary pieces as a basis of other essays –
Persuasive essay
Analytical essay
Research (and/or MLA, APA, Chicago format) essay
Persuasive essay with citations
Compare and Contrast essay itself to college application essays)
Literary Criticism

Here is a bundle of notebooking pages that we used for our written narration that I mentioned in the podcast to develop our writing skills before we wrote formal essays of different forms. There is a set for different subject areas that we used to either make our own books or put into a 3-ring binder to put together a notebook of our writing and what we learned in that subject that year.

Make Your Own ABC Book Notebooking Pages Bundle Set

Grammar

Use your learner’s writing to assess what skills they need to review and practice each week.

Other review and practice for grammar skills can be found with these resources –

Rod and Staff – (books go up to 8th grade, but the concepts and skills are up through high school work.) These books use diagramming and are very well explained. If you have a learner that loves following and making lists of steps and learns best this way, you might want to try diagramming. However, if it is frustrating or challenging for you or your learner to understand the “diagramming process”, it may not be worth using that method to learn the grammatical concepts.

If you have a hands-on learner, you may want to check out Winston Grammar. This program uses a hands-on approach and labels parts of speech and how the words are used in a sentence.

Another program I recommend is the Easy Grammar series. The Easy Grammar books have the text and instruction to learn and practice new skills and the Daily Grams are workbooks that have a daily review with 5 different kinds of grammar concepts with one sample of each per day for a total of 5 quick review samples to practice. Loved this! As your child moves into high school, you may want to use the Ultimate Series which has the text and instruction and the practice in each. There are placement tests on the website to assist you.

Spelling in Language Arts Study

Spelling for middle school can still be in a phonics-based spelling book as recommended in my Language Arts for Elementary Ages podcast such as Building Spelling Skills by Christian Liberty Press .

You can also look at your learner’s writing and include words they misspell in your weekly spelling list.

If you have a learner who is ready to tackle more complex words, I recommend Spelling Power, an inclusive book that you will be able to use for years through high school and multiple learners. It supplies word lists and ways to study and learn the words each week.

Be sure to comment in the Comments box any ideas you’d like to share that your family has used in your Language Arts or any of these ideas from this podcast you found helpful! I would love to hear from you! Thanks for visiting! Come back and visit the Literary Cafe Podcast for August’s topic when we discuss how to study grammar in your homeschool!

Make sure you subscribe to the Literary Cafe Podcast at iTunes so you don’t miss an episode or by clicking on the Android or RSS feed buttons below the recording on this page!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Google Podcasts | Spotify | Android | TuneIn | RSS

Filed Under: Literary Cafe Podcast, Ultimate Homeschool Radio Show Tagged With: Education, English, Grammar, highschool literature, homeschooling high school, Junior High, language arts, Literary Analysis, Literary Cafe Podcast, literature, Middle School, preparing for high school, Spelling, teaching writing, Teens, Thinking Skills, vocabulary

Developing Language Skills in your Young Learner

A Production of the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

March 21, 2019 by Katie Glennon Leave a Comment

LCP Ep 13: Developing Language Skills in your Young Learner

The time to start reading and developing language skills in your young learner is now.

Reading at least 15 minutes per day from the time your child is an infant and even through high school will not only promote a bond with your child and an enjoyment in reading, but help develop vocabulary, reading, and writing skills.

Visit Katie’s website for more fun ideas and tips to use in your homeschool at Katie’s Homeschool Cottage or her Facebook Group.

Join Katie Glennon as she shares step by step how to easily develop language skills in your young learner with practical tips, resources, and book and activity ideas that help you get started right away.

Show Notes

Developing Language Skills in your Young Learner

If you suspect your child is experiencing language or processing issues, you may want to check out Dianne Craft’s articles and materials at diannecraft.org. I used quite a few of her materials, articles, and her Brain Integration Therapy guide.

Book Title Suggestions for Rhyme, Rhythm and Repetition

Start with simple Dr. Seuss Books – Hop on Pop, Dr. Seuss’s ABC’s, One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish

Then longer Dr. Seuss Books – Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham

Sheep in a Jeep

Sheep Go to Sleep

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you See?

Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What do you Hear?

Assorted Poetry Books – The Random House Book of Poetry for Children, The 20th Century Children’s Poetry Treasury

Reading Activity Suggestions

Start with nursery rhymes and finger and hand motions while you recite them together.

As you read together, point to each word as you read it aloud.

Point to the pictures on the page and comment and ask questions about them. (Depending on the age of your child, you can ask them a question about what a picture is or a color in the picture.) As they get older or more familiar with the book, you can ask more complex questions. (Visit Using Higher Order Thinking Skills in your Reading to gain ideas in asking questions and developing thinking skills.)

Repeat reading the same books (as long as your child shows interest in it) for at least 15 minutes per day.

Use your child’s finger to point at the words as you say them and allow them to turn the page if they want.

Take turns reading sentences or pages so that your child doesn’t feel overwhelmed by reading too much at one time. (For practical and fun ways to engage reluctant readers, visit Ultimate List of Fun Ways to Engage your Reluctant Reader.)

Put magnetic letters on the refrigerator for play opportunities.

Have a letter of the day or week and let your child tell you whenever they see that letter during the day.

Depending on what kind of learner you have, you could try different kinds of activities to learn the alphabet –

Songs, chants and books read aloud (audio books) for auditory learners

Use pictures of the alphabet that have animals or pictures within the letters so that the learner can make connections or stories to help them remember the letters for visual learners.

