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Beyond the Book Report

Beyond the Book Report (BBR) is a middle school through high school language arts curriculum that pairs well with Analytical Grammar (AG) for a complete program that covers grammar, composition, and literature. BBR supplies coverage for the latter two areas, by cleverly designing writing activities around real books. BBR can also be used as a stand-alone resource. While BBR’s authors strongly recommend that students read classic literature for their real book selections, this is not an absolute requirement.

There are three “Seasons” or courses in the program. While the first two Seasons are ideal for middle school, the entire program can also be used with high school students. Season Three is for students in eighth grade through high school. The publisher’s website has suggested teaching schedules that show how you might schedule the three Seasons of BBR with AG depending upon the grade level at which you begin the program. They also include a scheduled time for vocabulary ( WordBuild is recommended) so that the schedules cover everything you need for a complete language arts program that will take about one hour a day in middle school. You will likely complete one Season per year, but those just beginning with eighth graders might complete the first two Seasons in one year.

Each Season includes a DVD and a small packet of teacher pages that are pre-punched for insertion into your own binder. DVDs are to be run on your computer. The DVD for each course includes a series of lectures plus printable PDF files to be used with each lesson. An autorun feature on each DVD brings up an HTML index page that will come up in your browser; this page has a table of contents for the DVD with clickable links to open for both lectures and printable materials in the order in which they are to be used. This page makes it easy to figure out what to do next.

Students need to have each file with lecture slides printed out for use before watching each video presentation. Students write notes in the space provided on these pages as they watch each lecture.

Video lectures are presented by authors Erin Karl and Robin Finley with the aid of PowerPoint slides (the same slides reprinted on the student lecture slides pages). Lectures vary in length from a few minutes up to about 20 minutes. There are relatively few lectures, and these should be used at the appropriate points as laid out in the lesson plans in the teacher’s material. With instruction via the DVD and all of the printed materials (which you print in advance from the DVD), students should be able to work on their own a good part of the time. While videos provide the primary teaching for the courses, some discussion is needed. Parents or teachers need to discuss possible books students might select, and they will probably need to work with most students to ensure they are understanding concepts as they work through the lessons. Samples of all of the assignments are included in the teacher packet, and these should be shared with students. This course design makes this a good option for group classes that meet once or twice a week.

Season One is divided into three units: basic book report, pamphlet book report, and journalism book report. Students choose whatever books they wish to use as the subject matter for the first two units and for a journalism book report in the third unit. The Journalism adds a creative twist by having students select a nursery rhyme to use as the source of material for a news article.

Within the first unit, students learn literary study terms such as conflict, protagonist, antagonist, rising action, climax, and point of view. These terms are then used through the rest of the Season. Rather than writing simple book reports, students learn to write summaries and paraphrases based on the book they have chosen to read. Pamphlet book reports are as much a literary study exercise as a composition project since pamphlets use a pre-designed template as a means of presenting key literary elements students have identified in the book they have read for that unit. Students next learn to write objectively with the journalism unit exercises.

In Season One , students also create their own study questions and crossword puzzles for each book they read. Both activities motivate them to read carefully and pay attention to vocabulary rather than skimming over unfamiliar words.

Season Two has two lengthier units—Poetry Book Report and Drama Book Report—rather than three units. The Poetry unit is a fully developed course on poetry that covers many poetic forms. Students will write four types of poetry—a sonnet, a limerick, Haiku, and a narrative poem, all based on a book they have read. The Poetry unit has a lengthy exam, and the drama unit has a shorter quiz. Answer keys are in the teacher’s packet.

The drama unit discusses various forms of drama, then narrows down to Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” for in-depth study. Students practice paraphrasing speeches from the play, and they rewrite one scene into regular prose. For the book report connection, they take a scene from the book they have read and rewrite it as a script, including the setting, transitions, blocking, and other such details.

Season Three  incorporates two smaller courses that Analytical Grammar produced a few years ago, The Essay and The Research Paper, as well as a unit on the Oral Book Report. In Season Three , the essay and research paper courses will now have video instruction. The essay course teaches personal, literary, and “issues” essays. (An issue essay is the type used by the SAT.) Students will write essays on short stories and a final essay on a book of their choosing. The research paper component teaches all of the steps in writing research papers. Students write a research paper on a famous author and another on a book, defending the thesis of the book. As students work through the Oral Book Report unit, they learn the basics of giving oral presentation, practice critiquing presentations by Erin Karl, and present an oral book report using PowerPoint slides. Season Three will take the longest to complete as you would expect for a high school level course.

Detailed scoring rubrics are provided for each written piece in each Season. Students should use these rubrics as guides to remind them of the key points upon which they will be assessed. Parents or teachers use the same rubric to grade student work. Rubrics include guidelines for the study questions and crossword puzzles in Season One . Rubrics for Season One are on the DVD, while rubrics for Season Two are in the teacher packet.

Beyond the Book Report seems like a creative way to bring together the study of literature with composition while allowing students to select what they will read. The format of the materials makes BBR very inexpensive for courses that include some DVD lesson presentation, and BBR can be used for multiple students at no extra cost. Samples of the video and some of the printable pages are available free on the publisher’s website.

