Reading Fiction as a Christian – MBFLP 299

A Production of the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

We’re both avid readers, and we’ve raised a whole nest of readers – our house is full of books — and not just the parents’! We’ve talked about some our personal favorites, but this episode we’re looking at whole genres of fiction. How should we, as Christians, approach fictional literature? Are there any kinds to beware of? What do we think about science fiction, fantasy, suspense, romance, mystery, or other sorts? And how do we sort the range of material in each group? If you’re a reader, or you have kids who are, check this out!

Passages we referenced:

King David and the prophet Nathan (2 Samuel 12:1-15)

Jesus’ teaching in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:27-28)

The parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32)

To do evil is like sport to a fool, 
But a man of understanding has wisdom. (Proverbs 10:23)

“I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, 
Even to give to every man according to his ways.” (Jeremiah 17:10)

“For the LORD does not see as man sees;for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”
(1 Samuel 16:7)

Episodes about discernment:

222 – Teaching Discernment

191 – Talking About the Movies

133 – Watching with Discernment 

and more! Browse the archives for more ideas and encouragement!

PLUS get this free resource – our downloadable Reading Pack!

 


This episode brought to you by

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

A Production of the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

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

Join Katie with Literary Cafe Podcast to learn about what to include in your Language Arts study in your homeschool. #homeschool #homeschooling #languagearts #english #middleschool #highschool

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!

Join Katie with Literary Cafe Podcast to learn about what to include in your Language Arts study in your homeschool. #homeschool #homeschooling #languagearts #english #middleschool #highschool

 

 

How and Why to Use Literature Study Guides- Special Replay

A Production of the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

This week on Homeschool Highschool Podcast: How and Why to Use Literature Study Guides- Special Replay.

How and Whys of Using Literature Study Guides

How and Why to Use Literature Study Guides

Sabrina and Vicki LOVE Literature! In this episode we are recording in Vicki’s office, not very fancy for recording: just a chair draped with a blanket for best sound production! We homeschool moms are often making do with what we have! That’s why we know this wise saying from Vicki: Motherhood is the necessity of invention.

Motherhood is the necessity of invention. Vicki Tillman reminds us to be flexible and adaptable in our homeschooling! #HomeschoolHighschoolPodcast

Why use Literature Study Guides?

Teens often need a little bit of coaching or guidance to get the most out of a book. And we need some wisdom on how to give them that coaching without killing the book! That’s how 7SistersHomeschool.com got started creating Literature Study Guides for our teens and for co-op and group classes. Our guides have been vetted by homeschooling teens and moms who love books and those who don’t love books because: You can be successful as a homeschool mom, even if you don’t love books!

Rather than bore teens with basic rehearsing the information in a book, good literature study guides can help teens build good thinking skills. Good high school Literature Study Guides give a few comprehension (just the facts) question but concentrate on inferential questions and teaching a limited number of literature themes.

However, younger homeschooler are not developmentally ready for inferential thinking. So, we 7Sisters found a way to create Literature Activity Guides for Elementary Readers!

We also have a few Literature Study Guides Guides for late Elementary Readers.

We have introduced a few Middle School Literature Study Guides.

Some high school level books have so much happening in story and character that lots of comprehension and concrete learning must happen.

  • Two of these books we recommend are:
    • Chuck Colson’s Born Again. Mostly comprehension. It is such a big, complicated book. Concentrating on the facts helps teens get the most out of this important political/historical biography. 7Sisters Literature Guide for Born Again helps teens keep track of time, events and characters.
    •  The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom. Mostly comprehension so that teens can keep track of character, events and timeline. There is also a *sum-it-up-process activity* toward the end of the guide.

Most high school level books should develop inferential (deeper thinking, implied information) skills.