For tactile or kinesthetic learner –
Cut letters out of sand paper and trace the letters with their fingers.
Trace letters of the alphabet in the sand or shaving cream or finger paint.
Trace letters in the air using whole arm movements and paint letters on the driveway with water and a paint brush.
Form letters with your whole body or out of play dough or pipe cleaners.

For rhyming books or poetry –

Read a line with a rhyming word at the end and stop reading once you get to the rhyming word and let your child say the rhyming word.
Copy down the poem and leave a space at the end of the line for the rhyming word and let your child fill in the blank.

For Sight Words –

Copy sight words down on index cards to make flash cards. (If your child has a difficult time reading a part of the word, write that part of the word in a different color.) (Go to www.sightwords.com for lists of words and activity suggestions.)
Copy word family words down on index cards to make flash cards and write the word family sound in a different color.
Make duplicate copies of these words for games – Go Fish, Old Maid, Memory or Concentration Matching Game.

For Writing Activity Suggestions

Have your child paint or draw a picture on the top half of a page of paper. Then have your child tell you in a sentence what the picture is about. Write down what your child says underneath the picture as he/she says it so they can connect what they are saying to what you are writing down.

As your child gets older begin the practice of having them retell parts of stories back to you or short stories back to you. Then have them practice writing down one sentence at a time (even if they are using inventive or “creative” spelling) until they can write down more than one sentence, building up to multiple sentences. They can then draw a picture about what they just wrote about.

For detailed steps and more ways to help your struggling or early writer, visit Teaching your Struggling Writer How to Write.)

Be sure to comment in the Comments box any ideas you’d like to share about developing language skills that your family has found helpful! Or, if you found any ideas here helpful or have any questions! I would love to hear from you!

Thanks for visiting!

Make sure you download our podcast at iTunes or subscribe to the Literary Cafe Podcast by clicking on the Android or RSS feed buttons below the recording on this page! And make sure you share this page with other homeschoolers with middle and high schoolers and are wondering how to get started writing in these grade levels!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Google Podcasts | Android | RSS

Filed Under: Literary Cafe Podcast, Ultimate Homeschool Radio Show, Ultimate Radio Shows Tagged With: Critical Thinking Skills, Dr. Seuss, Education, elementary, elementary school, High School, High School Language Arts, Higher Order Thinking Skills, Junior High, language arts, Literary Cafe Podcast, Middle School, preschool, Preschool Learning, reading, repetition, rhyme, rhythm, writing

Using Higher Order Thinking Skills in Your Reading

A Production of the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

February 28, 2019 by Katie Glennon Leave a Comment

LCP Ep 12: Using Higher Order Thinking Skills in Your Reading

Are you wondering what we mean by “higher order thinking skills” or “critical thinking skills”?

And what do you do with them and how do you teach them to your children? And how are you supposed to do that with reading?

Visit Katie’s website for more fun ideas and tips to use in your homeschool at Katie’s Homeschool Cottage or her Facebook Group.

Join Katie Glennon as she explains what higher order thinking skills are, why they are important, and how you can practice them with your children in fun and easy ways.

Show Notes

Using Higher Order Thinking Skills with Your Reading

Different Levels and Kinds of Higher Order Thinking Skills

Bloom’s Taxonomy

Thinking skills can be organized in a hierarchy of difficulty (and also according to stage of child and learning development). In other words, from least to most difficult and acquired as a child ages.

For a detailed description of these thinking skills, what they look like in your child, why they are important, and how to practice using them in easy and fun ways, you will want to listen to the podcast.

Bloom’s Taxonomy is a method of labeling and describing the different levels of thinking skills and what they entail.

Knowledge or Remembering – This thinking skill is the ability to recall information and details or memorize facts or words.

Comprehension or Understanding – This skill requires the need to understand the meanings of the words and what they mean when used together in phrases or sentences to express an idea. Your child needs to have the vocabulary knowledge and the capacity to understand the concept being presented.

Application or Applying – Not only does this skill require understanding and comprehension of something, but also the ability to take that learned and understood information and apply it to a similar situation.

Analysis or Analyzing – This skill requires understanding something and making connections in what is being read or studied because the connections are not spelled out or clearly identified for the learner. The learner has to make the connections on his or her own.

Synthesis or Revising – This thinking skill allows your child to make a leap or build new thoughts based on the connections they’ve made using the other thinking skills we’ve been discussing – formulating what they are comprehending, learning, and connecting from the reading and making something new or forming new thoughts from all of this.

Evaluation – This is where your child learns to make a judgment about something, form an opinion or make a decision.

Question Starters to Practice Different Levels of Thinking Skills

Bloom’s Question Starters Handout

Higher Order Thinking Question Stems Handout

Suggested Activities to Practice Using Different Levels of Thinking Skills

Recalling and retelling information through retelling what your learner has heard during a read aloud of a short story or chapter.

Graphic Organizers or Mind Mapping – Use these to practice thinking skills and organize and use different concepts or ideas.

Graphic Organizers to Print

Mind Map Examples for Different Topics

Activities and Projects Related to a Book (Out of the Box Book Report Ideas and Literature Study) – using different kinds of thinking skills and learning styles

Podcast and Show Notes with Handout for Essential Guide to Out of the Box Book Report Ideas and Literature Study

Have your learner create his or her own assessment to either give to another learner or themselves – a quiz, test, paper, project – and have them write it to include different levels of thinking skills. They would also need an answer key or something to evaluate the outcome of the assessment, requiring them to use even more thinking skills.

