If you have ever used any curriculum from Writing with Sharon Watson then you KNOW how amazing her stuff is! Illuminating Literature: Characters in Crisis does not disappoint. Last year my oldest daughter studied Illuminating Literature: When Worlds Collide. It was a fantastic study for her. Naturally, I was looking forward to reviewing this volume when it came up for review.
One thing that I do want to mention is that both of these titles are able to be used independently. One does not build on the other. Feel free to use them in any order. That's why I didn't hesitate to grab this title for my 14 and 15 year olds. They will finish this curriculum this year and then continue their literature studies in future years with the other curriculum.
For this review, we received physical copies the teacher's guide, the student book, and the quiz and answer manual. We also received the novel notebook as a PDF download that you can print for your student. I really think this notebook is beneficial to the students as it helps them to organize their thoughts as they read excellent literature. The pages are not the same throughout the novel notebook. Students interact with the literature in a variety of ways, which helps to keep the literature new and exciting.
Extensive samples of each of these titles as well as the quiz format are available for you to view. All of the quizzes are available online. When a student complete the quiz, an email is sent to the email address that the student specifies. I have my students send the email to me so I can keep track of how they are doing. The quiz and answer manual includes printed copies of the quizzes that you are allowed to copy for your family, not your entire class. The answers to these quizzes are in the back of this book. My oldest daughter much preferred to take these quizzes online, but this is available for your convenience as well. The quizzes are the same whether they are taken online or as a printed version. Each title studied has three corresponding quizzes: the yes I read it quiz, the literary terms quiz, and the opinion survey.
The reason this curriculum appealed to me in the first place is the selection of novels and short stories that the author uses to teach literary concepts. It is worthy of noting that students do need to have specific copies of each one of the novels, which aids in the student discussions so that all students can easily find their place within the novel and the entire class period is not spent finding a passage to discuss. Page numbers are given in the guide and, boom, move right on with the discussion once you have found the page.
One thing that I do want to mention is that both of these titles are able to be used independently. One does not build on the other. Feel free to use them in any order. That's why I didn't hesitate to grab this title for my 14 and 15 year olds. They will finish this curriculum this year and then continue their literature studies in future years with the other curriculum.
For this review, we received physical copies the teacher's guide, the student book, and the quiz and answer manual. We also received the novel notebook as a PDF download that you can print for your student. I really think this notebook is beneficial to the students as it helps them to organize their thoughts as they read excellent literature. The pages are not the same throughout the novel notebook. Students interact with the literature in a variety of ways, which helps to keep the literature new and exciting.
Extensive samples of each of these titles as well as the quiz format are available for you to view. All of the quizzes are available online. When a student complete the quiz, an email is sent to the email address that the student specifies. I have my students send the email to me so I can keep track of how they are doing. The quiz and answer manual includes printed copies of the quizzes that you are allowed to copy for your family, not your entire class. The answers to these quizzes are in the back of this book. My oldest daughter much preferred to take these quizzes online, but this is available for your convenience as well. The quizzes are the same whether they are taken online or as a printed version. Each title studied has three corresponding quizzes: the yes I read it quiz, the literary terms quiz, and the opinion survey.
The reason this curriculum appealed to me in the first place is the selection of novels and short stories that the author uses to teach literary concepts. It is worthy of noting that students do need to have specific copies of each one of the novels, which aids in the student discussions so that all students can easily find their place within the novel and the entire class period is not spent finding a passage to discuss. Page numbers are given in the guide and, boom, move right on with the discussion once you have found the page.
- "A Jury of Her Peers" by Susan Glaspell
- Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
- Silas Marner by George Eliot
- Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare
- "A White Heron" by Sarah Orne Jewett
- "The Garden of the Forking Paths" by Jorge Luis Borges
- "Haircut" by Ring Lardner
- "The Lady, or the Tiger?" by Frank Stockton
- "Of the Passing of the First-Born" by W. E. B. Du Bois
- "A Child's Christmas in Wales" by Dylan Thomas
- Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
- Biography/Autobiography of the student's choosing
- The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
I really enjoy teaching about literature. I love discussing it with teens because they all have such incredible insight and provide a fresh lens through which to view literature. What I love most about Illuminating Literature is the ability to host a once a month book club. The instructions for this once a month book club are included in the teacher's guide. They are extremely thorough and actually sound like a ton of fun. I am completely inspired by these instructions and am considering hosting our own book clubs in the future. Using this curriculum as a book club is not the requirement. It is a series of instructions if you wish to facilitate one with a small group of teens. The teacher's guide also includes answers to the discussion questions as well as tips for how to teach the information.
This curriculum can be used by a single homeschool student if you prefer. The student book is written to the student so they can easily complete the lessons on their own. Before even beginning to read any of the assigned literature, a chapter is dedicated to learning about different types of characters. She also lists convincing reasons for why a student should study, not just read, literature.
"A Jury of Her Peers" is the first selection that students read. This short story puts the students in the jury seat. The story is printed directly in the student book. As students work through the lessons, they answer questions and complete assignments that correlate to the story and that help them digest the lessons. We really enjoyed this title. It isn't hard to read, but there are some very sophisticated literary concepts. Questions at the end of the lesson chapter get students thinking and responding to literature.
Probably the most appealing part of this literature curriculum to me is that students are able to choose an activity to complete in response to the literature they have just studied. There is an activity for every type of learner, which allows students to present the connections that they made with the literature. And if none of those activities appeal to the student, they have the freedom to create their own response activity. This curriculum doesn't put all students in the same box. It frees them to respond in a way that is unique to them.
"A Jury of Her Peers" is the first selection that students read. This short story puts the students in the jury seat. The story is printed directly in the student book. As students work through the lessons, they answer questions and complete assignments that correlate to the story and that help them digest the lessons. We really enjoyed this title. It isn't hard to read, but there are some very sophisticated literary concepts. Questions at the end of the lesson chapter get students thinking and responding to literature.
Probably the most appealing part of this literature curriculum to me is that students are able to choose an activity to complete in response to the literature they have just studied. There is an activity for every type of learner, which allows students to present the connections that they made with the literature. And if none of those activities appeal to the student, they have the freedom to create their own response activity. This curriculum doesn't put all students in the same box. It frees them to respond in a way that is unique to them.