  • The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis is a great example. While most people have read The Chronicles of Narnia in late elementary or middle school, teens need to revisit Narnia. Lewis reminds us that, “A children’s story that can only be enjoyed by children is not a good children’s story in the slightest.”
  • Adolescents are developmentally ready to deal with the symbolism, theology, and philosophy that Lewis embedded in each scene of each book.
    • For instance, The Silver Chair draws heavily on Plato’s Allegory of the Cave. This book is a book about the nature of reality, the development of character, and the necessary choice of believing.
    • Or in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, teens learn the concept of *sehnsucht* (the longing for heaven, for things they don’t know yet) that is deeply embedded throughout the book. Our teens have LOVED the revisit to Narnia!

Don't kill the book. Teaching too many literature concepts at once trashes a teen's love of reading. Try 7SistersHomeschool.com's Literature Study Guides for concise, interesting, meaningful Literature Learning. #HomeschoolHighSchool #HighSchoolLiterature #LiteratureStudyGuides #HomeschoolHighschoolPodcast

Most of the other high school level Literature Study Guides concentrate on one or two literary concepts (character arc, foreshadowing, theme, plotline, etc) so that teens don’t loose the love of the book by overdoing the teaching. We want teens to love to think deeply and love reading. You can’t do that by killing the book with too many questions or concepts so we keep the guides short and adaptable to interest and ability levels and personal goals.

How to Use Literature Study Guides for Homeschool High School

Now onto some ideas for using 7Sisters Literature Study Guides. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

  • We recommend using Literature Study Guides every single year but not for every single book. We recommend a rule of thumb of one study guide per month for an average teen. Two or more guides per month are good for college-bound teens.
  • Each 7Sisters high school Literature Study Guide includes suggestions for ways to complete the guide at an Average, College Prep, Advanced or Honors level of rigor. Choose the level of rigor a teen wants or needs. Get your teen involved in the decision!
  • You might find that some books are so interesting that your homeschool high schooler might enjoy working on an Honors level for that Study Guide. Some books may be more intense and even an Honors-level teen might complete some study guides at Average or College-Prep levels.
  • Also choose the number of Literature Study Guides based on the length of the book itself. Some books (such as Les Miserables– even the abridged version) are quite long. Do fewer long books and mix in shorter books like God’s Smuggler.
  • Don’t wait until senior year and cram all your guides in! Do some each year!
  • Remember to be flexible! There’s not ONE right way to homeschool. Some years, monthly study guides might be too much. Some years you need many study guides.

Want some more help with how and why to use Literature Study Guides?

PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO HSHSP VIA COMPUTER

  1. Follow this link to our iTunes page.
  2. IMPORTANT STEP: Under our Homeschool Highschool Podcast logo, click on View in iTunes
  3. This will take you to iTunes and our own podcast page.
  4. Click SUBSCRIBE.
  5. Click RATINGS AND REVIEW. (Please take a minute and do this. It helps others find us. Thanks!)
  6. Thanks!

PLEASE SUBSCRIBE VIA iPHONE

  1. Tap the purple Podcast icon on your phone
  2. Tap the search icon on the bottom-right of your screen
  3. In the search bar type: Homeschool Highschool Podcast
  4. Tap the Homeschool Highschool Podcast icon
  5. Tap *Subscribe*
  6. Please tap *Ratings and Review* and give us some stars and a comment to help others find us more easily.
  7. Thanks!

Want some homeschool high school mom community?

How and Why to Use Literature Study Guides

Integrating technology in literature studies

A Production of the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

Integrating Technology in Literature Studies

224: Integrating Technology in Literature Studies

This episode discusses integrating technology in literature studies to help provide students with a richer experience as they read novels.

The websites and ideas mentioned are:

  1. Book Adventure: book quizzes, reading logs, graphic organizers etc
  2. Vocabulary.com: vocabulary lists for specific books.
  3. Crashcourse Literature
  4. Virtual museum tours
  5. Google Streetview
  6. Apps and websites relating to content eg Skyview app when studying Greek Mythology
  7. Litcharts: Mentioned on the episode Apps for High School Sttudents
  8. Digital Projects: websites mentioned Powtoon and Canva
  9. ChatGPT
  10. FundaFunda Academy’s English 1, English Honors and Jane Austen classes

—————————————————————————————————————-
Take a look at show sponsor, FundaFunda Academy to see what they offer for online classes and web-based unit studies.