Have your learner create a lesson plan around your book, maybe literary devices or techniques, story elements used in the book, or character analysis. Have him or her include a lesson to present with created visual aides, guided practice opportunity with the class like an activity, game, or class practice, and an assessment like a quiz, practice worksheet, or other assignment.

Consciously making the effort and taking time to incorporate different levels of questions or activities or projects not only can make reading more interesting but definitely expands your learner’s thinking abilities and prepares them for knowing how to think – and not just answer questions only requiring recall.

This helps to develop our problem solvers, innovators, creators, and leaders of tomorrow.

Be sure to comment in the Comments box any ideas you’d like to share about using and practicing thinking skills that your family has found helpful! Or, if you found any ideas here helpful or have any questions! I would love to hear from you!

Thanks for visiting! Come back and visit the Literary Cafe Podcast for March’s topic when we discuss developing language skills in your younger learners. I have all kinds of practical and fun ways to get your early learners reading and writing and loving it! We are also going to be tying it to Dr. Seuss’ birthday which is also celebrated in March!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Google Podcasts | Android | RSS

Filed Under: Literary Cafe Podcast, Ultimate Homeschool Radio Show, Ultimate Radio Shows Tagged With: Bloom's Taxonomy, Critical Thinking Skills, Education, elementary school, English, High School, High School Language Arts, Higher Order Thinking Skills, Junior High, language arts, Literary Cafe Podcast, Middle School, reading

Essential Writing in your Homeschool High School

A Production of the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

January 24, 2019 by Katie Glennon Leave a Comment

LCP Ep 11: Essential Writing in your Homeschool High School

Do you have a middle or high schooler and you are wondering what do you need to teach them for writing for credit or for preparation for college?

Intimidated by the kind of essays that are usually included during high school and are necessary for college applications, standardized tests, and classes?

Visit Katie’s website for more fun ideas and tips to use in your homeschool at Katie’s Homeschool Cottage or her Facebook Group.

Join Katie Glennon as she shares with you what is considered essential writing in your homeschool high school for high school credit, experience, and college preparation.

Show Notes

Types of Essays to Practice in High School

(This is a list of suggestions starting with the less challenging to more difficult and most common kinds of writing to other kinds of experience you may want to include.)

Informative essay (try a 5 paragraph format for this as your first kind of essay if starting here)

Persuasive/Argumentative essay (common for standardized tests with an essay)

Summary Paper (can be about an essay or article and the author’s viewpoint)

Compare/Contrast

Literary Analytical or Critical essay

Research Paper (MLA is common, but there are also APA and Chicago formats as well)

Cause/Effect

Definition

Narrative (can be a personal anectdote – common for the the college application)

Descriptive (can be describing a scene, person, or object using all senses and can incorporate creative writing)

Process Analysis (step by step writing that would be used in technical writing)

Cover Letter and Resume

Websites with Prompts for Different Kinds of Writing

These sites assist your upper middle and high schooler with gaining practice writing different kinds of essays, including preparing for essays on standardized tests that some college admission offices require and prompts for essays on past college applications that used the Common Application.

Persuasive Essay Prompts

More Persuasive Essay Prompts

General Writing Prompts to Warm up your Early High Schooler

Prompts for Various Kinds of High School Essays

Various Writing Prompts and Writing Activities for High Schoolers

Practice Using Literary Devices in Writing with Valentine’s Day theme

Be sure to comment in the Comments box any ideas you’d like to share about writing in high schooler that your family has found helpful! I would love to hear from you!

Thanks for visiting! Come back and visit the Literary Cafe Podcast for February’s topic when we discuss including practice of using higher order thinking skills when reading for all ages. You will be amazed by all the skills and benefits your learners can gain by making a point to prompt them to use various levels of thinking!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Google Podcasts | Android | RSS

Filed Under: Literary Cafe Podcast, Ultimate Homeschool Radio Show, Ultimate Radio Shows Tagged With: College Essays, College Writing, Education, English, Essays, High School, High School Language Arts, Junior High, language arts, Literary Cafe Podcast, Middle School, Struggling writers, teaching kids to write, teaching writing, Teens, writing, Writing Education

Teaching Your Struggling Writer How to Write

A Production of the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

December 27, 2018 by Katie Glennon Leave a Comment

LCP Ep 10: Teaching your Struggling Writer How to Write

Have you ever seen your learners with “a deer caught in headlights” look when holding a pencil over a blank piece of paper?

Is it a struggle to get your child to write down more than a word or two?

Visit Katie’s website for more fun ideas and tips to use in your homeschool at Katie’s Homeschool Cottage or her Facebook Group.

Join Katie Glennon as she shares tips and practices in getting even your youngest learners more comfortable putting pencil to paper and conveying their thoughts into written words.

You’ll soon be using these techniques every day in your own routine easily and naturally.

Show Notes

Quick Writing Practice Opportunities

Post cards or letters to friends or relatives about a trip or event.

Pen pals.

Science nature journal or sketch pad with captions or labels on a nature hike or walk.

Grocery lists or other lists – favorite things, to do’s, menu, people.

Emails.

Thank you notes for birthday or Christmas.

Birthday cards or other cards, including invitations.

Posters, flyers, brochures, book jackets.

Journal or diary (can be just a sentence or more about their day).

Scrapbook or photo album with captions or names underneath.

Use invisible ink or secret code to make writing more interesting and fun.

Write using different media and materials – colored pencils, gel pens, scented pens, colored paper, chalkboard, white board, window or mirror, eraseable writing pad (the one with the plastic pencil and you lift the plastic sheet up to erase your writing.), driveway with chalk or water with a brush, large poster board or paper with paint, write in sand or at the beach.

