Language Arts

Our Real Teens Read Book Club is getting ready to kick off a new semester. The teens read one or two titles per month along with poems and short stories, then we get together for a literature discussion meeting. The teens learn the historical background and use literary analysis to delve deeper into the readings. We have a hands-on activity … [Read more...] about Real Teens Read 2014 Book List

Our Real Teens Read group read Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card and the following poems to accompany the novel: "Fire and Ice" and "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost "The Soldier" by Rupert Brooks "The End of the World" by Archibald MacLeish "Anthem for Doomed Youth" by Wilfred Owen "The Unknown Citizen" by W. H. Auden "Warning" by … [Read more...] about Real Teens Read: Ender’s Game

“Never judge a man before you've walked two moons in his moccasins." This month's book selection for our our Real Teens Read literature discussion group is Walk Two Moons, a Newbery Award winner by Sharon Creech. The teens also read two poems that are mentioned in the book: "the little horse is newlY" by e. e. cummings "The Tide Rises, … [Read more...] about Real Teens Read: Walk Two Moons

Our Real Teens Read literature discussion group has been learning how to write a research paper. Getting Started The teens have been learning the stages of the research process and have recently completed their first papers. They were allowed to choose their own topics for the first go-round, and I ended up with a diverse array of essays to … [Read more...] about Real Teens Read: Research Papers

Our Real Teens Read literature discussion group met this week to discuss Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea. A few of the moms weren't too enthusiastic about this book choice. They commented that it is the most boring book they've ever read and that they basically hated it. Uh oh -- I've got my work cut out for me with this one! The … [Read more...] about Real Teens Read: The Old Man and the Sea

Our Real Teens Read literature discussion group is continuing on through the summer, with some intriguing books and exciting field trips scheduled. See what we're reading for the next several months. Our group has a different theme each month. Last year we focused mainly on American literature, but this year is going to be a bit more varied. … [Read more...] about What Real Teens Are Reading

It's Shakespeare month for our Real Teens Read literature group, and we are looking forward to seeing two live performances--Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet. Watching the 1968 movie is a way to clarify what they are struggling to read, and it was a great motivator for the teens. They have been busily reading different versions of Romeo and Juliet … [Read more...] about Real Teens Read: Romeo and Juliet

Our Real Teens Read novel for March is a blast from the past: The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton. Raise your hand if you remember reading this as a teen! What about the movie? Be warned, it will make you feel old to see baby-faced Rob Lowe and Tom Cruise. Oh, how I miss Patrick Swayze . . . I got sidetracked, didn't I? Anyway . . . The teens had … [Read more...] about Hands-on: The Outsiders

The Real Teens Read literature group just finished reading The House of Sixty Fathers by Meindert DeJong, which is based on the author's experiences in China during World War II. We chose this book to round out the other World War II era books we've read and gain a different perspective on events surrounding this war. The House of Sixty Fathers … [Read more...] about Real Teens Read: The House of Sixty Fathers

Ah, high school. Homeschool moms all relax at the thought of teaching subjects like physics, algebra, and literature, don’t we? It's been too long since I've posted about our curriculum, but now that my oldest is in high school, I wanted to share some of the resources we are using. Literature can be a daunting subject to teach as the books get … [Read more...] about Teaching Literature: The Scarlet Letter

Our Real Teens Read group just wrapped up The Scarlet Letter. It was a tough one, but I think they all managed to get through it and learn something in the process. Click here to learn more about a helpful study guide for this book. Follow Learning Table's board Real Teens Read on Pinterest. After reading the book, we watched the movie … [Read more...] about Hands-on: The Scarlet Letter

The first novel we read in our Real Teens Read literature discussion group is The Giver by Lois Lowry. It had such an impact on the group, that we find ourselves relating almost everything else we read to it in some way. We have discussed the archetype of the main character's journey in this book and how it is similar in some ways to the main … [Read more...] about Real Teens Read: The Giver

Our October theme for Real Teens Read is Edgar Allan Poe, and we read "Annabel Lee," "The Raven," and "The Fall of the House of Usher." Some resources I use when planning are Progeny Press literature study guides and websites such as shmoop and EDSITEment. Follow Learning Table's board Real Teens Read on Pinterest. We thought the spooky … [Read more...] about Real Teens Read: Edgar Allan Poe