Join our Facebook Group especially for the listeners of this podcast! You can ask questions and get advice as you try integrating technology in your homeschool.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to the show and give a rating and maybe even a review! Subscribing will help you make sure you never miss an episode

Integrating Technology in Literature Studies

Cozy Mystery English Online

A Production of the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

Finish Well Homeschool Podcast, Podcast #183, Cozy Mystery English Online, with Meredith Curtis on the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network

Cozy Mystery English Online

In “Cozy Mystery English Online,” Episode, #183, Laura Nolette & Meredith Curtis discuss Meredith’s Who Dun It high school English course online at True North Homeschooling Academy. Writing a novel in high school and creating Who Dun It high school English course has been a win-win for their teens. Who Dun It is fun in a co-op and online classes where students read and write cozy mysteries. This out-of-the-box high school English course is a blessing to many homeschool families who want to experience the adventure of clues, red herrings, plot twists, creating suspects, and leading their detective on a merry chase until the murderer is apprehended.

 

 

 


Powerline Productions April 2020 Ad

Powerline Productions, Inc.

Bringing Homeschool Joy to Families Everywhere!

 


Show Notes

Our experience with novel writing in high school and eventually writing a who-dun-it.

Writing a Cozy Mystery

  • Cozy -no gore, clean, focus on solving a puzzle
  • Create detective, sidekick, friends, and suspects (characterization)
  • Create a scene-by-scene plot
  • Suspect’s Motives
  • Clues/Red Herrings
  • Setting/Tone/Mood/Christian Worldview
  • Plot Twists
  • Logic – Wrapping It Up

Who Dun It At Home

  • Read “Golden Age” Mystery Novels & Short Stories
  • Discuss Novels & Short Stories
  • Write a Short Story first semester
  • Write Novel second semester
  • Create Well-Rounded Characters/Introduce to Family
  • Read Sections of Short Story & Novel Aloud to Family
  • Get Input from Family
  • Watch Cozy Mysteries & Discuss with Parents

Who Dun It? Murder Mystery Literature and Writing High School Class

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Who Dun It in Homeschool Co-op

  • Read “Golden Age” Mystery Novels & Short Stories
  • Discuss Novels & Short Stories
  • Write a Short Story first semester
  • Write Novel second semester
  • Create Well-Rounded Characters/Introduce in Class
  • Read Sections of Short Story & Novel Aloud
  • Peer Review Writing Club Style
  • Watch Cozy Mysteries & Discuss

Who Dun It? Murder Mystery Literature & Composition Class at True North Homeschool Academy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Who Dun It Online

  • Read “Golden Age” Mystery Novels & Short Stories
  • Discuss Novels & Short Stories
  • Write a Short Story first semester
  • Write Novel second semester
  • Create Well-Rounded Characters/Introduce in Class
  • Read Sections of Short Story & Novel Aloud
  • Peer Review Writing Club Style
  • Watch Cozy Mysteries & Discuss

Who Dun It at True North Homeschool Academy

Literature & Composition: Who Dun It

Sign up for our Newsletter

100 Homeschool Hacks by Meredith CurtisSign up for our updates and get your copy of 100 Homeschool Hacks FREE. Sign up here.

 

 

 

Literature Resources

Our curriculum works great at home; or in church, homeschool co-ops, and online classes, too! 😊

American Literature & Research British Literature & Writing High School Class Foundations of Western Literature by Meredith Curtis Communications 101:Essays and Speeches High School Class

 


Thank You to our Network Sponsor – CTC Math!