Creat slide shows with Powerpoint or Google slides or Prezi.

Collaborate and take turns writing a story, taking turns one sentence at a time.

Write a story as a character or famous person using “I”.

Interview someone for real or pretend and write down what they say.

Write about an event or nature hike using “who”, “what”, “where”, “when”, “why”, and “how” to tell you what to write about.

Write a revision of a well-known story revising an event or a character in the story in your retelling. Write a new ending. Keep it a simple story like Red Riding Hood, The Three Bears or Three Little Pigs, or The Gingerbread Man.

Websites to Help You Draw and Write Your Own Story

These sites assist your child in creating a picture for a scene or multiple scenes in a story either drawing your own picture or using graphics they supply. Once they create the picture/s, they can type in the story and either read it online or print it off for their own book.

Story Jumper

Read Write Think Printing Press

Story Starters by Scholastic

My Storymaker

Writing with Writers

Imagine Forest

Writing Prompts

If you choose to use writing prompts as a topic instead of the retelling of a read aloud or a short simple story, I highly recommend you let your struggling writer draw a picture of the scene that comes to mind from the writing prompt. This way they can write about what they see happening in the picture and it will be less challenging for them to verbalize a story from the prompt. (Remember – in the podcast we discussed that creating a story from scratch takes the writer away from focusing just on getting over the overwhelm of putting words in a sentence on paper.)

Writing Prompts for Kids

Free Writing Prompts

Daily Writing Prompts

180 Journaling Writing Prompts

251 Free Creative Writing

Writing Prompt Printables for all Ages

Be sure to comment in the Comments box any ideas you’d like to share about how your family has overcome the “deer caught in headlights look” or the overwhelm of putting pencil to paper! Or, what techniques from this podcast or list of ideas you found helpful! I would love to hear from you!

Thanks for visiting! Come back and visit the Literary Cafe Podcast for January’s topic when we discuss essential writing skills in the upper grades! You will definitely want to catch this episode to make sure you are preparing your children for college and life with their writing.

Make sure you download our podcast at iTunes or subscribe to the Literary Cafe Podcast by clicking on the Android or RSS feed buttons below the recording on this page! And make sure you share this page with other homeschoolers whose children struggle with writing or even those just trying to make it easier and more fun!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Google Podcasts | Spotify | Android | TuneIn | RSS

Filed Under: Literary Cafe Podcast, Ultimate Homeschool Radio Show Tagged With: Education, Elementary Language Arts, English, High School, High School Language Arts, Junior High, language arts, Literary Cafe Podcast, Middle School, Struggling writers, teaching kids to write, teaching writing, Teens, writing, Writing Education

Valuable Benefits from Reading Classic Literature in your Homeschool

A Production of the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

November 29, 2018 by Katie Glennon Leave a Comment

LCP Ep 9: Valuable Benefits from Reading Classic Literature in your Homeschool

Do you cringe when you think about “classic literature”?

Are you intimidated by the thought of tackling challenging vocabulary or complex sentences that seem to go on and on?

Visit Katie’s website for more fun ideas and tips to use in your homeschool at Katie’s Homeschool Cottage or her Facebook Group.

Join Katie Glennon as she shares important benefits from reading classic literature, starting with easier books and working your way (and their way) up and through more challenging works as they progress through middle and high school.

There are so many academic and personal benefits that you most likely have not considered in reading classic books, but make the effort extremely worthwhile. They range from the very practical like expanding vocabulary to developing your child’s understanding of themselves, their world, and their individual viewpoints and worldviews.

Show Notes

Here is a summarized list of the benefits from the podcast. Please listen to the podcast for details and examples about these benefits.

When I use the term “classic literature”, I am not referring to the ancient literature of Socrates or Sophocles or Oedipus Rex. I am discussing books that have withstood the test of time and have earned a valuable place in our culture and on our bookshelves based on their theme and content or their rich use of language to express ideas.

I have compiled lists of suggested book titles for middle and high school for your reference when considering what books to include in your literature study.

Important Benefits from including Classic Books in your Homeschool Literature Study

Learn to Appreciate the Written Word as a Piece of Art

When reading quality literature, we can envision a picture in our minds the scene the author is expressing through the written word. Through vivid descriptions, imagery, literary devices and other writing techniques, we are brought into the world or story that the author is describing. We can hear, feel, or see what the characters experience. We absorb the mood and get to know the characters through their dialogue.

Writing is a craft on paper, much like that expressed by artists with paint on a canvas. What we are reading has so much more meaning and we appreciate and enjoy it more when we can understand the techniques that a writer has used to transport us into another world for the moment.

Learn to Understand and also Absorb Complex and More Interesting Sentence Structure

Classic books, especially as you enter high school level literature, contains more complex and sophisticated sentence structure. If we start exposing our children to easier to understand classic books in middle school, they become accustomed to the longer and more complex sentences and how to tackle them when reading. When they enter high school, it will be less daunting to read some of the more challenging works because of the practice they have already gained.

Our children will also start to speak and write in more interesting sentences, because they actually start to absorb this way of expressing themselves. It comes naturally.

Enrich and Expand Vocabulary

When your children are regularly exposed to a more challenging vocabulary increments at a time, your children will become adept at using the sentence around the word to decipher the meaning of the word in its context. This is a very important and practical skill. They also more easily learn and retain the meaning of the word in the context of the sentence and the story, as opposed to weekly vocabulary lists that are not attached to a memorable story.

These words will then appear more naturally in their speech and their own writing.

Practice Identifying and Analyzing Worldview

In this day, it is important that we help our children identify worldviews that exist today and appear in the written and spoken word as it is presented in books, social media, television, and movies. We need to share with them our family viewpoints, morals, values, and our personal worldviews. Through this filter, we can then identify worldviews in speech and written word we come across or study with our children. It’s important to compare the viewpoints presented by others to our own personal worldviews and determine if they fit with our own and accept them or reject them.

It is through this study and discussion that our children develop their own views and are prepared to enter the world ready to stand by their own beliefs or be swayed and habitually change their viewpoints depending on their surroundings.

Classic literature with its content, themes, and viewpoints is a wonderful resource for this practice and discussion. Wordviews have been presented and have changed throughout literary time periods through history. (In the podcast, we have discussed this with more detail.)

Looking at Literature as a Reflection of History and Society

Because writers do not write in a vacuum and live during different time periods in history and changes in society, their writing will reflect their surrounding events and societal views and their own experiences. When we read classic books, we get a front row seat to events and feelings and beliefs of that time period of that author or of the story.

We can see why and how we are today because of the progression of ideas, events, and beliefs that have come before the present we are experiencing.

Looking at Literature as an Influence on History and Society

Writers not only write about events and beliefs around them to reflect what is happening, but also to influence those events and beliefs to bring about a change. Examples would be Thomas Paine’s Common Sense or Harriett Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Both were written to influence society and instigate change.

The written and spoken word can be powerful tools. Learning to identify pursuasive rhetoric helps our children learn to use these tools effectively and be able to discern when this rhetoric is being used to persuade them to adopt an idea or a belief.

Develop and Practice using Higher Order Thinking Skills

When interpreting and analyzing literature for its worldview and meaning and tying in our own views and experiences, we have the perfect opportunity to practice higher order thinking skills. From comprehending what we are reading to synthesizing what we have read to meld those ideas with our own, there are different kinds and levels of thinking skills that are naturally incorporated in reading and discussing a classic book.

Identify and Explore Universal Themes found in Literature and in Life

Classic books are a great opportunity to look at the theme presented in the story and compare it to life and our own personal experiences. These themes might be jealously, greed, grief, love, pride, revenge, or good versus evil. When we read about and explore a theme of a story, we have the opportunity to look at the consequences of actions of the characters and learn lessons from their experiences.

We can compare our own thoughts and feelings from our own experiences and examine them and learn from them. We begin to understand these “universal life truths and human experiences”.

This leads to our next benefit.

Understand and Develop Empathy and Sympathy for Others

A scientific study examined children when they read fiction versus non-fiction and they found children learned something when they read fiction. From reading about different characters and their experiences and being able to see and be a part of the characters’ thoughts and feelings in reaction to those experiences, the children in the study developed an understanding and empathy for those characters.

They were able to learn to take what they learned from those characters and those experiences and transfer an empathy to other people who were feeling a certain way because of the discussions about those characters and comparing their experiences to their own experiences. The children were able to project what they would do and how they would feel and act toward others in different circumstances that demonstrated an understanding of the feelings and motivations of other people. Practicing this with characters in literature helped them to develop this skill.

So you can see that studying classic books does not have to be a dreaded experience of convoluted sentences and long and difficult words and thoughts. It can be a wonderful practical experience to acquire not only academic skills that will help them in college, but important life skills to bring them into adulthood.

Be sure to comment in the Comments box any ideas you’d like to share about how your family has studied any classic books! Any great book titles or authors to suggest? I would love to hear from you!

Thanks for visiting! Come back and visit the Literary Cafe Podcast for December’s topic when we look at ways to help your struggling writer learn to write! Don’t miss this episode as I share practical and easy ways to help your writer get over the frustration and “the deer caught in headlights look” when faced with a blank piece of paper.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Google Podcasts | Spotify | Android | TuneIn | RSS

Filed Under: Literary Cafe Podcast, Ultimate Homeschool Radio Show Tagged With: Book Lists, Classic Books, Education, English, High School, High School Language Arts, Junior High, language arts, Literary Analysis, Literary Cafe Podcast, Literary Study, literature, Literature Study, Middle School, reading, Teens

Essential Guide to Out of the Box Book Report Ideas and Literary Study

A Production of the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

October 25, 2018 by Katie Glennon Leave a Comment

LCP Ep 8: Essential Guide to Out of the Box Book Report Ideas and Literary Study

Running out of ideas for what to do when your learner finishes reading a book?

Are you looking for book report ideas or ways to conduct a literary study and keep your learner interested?

Visit Katie’s website for more fun ideas and tips to use in your homeschool at Katie’s Homeschool Cottage or her Facebook Group.

Join Katie Glennon as she shares tons of fun and creative out of the box Book Report and Literary Study Ideas to get even your most reluctant reader excited about reading.

You’ll be surprised and excited by the ways you can use your child’s strengths, interests, learning styles, and talents to capture their interest in reading and conducting a literary study while learning about literary devices and story elements and practicing different kinds and levels of thinking skills at the same time.

Show Notes

I usually present to my students and my own children different choices of activities after reading a book where I want them to do some of kind of literary analysis or learn specific skills and concepts. The activity would focus on that skill and concept, but the type of activity would be geared to the learners’ learning styles, personal interests and talents so that they will be motivated and interested.

These activities are geared toward specific skills or concepts that are included in the literary and story elements for the book, but are of a nature to make sure to capture the interest of the learner.