A Brand New Adventure Series for Kids

A Production of the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

Finish Well Homeschool Podcast, Podcast #174, A Brand New Adventure Series for Kids with Special Guest Mike Curtis, with Meredith Curtis on the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network

A Brand New Adventure Series for Kids

with Special Guest Mike Curtis

In “A Brand New Adventure Series for Kids,” Episode, #174, Meredith Curtis interviews Mike Curtis, pastor and author of a brand-new series (and her husband!). He has written an amazing new series for children and teens: The Noland Kids Adventures. Mike shares his journey that led him to share his story. Learn all about the series and why your kids will love to read it!

 


Powerline Productions, Inc.

Powerline Productions, Inc.

Bringing Homeschool Joy to Families Everywhere!

 


Show Notes

Introduce Mike & Ministry https://www.powerlinecc.com/

Noland Kids Adventures  https://www.powerlineprod.com/books/the-noland-kids-adventure-series/

How It All Began

Rockford Park, Bedtime Stories to Children, Stories to Grandchildren

Covid-Strikes!

Needed to entertain kids at home listening to sermon

First Novel

The Key House

The Key House by Mike Curtis at Powerline Productions

Newly Inherited House 150-Year Old Secret, Clues to Hidden Treasure

Mystery/ Adventure, Hardy Boys meets The Goonies

Who is This Series Written For?

Christian Kids 10-14

Second Novel

Lost City of Light

The Lost City of Light by Mike Curtis at Powerline Productions, Inc.

Coming November 25th, 2022

How Can Listeners Get Book?

Amazon print or Kindle

Our website PowerlineProd.com

Reviews

Leave Reviews

Spread the Word

What Books are on the Horizon & When?

Legend of the Craftsman King  & Secret of Paradise Cove

The Legend of the Craftsman King by Mike Curtis at Powerline Productions, Inc.    The Secret of Paradise Cove by Mike Curtis at Powerline Productions, Inc.

 

Sign up for our Newsletter

100 Homeschool Hacks by Meredith CurtisSign up for our updates and get your copy of 100 Homeschool Hacks FREE. Sign up here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Key House

The Key House by Mike Curtis at Powerline Productions

HUGE Black Friday/ Cyber Monday Sale!

Travel God's World God Bless the USA Exploring States & Territories by Meredith Curtis at Powerline Productions Travel God's World God Bless the USA Cookbook by Meredith Curtis and Laura Nolette at Powerline Productions God Bless the USA State Capitals & Abbreviations by Meredith Curtis at Powerline Productions, Inc. Travel God's World God Bless the USA State Flags & Seals by Meredith Curtis at Powerline Productions

 


Thank You to our Network Sponsor – CTC Math!

7 Classic Books Every Homeschool Mom Should Read

A Production of the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

Finish Well Homeschool Podcast, Podcast #169, 7 Classic Books Every Homeschool Mom Should Read, with Meredith Curtis on the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network

7 Classic Books Every Homeschool Mom Should Read

In “7 Classic Books Every Homeschool Mom Should Read,” Episode, #169, Meredith Curtis shares her favorites with you – books that have inspired, equipped, and encouraged her. These books will change your life and your perspective. Grab a cup of tea or mug of coffee and learn about some classic books that you will want to read and reread again.

 


Time for Back-to-School with PowerlineProd.com

 

Powerline Productions, Inc.

Bringing Homeschool Joy to Families Everywhere!

 


Show Notes

The bookcase outside my door.

Books impact our lives. Some of my books are like special friends who have spoken into my life and brought forth something new.

L’Abri by Edith Schaeffer

Frances & Edith Schaeffer’s ministry in Switzerland.

Focus on creating a nurturing environment and ministering in and from the home.

For Better or Best by Gary Smalley

As a young couple, we attended this author’s conference and had our first introduction to the vast difference in the way men and women think. Also how different their needs are.

He also wrote If Only He Knew.

Shepherding a Child’s Heart by Tedd Tripp

My favorite book on parenting. It really shows how to parent by imitating Jesus as a shepherd of our children’s hearts.