The ideas below are just a list of ideas that are fully explained in the Podcast and summarized with descriptions in this printable handout – Descriptions of Out of the Box Book Report and Literary Study Ideas to Motivate your Readers pdf

Book Report and Literary Study Ideas Geared toward the Visual Learner

Construct a mobile

Write an advice column

Character email or letter exchange

Character Facebook Page

Journal or Diary

Character Resume and Cover Letter

Character Dossier

Retell the story from a different point of view

Symbolic Time Capsule or Museum Exhibit or Suitcase or Collection

3 D Relief Map or a Diorama (For Hands-on learner as well)

Photo Album

Foldable Display Board

Drawing Projects (Book Jacket, Comic Strip, Collage, Flip Book or Trading Cards)

Mini Quilt

Charts (Timeline, plot map, analogy chart, Literary Devices Chart, Compare and Contrast Books or Authors)

Wordle

Ideas for the more Auditory Learner

Drama (Acting as a character or author, a monologue, a speech, a dramatic reading, a mock trial, puppet show)

Write poetry, songs, or raps

Book Club (just discussions, a tea, a party centered around a book with costumes as characters, theme games and refreshments)

Audio or Video Recording (talk show interview as a character or an author)

Radio Play (Imitate an old fashioned radio show with sound effects and character voices of a scene)

Videos – (News report, movie trailer, commercial, sales pitch – recording video or using animation software or creating movie with Power Point or Prezi)

Ideas Geared toward Hands-on Learners

Games – (Create board game or a game to play, or scavenger hunt)

Cooking and Baking

Be sure to comment in the Comments box any ideas you’d like to share that your family has used in engaging your reluctant reader! Any great book titles or authors to suggest? I would love to hear from you!

Thanks for visiting! Come back and visit the Literary Cafe Podcast for November’s topic when we discuss why you should study the classics and the benefits! You’ll be surprised by what your learner will receive from reading these books that have withstood the test of time and why many people treasure them and read them over and over!

Make sure you download our podcast at iTunes or subscribe to the Literary Cafe Podcast by clicking on the Android or RSS feed buttons below the recording on this page!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Google Podcasts | Android | RSS

Filed Under: Literary Cafe Podcast, Ultimate Homeschool Radio Show Tagged With: Book Reports, Education, Elementary Language Arts, elementary school, English, High School, High School Language Arts, Junior High, language arts, Literary Analysis, Literary Cafe Podcast, Literary Study, literature, Literature Study, Middle School, reading, Reading Activities, Reading Incentives, Reluctant Reader, Teens

Ultimate List of Fun Ways to Engage your Reluctant Reader

A Production of the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

September 27, 2018 by Katie Glennon Leave a Comment

LCP Ep 7: Ultimate List of Fun Ways to Engage your Reluctant Reader

Do you have a reader who is “reluctant” or has no interest in reading? Is it a battle to get them to show any interest in a book?

This is a common problem and you are not alone. I fought that battle and overcame it while teaching in the classroom and in our homeschool!

Visit Katie’s website for more fun ideas and tips to use in your homeschool at Katie’s Homeschool Cottage or her Facebook Group.

Join Katie Glennon as she discusses fun ways to engage your learners in reading and offers suggestions of kinds of books and book titles to capture your child’s interest in a story. There are plenty of activity suggestions for all ages to get everyone in your home reading and enjoying it. Reading can be a fun, interactive experience instead of a chore.

Show Notes

Suggested Books and Activities for Reluctant Readers pdf (Printable for you to download)

Special Thanks to our Network Sponsor, Kiwi Crate!

We’d like to thank our Ultimate Homeschool Radio Network sponsor, Kiwi Crate!

KiwiCo has monthly subscriptions of hands-on projects that make learning fun! Their core offering is projects that make learning about STEAM — science, technology, engineering, art, and math — accessible and are designed to spark creativity, tinkering, and learning. Some recent favorite crates are the Slime Lab, Physics Carnival, and Paper Circuits.

Ultimate Homeschool Radio Network is excited to be able to offer you the chance to try them for FREE. To learn more about their projects for kids ages 2 to 16 AND to redeem this exclusive offer, click here to get your first month free today (just pay $4.95 for shipping)

Thanks for visiting! Come back and visit the Literary Cafe Podcast for October’s topic when we discuss thinking outside the box for book reports! They don’t have to be boring! And I’ve got some fun and great ideas to share with you that you will want to try!

Make sure you download our podcast at iTunes or subscribe to the Literary Cafe Podcast by clicking on the Android or RSS feed buttons below the recording on this page!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Google Podcasts | Android | RSS

Filed Under: Literary Cafe Podcast, Ultimate Homeschool Radio Show Tagged With: Book Suggestions, Education, Elementary Language Arts, elementary school, English, Junior High, language arts, Literary Cafe Podcast, literature, Middle School, reading, Reading Activities, Reading Incentives, Reluctant Reader, Teens

How Should we Study Grammar in our Homeschool

A Production of the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

August 23, 2018 by Katie Glennon 2 Comments

LCP 6: How Should we Study Grammar in our Homeschool

Every homeschool mom eventually asks herself, “How should we study grammar in our homeschool? Should I use diagramming or not? How do I apply the grammar to learning how to write?”

Join Katie Glennon as she shares years of experience in her own teaching and homeschooling to answer these questions and provides easy to use tips and suggested resources to use in your homeschool.

Visit Katie’s website for more fun ideas and tips to use in your homeschool at Katie’s Homeschool Cottage or her Facebook Group.

You’ll walk away more confident in tackling this sticky area of Language Arts.

How Should we Study Grammar in our Homeschool

How Should we Study Grammar in our Homeschool (PDF download for you to print)

Show Notes

How to Study Grammar in your Homeschool

Grammar Resources

Use your learner’s writing to assess what skills they need to review and practice each week.

Other review and practice for grammar skills can be found with these resources –

Diagramming –

Rod and Staff – (books go up to 8^th grade, but the concepts and skills are up through high school work.) These books use diagramming and are very well explained. If you have a learner that loves following and making lists of steps and learns best this way, you might want to try diagramming. However, if it is frustrating or challenging for you or your learner to understand the “diagramming process”, it may not be worth using that method to learn the grammatical concepts.

Old Warriner’s English and Composition textbooks are a secular alternative that provide valuable instruction and practice with sentence diagramming for all grade levels starting with upper elementary through high school grades. You may find them on Amazon or Ebay or used book store websites.

Hands-On Grammar –

If you have a hands-on learner, you may want to check out Winston Grammar. This program uses a hands-on approach and labels parts of speech and how the words are used in a sentence. Basic and Advanced levels are available.

Non-diagramming –

Another program I recommend is the Easy Grammar series. The Easy Grammar books have the text and instruction to learn and practice new skills and the Daily Grams are workbooks that have a daily review with 5 different kinds of grammar concepts with one sample of each per day for a total of 5 quick review samples to practice. Loved this! As your child moves into high school, you may want to use the Ultimate Series that has the text and instruction and the practice in each. There are placement tests on the website to assist you.

Incorporating and Practicing Grammar Skills in Writing

Narration –

When your learner retells back to you what they have just heard, it not only improves their listening, recall, and comprehension skills, but also the process of organizing their thoughts, practicing vocabulary, and formulating sentences to express their thoughts. These are all important skills in the “Pre-Writing” process, and what a writer needs to be able to do before putting pencil to paper.

After getting into the habit and practice of “Narration” in this manner, the next step we followed was – writing down what they just told me orally.

For my younger guy- this might be drawing a picture of what he just told me about and writing just one sentence about the picture.

For my older guy- this meant starting with the first sentence of his oral narration to me – writing only one sentence at a time as he says it aloud.

The grammar came into play when some of their narrations on paper – were used to review proper grammar. We would read each sentence together and make corrections to certain errors I felt we had already learned and needed practice. So that the next narration on paper they did, I made sure to look over their shoulders and point out to them the mistake they made last time so that this time and next time, they wrote it correctly. We repeated this process every few narrations and always reviewing and adding a new concept or two to correct and practice in their writing.

Dictation –

We would practice dictation with our spelling words. I would dictate a sentence to them for each spelling word they had for the week. This would be for a weekly spelling test. I would grade them for the correct spelling of the word. But use the sentences to see how they were doing with their grammar. I would pick and choose which mistakes to review with them and make sure that in future writing I would steer them in the proper way to use that particular grammar concept.

Copywork –

Copywork – was sentences I would select from novels we were reading aloud together or novels they were reading on their own.

This might be C.S.Lewis or Tolkien or Mark Twain. These were quality classic type books. – even starting with something like Charlotte’s Web. I would look for a passage (the length depended on their age and ability) that contained various skills and concepts of grammar that they had or were in the process of learning.

They would practice copying these passages almost every day for a week. I would look at it with them and point out punctuation, capitalization, and other grammatical features and any corrections needed.

This also gave them practice in their handwriting. I would print out worksheets with the copywork passage at Handwritingworksheets.com that would show the proper way to write the letters as well.

I began to notice, that as young as fourth grade, my guys would want to write their own stories and their writing started to sound like Tolkien from doing so much copywork from that author.

Their natural sentence structure and vocabulary was influenced by the practice of this copywork.

Be sure to subscribe to iTunes so you don’t miss an episode and comment in the Comments box any ideas you’d like to share that your family has used in studying grammar or practicing it in your writing or any of these ideas from this podcast you found helpful! I would love to hear from you!

Thanks for visiting! Come back and visit the Literary Cafe Podcast for September’s topic when we answer the question many moms ask, “My child hates reading. What can I do?”

Make sure you subscribe to the Literary Cafe Podcast by clicking on the Android or RSS feed buttons below the recording on this page!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Google Podcasts | Android | RSS

Filed Under: Literary Cafe Podcast, Ultimate Homeschool Radio Show Tagged With: curriculum, Diagramming, elementary school, English, Grammar, High School, how to teach language arts, language arts, Literary Cafe Podcast, Middle School, Parts of Speech, writing

What to Include in your Middle and High School Language Arts Study

A Production of the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

July 26, 2018 by Katie Glennon Leave a Comment

LCP Ep 5: What to Include in your Middle and High School Language Arts Study

Visit Katie’s website for more fun ideas and tips to use in your homeschool at Katie’s Homeschool Cottage or her Facebook Group.

The Areas of Language Arts you should include in the Middle and High School Years

What-to-Include-in-your-Middle and High School Homeschool-Language-Arts-Study pdf (Printable for you to download)

Show Notes

The Areas of Language Arts you should include in the Middle and High School Years
Reading/Literature

Along with the novels, you will want to use some kind of novel study guides (that will also assist you with suggested vocabulary words and various questions).

Suggested Homeschool Literary Resources to Assist you in your Literature Study –

Total Language Plus (novel study guide)
Progeny Press (novel study guide)
Mosdos Press Literature Anthologies

Skills and Concepts for Literature Study

There are a number of skills and concepts you will want to include in your literary study.

These skills include –

• Comprehension and Higher Order Thinking Skill Practice

• Study different Genres – forms of writing and rhetoric – speeches, drama, essays, short stories, poetry, non-fiction, and novels.

• Study different literary time periods and areas around the world.