Hidden Art of Homemaking by Edith Schaeffer

I love art and beauty and classic books. Edith opened my eyes to the true art involved in creating a home from interior decorating to fostering integration of ages, I love this book!

Creative Counterpart by Linda Dillow

A great book on how to be a wife from the relational to the practical including organization.

The Christian Family by Larry Christenson

Every Christian should read this book on the the how, what, and why of God’s design of the Christian family. Covers roles and responsibilities, including the family’s Saviour – Jesus and parent’s role in the spiritual nurture of their children.

Spirit of Loveliness by Emilie Barnes

Lovely inside and out, Emilie reminds us to add beauty in our world to fee our soul. I love all her books but this is my favorite!

Sign up for our Newsletter

100 Homeschool Hacks by Meredith CurtisSign up for our updates and get your copy of 100 Homeschool Hacks FREE. Sign up here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Resources

All our curriculum is built around living books 😊

Newspaper Reporting by Meredith Curtis Travel God's World Geography by Meredith Curtis British Literature & Writing High School Class HIS Story of the 20th Century by Meredith Curtis

 


Thank You to our Network Sponsor – CTC Math!

A Book and a Movie, Interview with Ticia Messing

A Production of the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

This week on Homeschool Highschool Podcast: A Book and a Movie, Interview with Ticia Messing.

A Book and a Movie, Interview with Ticia Messing

A Book and a Movie, Interview with Ticia Messing

One of our favorite things is learning with movies, so we are so excited to talk to Ticia Messing about learning with books and movies!

Ticia is an old friend of ours (we talked in an earlier episode about teens and volunteering). She shares about homeschooling her three teenaged sons and one teenaged daughter at Adventures in Mommydom. Her sons are all in high school and driving now, so her world is quickly changing.

Her sons have enjoyed homeschooling for their entire educational lives. Now they have extended their experiences by starting dual enrollment at the local community college. They are each taking one course to help them get a taste for college.

One of Ticia’s emphases in her homeschool is helping her teens explore, define and build career interests. Her teens’ current interests vary from firefighting to game design to restaurant ownership. (One of the ways she helps her teens explore career interests is through field trips. For instance, her firefighting-interested son has had field trips to the local firehall.)

Another of Ticia’s emphases is sparkling up the homeschool year with movies about the books that they read.

She has been using books and matching movies since her kids were in third grade.

For instance, when her kids were young, they read the story of Cinderella. Then they watched the movie: Ella Enchanted. On top of their reading and movie they made snacks to go along with the movie’s theme, such as pumpkin-carriage cupcakes! They followed up by comparing the book and the movie with a discussion.

Recently they read Alice through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll, then watched the Disney movie and the movie Wonderland. They had a great family discussion on the similarities and differences between the movie and book. (Her teens have strong opinions about what they like and do not like about the changes the movies make in the story and/or characters.)

Some of the discussions they have about the movie include:

  • Why did the director make certain casting choices?
  • How can they make sense of plot changes that were made in the movie?
  • Are there absolute travesties in the movie’s version?
  • What did the movie get right?
  • Are there some things that were not in the book but worked well in the movie

Movies with books inspire learning and discussion.

How can parents get the most out of a book and a movie?

If you would like to work together as a family or have your teens work independently with a book and a movie, here are some suggestions.

  • Define your purpose for doing a book and a movie
    • Just for fun
    • Developing a topic they are studying (for instance, when they were studying Sci-fi, they read and watched lots of books and movies)
    • Building thinking and conversation skills
  • Choose how many books and movies you want to cover?
    • For instance, Ticia’s family reads one book and watches the accompanying movie each month.
  • Decide if you want to watch the movie first or or read the book first.
    • Ticia’s family tends to watch Disney movies first, then reads the book.
    • They read the book first on most other kinds of films.
  • Check out Ticia’s list of one hundred movies based on books for tons of ideas.

One way to make the most of books and movies is to use 7SistersHomeschool’s Cinema Studies for Literature Learning Study Guides.

These popular guides help students learn while enjoying classic movies!

The guides take classic movies and use them to teach literature analysis skills. Some of the movies in this series that are based on books include:

Other guides in the series are just the literature-analysis guides for movies. There is no accompanying book.

We allow our teens to actually count these as books for their book lists IF they have completed the guide. The movies that do not have a book to go with them include:

Visit Ticia at AdventuresInMommydom.com for lots of enrichment for your homeschool. She specializes in literature and movies and LOTS of hands-on history ideas. Also, join us for today’s episode about a book and a movie!

PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO HSHSP VIA COMPUTER

  1. Follow this link to our iTunes page.
  2. IMPORTANT STEP: Under our Homeschool Highschool Podcast logo, click on View in iTunes
  3. This will take you to iTunes and our own podcast page.
  4. Click SUBSCRIBE.
  5. Click RATINGS AND REVIEW. (Please take a minute and do this. It helps others find us. Thanks!)
  6. Thanks!

PLEASE SUBSCRIBE VIA iPHONE

  1. Tap the purple Podcast icon on your phone
  2. Tap the search icon on the bottom-right of your screen
  3. In the search bar type: Homeschool Highschool Podcast
  4. Tap the Homeschool Highschool Podcast icon
  5. Tap *Subscribe*
  6. Please tap *Ratings and Review* and give us some stars and a comment to help others find us more easily.
  7. Thanks

How to Handle Shakespeare for Homeschool Co-ops

A Production of the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

This week on Homeschool Highschool Podcast: How to Handle Shakespeare for Homeschool Co-ops.

Teaching Shakespeare in Homeschool Co-op

 

How to Handle Shakespeare for Homeschool Co-ops

Sabrina and Vicki love Shakespeare and they love teaching Shakespeare for their homeschool co-ops. They have had so many fun experiences with their high schoolers as the teens learned about Shakespeare and a few of his most famous plays.

So what are some ways to handle Shakespeare for your homeschool co-op?

Keep it fun! Don’t scare the teens off by taking his works too seriously!

Remember, there’s not ONE right way to homeschool high school and there’s not ONE right way to teach Shakespeare.

Show the teens the timelessness of some of his characters. (Some of the character types are folks you can run into today. Look for Sabrina’s Literature Study Guides for Shakespeare to help with this.) You can start with this FREEBIE on timeless expressions that Shakespeare gave us.

Also, check out this episode with Sabrina that has more ideas on teaching Shakespeare.

Traditional Academic Co-op (Let’s call it Sylvester)

The Sylvester co-op feels comfortable with textbooks, scope and sequences, syllabi, and grading assignments with rubrics. When approaching teaching Shakespeare, Sylvester co-op teachers will plan for a formal atmosphere. They will spend a lot of time translating Elizabethan English into modern English. They will teach iambic pentameter with counting syllables and finding accents in lines of words. They will discuss rhyming couplets. They might even do some copywork with this FREEIE from our friend, Kat Patrick.

This is all fine and dandy! (Remember, there’s not ONE right way to teach Shakespeare!) But Sylvester co-op, here’s word of advice: You might be tempted to ONLY do those things. Sabrina recommends that Sylvester gets a little loose and have fun. How to do that?

Ask yourselves: Why has Shakespeare remained so popular all these years? Now you can answer yourselves: Because it’s good storytelling with good characters.

While there is strange language, important form and structure, there is lots of interesting stuff to discuss in co-op. Take for instance: Discuss Much Ado About Nothing. It is a Shakespearian rom-com! Anyone who has seen a modern romance-comedy can find points of connection back to Much Ado About Nothing!

Organic, Bordering on Unschooling Co-op (Let’s call it Beatrice)

The Beatrice co-op might be a bit all over the place. They might be allowing a go-with-the-flow, find-a-passage-to-read co-op. They will probably be acting out favorite scenes in a light-hearted manner.