British – (some crossover from American) Old English/Anglo-Saxon, Middle English/Medieval, Renaissance, Puritanism, Enlightenment, Romantic (Regency), Victorian, Modern

Semester Specialty Classes – Poetry, Shakespeare, Drama, Journalism, Creative Writing, Research and Composition, specific types of literature or specific authors or parts of the world.

• Worldview – Christian Worldview expressed by author and content or Secular/Humanist view.

Writing and Composition

Middle schoolers should master the proper format of a paragraph –

By the time learners start their first year in high school, they should be working on mastering the proper 5 Paragraph Essay (in this case an informative essay).

Here is a bundle of notebooking pages that we used for our written narration that I mentioned in the podcast to develop our writing skills before we wrote formal essays of different forms. There is a set for different subject areas that we used to either make our own books or put into a 3 ring binder to put together a notebook of our writing and what we learned in that subject that year.

Make Your Own ABC Book Notebooking Pages Bundle Set

Grammar

Use your learner’s writing to assess what skills they need to review and practice each week.

Other review and practice for grammar skills can be found with these resources –

If you have a hands-on learner, you may want to check out Winston Grammar. This program uses a hands-on approach and labels parts of speech and how the words are used in a sentence.

Another program I recommend is the Easy Grammar series. The Easy Grammar books have the text and instruction to learn and practice new skills and the Daily Grams are workbooks that have a daily review with 5 different kinds of grammar concepts with one sample of each per day for a total of 5 quick review samples to practice. Loved this! As your child moves into high school, you may want to use the Ultimate Series that has the text and instruction and the practice in each. There are placement tests on the website to assist you.

Spelling

Spelling for middle school can still be in a phonics based spelling book as recommended in my Language Arts for Elementary Ages podcast such as Building Spelling Skills by Christian Liberty Press .

You can also look at your learner’s writing and include words they misspell in your weekly spelling list.

Make sure you subscribe to the Literary Cafe Podcast at iTunes so you don’t miss an episode or by clicking on the Android or RSS feed buttons below the recording on this page!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Google Podcasts | Spotify | Android | TuneIn | RSS

LCP Ep 5: What to Include in Your Middle and High School Language Arts Study

Visit Katie’s website for more fun ideas and tips to use in your homeschool at Katie’s Homeschool Cottage or her Facebook Group.

The Areas of Language Arts you should include in the Middle and High School Years

Show Notes

LCP Ep 13: Developing Language Skills in your Young Learner

Visit Katie’s website for more fun ideas and tips to use in your homeschool at Katie’s Homeschool Cottage or her Facebook Group.

Show Notes

Developing Language Skills in your Young Learner

Book Title Suggestions for Rhyme, Rhythm and Repetition

Reading Activity Suggestions

For Writing Activity Suggestions

LCP Ep 12: Using Higher Order Thinking Skills in Your Reading

Visit Katie’s website for more fun ideas and tips to use in your homeschool at Katie’s Homeschool Cottage or her Facebook Group.

Show Notes

Using Higher Order Thinking Skills with Your Reading

Different Levels and Kinds of Higher Order Thinking Skills

Question Starters to Practice Different Levels of Thinking Skills

Suggested Activities to Practice Using Different Levels of Thinking Skills

LCP Ep 11: Essential Writing in your Homeschool High School

Visit Katie’s website for more fun ideas and tips to use in your homeschool at Katie’s Homeschool Cottage or her Facebook Group.

Show Notes

Types of Essays to Practice in High School

Websites with Prompts for Different Kinds of Writing

LCP Ep 10: Teaching your Struggling Writer How to Write

Visit Katie’s website for more fun ideas and tips to use in your homeschool at Katie’s Homeschool Cottage or her Facebook Group.

Show Notes

Quick Writing Practice Opportunities

Websites to Help You Draw and Write Your Own Story

Writing Prompts

LCP Ep 9: Valuable Benefits from Reading Classic Literature in your Homeschool

Visit Katie’s website for more fun ideas and tips to use in your homeschool at Katie’s Homeschool Cottage or her Facebook Group.

Show Notes

Important Benefits from including Classic Books in your Homeschool Literature Study

LCP Ep 8: Essential Guide to Out of the Box Book Report Ideas and Literary Study

Visit Katie’s website for more fun ideas and tips to use in your homeschool at Katie’s Homeschool Cottage or her Facebook Group.

Show Notes

Book Report and Literary Study Ideas Geared toward the Visual Learner

Ideas for the more Auditory Learner

Ideas Geared toward Hands-on Learners

LCP Ep 7: Ultimate List of Fun Ways to Engage your Reluctant Reader

Visit Katie’s website for more fun ideas and tips to use in your homeschool at Katie’s Homeschool Cottage or her Facebook Group.

Show Notes

Suggested Books and Activities for Reluctant Readers

Mostly For your Younger Readers

Books with Printable Mini Books and Manipulatives (Story Props)

Circular or Chain Stories with Predictable Patterns

Funny Unexpected Stories

Seasonal and Holiday Activities for Themed Books

Special Thanks to our Network Sponsor, Kiwi Crate!

LCP 6: How Should we Study Grammar in our Homeschool

How Should we Study Grammar in our Homeschool

Show Notes

LCP Ep 5: What to Include in your Middle and High School Language Arts Study

Visit Katie’s website for more fun ideas and tips to use in your homeschool at Katie’s Homeschool Cottage or her Facebook Group.

The Areas of Language Arts you should include in the Middle and High School Years

Show Notes

Register Free and Get Special Bonuses

About

Search

Register FREE and Get Bonuses