That is all groovy! (Remember, there’s not ONE right way to teach Shakespeare!) But Beatrice co-op, here’s a word of advice: You might be tempted to just have fun with interacting with favorite scenes. However, Sabrina recommends spending a little time explaining why Shakespeare wrote in iambic pentameter.

You know why? Because Shakespeare’s plays were produced by a company (SO many plays for one company to remember, line after line after line). But what Shakespeare knew (like many of his playwright peers) was that the rhythm patters of Shakespeare’s plays made heavy memorization of lines possible (and quicker). That’s because the rhythm of iambic pentameter is similar to English speech patterns and the musicality of the rhythm aids the memorization.

A fun activity for a co-op like Beatrice is to take a conversation the students just had over lunch, write it down, and then change it to iambic pentameter!

The Somewhere-in-between Co-op (Let’s call it Bob)

The Bob co-op is so moderate, a bit of fun, bit of strenuous academics. You have a lot going on at your co-op. You could choose a couple of scenes for creating a readers theater production.

Readers theater is a bit more than just a reading around the room- that’s fun, though, try it sometime. Rather, you will cast students as specific characters. They will read over and study them ahead of time, they read the script as part of the performance.

Usually characters wear black with one special piece that helps identify the character- like the “fool” character wearing a jester’s hat. This piece can be anachronistic, too- like a sea captain wearing a modern sailor hat.

Readers theater works great on Zoom, btw!

I guess our co-ops were a bit Sylvester-sh, Bob-ish AND Beatrice-ish because our homeschool high schoolers did all these activities with their favorite teacher, Sabrina!

SO, how do you handle Shakespeare for homeschool c0-ops?

One way is to use 7SistersHomeschool’s soon-to-be-released Literature Study Guides for Shakespeare! Sabrina has created these guides based on the activities she did with our teens. The guides will include:

  • Much Ado About Nothing
  • Mid-Summer Night’s Dream
  • Hamlet
  • King Lear

Like all 7Sisters study guides, they will be no-busywork, don’t-kill-the-play. They will focus on the timelessness of the plays and characters, a little bit on form and structure, and links to good productions of Shakespeare’s plays for the teens to watch.

Join Vicki and Sabrina (and the Bard) for an inspirational discussion! For more on teaching Shakespeare, try some ideas from our friend, Kat Patrick.

PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO HSHSP VIA COMPUTER

  1. Follow this link to our Apple Podcasts page.
  2. OR take this IMPORTANT STEP: Under our Homeschool Highschool Podcast logo, click on View in “…your favorite podcast source”
  3. This will take you to Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast source and our own podcast page.
  4. Click SUBSCRIBE.
  5. Click RATINGS AND REVIEW. (Please take a minute and do this. It helps others find us. Thanks!)
  6. Thanks!

PLEASE SUBSCRIBE VIA iPHONE

  1. Tap the purple Podcast icon on your phone
  2. Tap the search icon on the bottom-right of your screen
  3. In the search bar type: Homeschool Highschool Podcast
  4. Tap the Homeschool Highschool Podcast icon
  5. Tap *Subscribe*
  6. Please tap *Ratings and Review*

 

 

 

 

 

 

How to Use Who-Dun-It Curriculum in a Homeschool Co-op

A Production of the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

Finish Well Homeschool Podcast, Podcast #129, How to Use Who-Dun-It Curriculum in a Homeschool Co-op, with Meredith Curtis on the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network

How to Use Who-Dun-It Curriculum in a Homeschool Co-op

In “How to Use Who-Dun-It Curriculum in a Homeschool Co-op,” Episode, #129, Meredith Curtis explains how to use her most popular English course, Who Dun It Murder Mystery Literature & Writing, in a homeschool co-op setting. It’s easier than you think to teach, homeschool Mom or Dad! Teens love sharing their stories together and discussing classic cozy mysteries in book club. Plus what other course requires you to watch a detective show once a month? The student benefits—logic, creativity, literature understanding deepens, and FUN—enrich high schoolers educational experience and create happy lifetime memories!

 

 


Powerline Productions Ad - Love Reading - Teach Literature

 

Powerline Productions, Inc.

Bringing Homeschool Joy to Families Everywhere!

 

 

 


Show Notes

Welcome to our cozy mystery peer review time. We are mesmorized by the story, trying to figure out the clues.

This is much too fun for a high school English class! Or is it?

When It’s Your Turn to Teach at Co-op

It’s your turn to teach the high school English course and you are stumped.

I have a fun solution!

Mystery lovers unite!

Spend a year reading and writing a cozy mystery

Benefits of Writing a Who-Dun-It

Opportunity (or challenge) of creating a story that others will enjoy

Writing your own literature teaches you so much about literature

The role of logic

Craftsmanship

Reading aloud to edit/craft

Who Dun It? Murder Mystery Literature and Writing High School Class

An Overview of The Year

First half:

  • Reading/watching/analyzing
  • Creating characters/settings/scenes
  • Write short story

Second half:

  • Novels/short stories
  • Work on novel
  • Peer review & crafting as you go

The Planning Is Already Done

How the course is laid out

Work at home

Work in co-op

Creating Characters & Using Dialogue & Description

How do golden age authors do it?

Well-rounded characters

Quotation marks

Close your eyes and listen—can you see it?

Classic Literature & Substitutes

Christie, Sayers, Chesterton, Doyle

Children’s classics: Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Mandie, Sugar Creek Gang

Golden Age Classic Mysteries—excellent literature!

Why Book Clubs Help So Much

Talking helps brain connect information

Differing opinions lead to lively discussions

Start with “Did you like this book—why or why not?”

Each book club focus: characterization, setting, dialogue, tone/mood, plot

Why TV Shows Help So Much

Scenes

Storyboard

Perry Mason, Murder She Wrote, Monk, Garage Sale Murders, Matlock

Writing for Peers vs. Writing for No One

When you are reading stories aloud, you have a purpose, an incentive

How writers have grown with this

Responding with affirmation and helpful advice, not critical

Unleashing Creativity

Creating characters, settings, plots, scenes, dialogue, surprise endings—hard work but fun!

Who Dun It Murder Mystery Literature & Writing changes students

The Logic of a Who-Dun-It

Have to make sure everything lines up, is logical, makes sense

Did the reader get enough clues to solve mystery? “How did I miss that!”

Sign up for our Newsletter

100 Homeschool Hacks by Meredith CurtisSign up for our updates and get your copy of 100 Homeschool Hacks FREE. Sign up here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Resources

Our one-credit high school courses use conversational text, living books, hands-on learning, and projects that prepare teens for real life! Enjoy!

 

Who Dun It? Murder Mystery Literature and Writing High School Class Economics, Finances, and Business Economics, Finances, and Business Answer Key HIS Story of the 20th Century by Meredith Curtis
American Literature & Research British Literature & Writing High School Class Communications 101:Essays and Speeches High School Class Foundations of Western Literature by Meredith Curtis
Newspaper Reporting by Meredith Curtis Government: God's Blueprint/Man's Agenda by Meredith Curtis at Powerline Productions Worldview Understanding the Times by Meredith Curtis HIS Story of the 20th Century: High School Workbook by Meredith Curtis

More Podcasts You Might Find Helpful

Finish Well Homeschool Podcast, Podcast #120, Why I Wrote My Own Government Course, with Meredith Curtis on the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network Finish Well Homeschool Podcast, Podcast #114, Easy DIY 5-Year Homeschool High School Flexible Plan, with Meredith Curtis on the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network Finish Well Homeschooling Podcast, Podcast #108, 7 Ways to Make Jesus Lord of Your Homeschooling with Meredith Curtis on the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network Finish Well Radio Show, Podcast #106, 7 Reasons I Teach Newspaper Reporting In Middle School with Meredith Curtis on the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network