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Beyond the Book Report Season One Notepages and DVD

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Beyond the Book Report Season Two Notepages and DVD

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• Need For Parent or Teacher Instruction: moderate
• Learning Environment: group or one-on-one
• Grade Level: grades 6-12
• Educational Methods: traditional activity pages or exercises, real books, multisensory, critical thinking, creative activities
• Technology: PDF, computer DVDs
• Educational Approaches: eclectic
• Religious Perspective: secular but Christian friendly

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Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Review of analytical grammar's beyond the book report.

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Thursday, July 31, 2014

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Beyond the Book Report by Analytical Grammar – A Preview Review

Tagged:  AG , BBR , Beyond the Book Report , writing

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A Preview Review – weird, I know, but I couldn’t come up with anything better. 

I will be co-teaching a Grammar, Written Narration, and Composition Course to 11 kids ages 9-13 this coming year. We will meet 3 weeks/month from Sept. – Apr. and 12 weeks per term.

• Grammar using JAG with 4th-6th, AG Season 1 with 6th-8th
• Written Narrations using  My Little Handbook of Written Narrations  by Angela Wilson as a guide of sorts (4th-8th)

Spring Term

• Mechanics using JAG Mechanics with all (4th-8th)
• Beyond the Book Report Season 1 (6th-8th)

With that bit of background, I have received BBR-1 and have begun reviewing it. It covers the following:

From http://www.analyticalgrammar.com –  SEASON ONE includes three different sections (click on the hyperlinks to see the sample): The Basic Book Report – Concepts introduced:     Following a rubric     Conflict, Point of View, Climax, Protagonist,Antagonist     Paraphrase and summary – Activity:     Watch video lecture on literary terms – Final Product (100 pt total):      Reading Log     Plot summary     Paraphrase of favorite scene     Study questions or crossword      Literary Terms worksheet The Pamphlet Book Report – Concepts introduced:     Elements of the plot, mood and tone, setting, genre – Activity:     Watch second video lecture on literary terms – Final Product (100 pt total):     Reading log     Pamphlet about the book (60 pts)     Study questions or crossword The News Article Book Report – Concepts introduced:     Headline, byline, dateline, inverted pyramid, lead     Objectivity, bias, objective point of view – Activity:     Watch video lecture on news writing      Nursery rhyme news      Exercise in bias detection –  Final Product (100 pt total):     Reading log     News article on favorite scene     Opposite bias news article, same scene     Study questions/crossword

I really like the looks of this simple program. It suggests spending 30-45 minutes per day on BBR-1. We will be covering the topics together using the DVDs during our class weeks. We will spend 3-4 weeks on each project. Our schedule will have us view the video lesson in class, answer questions and perhaps start a bit of an assignment. Then the students will choose their books and have 2-3 weeks to read the book and complete the assigned reports.

I have not reviewed the full program yet , but here are my Pros & Cons.

• Introduces literary terms and elements in a simple way
• Helps kids break their assignments into doable chunks using the reading log
• Uses rubrics to help assess and evaluate in an objective manner
• Written (via videa, too) to the student
• Is a natural extention of written narration. Allows for some creative narration types. 
• Perhaps the grading element. This is new for me, so I may tweak or simply use as another teaching opportunity. These kids are going to college, so they will see grading and should get used to it at some point.
• Packaging – Some shrinkwrapped papers with a DVD that has video clips and pdf files to print. Quality is good, but presentation lacking. I suspect because it’s rather new. I simply printed off all of my worksheets for the students at one time. 

That’s my initial take. I will add more as I become more familiar with it. I think this will be a good fit for my family. I want a tiny bit of handholding to introduce some different literary elements and ideas for written narrations, but do not care for a full blown program like IEW, Classical Composition, etc. 

HTH someone.

Perfect. And, thank you. I’m looking for something similar as I just can not overwhelm my dc this coming year and this seems to be more doable.

Bumping. This will appeal to quite a few on this forum. Your review updates will be very helpful. It sounds like a fun way to tackle literary analysis. I especially like the idea of using the various familiar formats to accomplish these assignments. Thanks for sharing it.

Becca<><

We have decided to do this program this year as well. Interested to see more of your thoughts on this. What is My Little Handbook of Written Narrations?

Christie, if you have time to post, I’d love to hear how your Fall term has been going with your 4-6th grade group using JAG.

Are all of the students in your group embracing it (and retaining) well? Or does it seem to work better for one learning style versus another?

You are sure to provide valuable insight to many of us on the forum, especially given that you are also teaching an older group using AG. It leads many of us to the question of whether starting grammar with JAG at grade 4/5 is truly worthwhile, or whether waiting until 6th grade for grammar (jumping straight to AG) is perfectly okay.

Would love some comments. Blessings, Angie

JAG – I have 7 kids in the JAG class and our last lesson is next week. All 7 kids are doing well. We only cover the new material and 1 worksheet in class each week and the rest is done at home. All kids are scoring competancy or above on the tests each week. My son is 9 and is Mr. Sports. He does well with his schoolwork, but would rather be outside playing something or fishing or ____ and he has soared. He can parse like a pro and does pretty good with diagramming. Every once in a while, he will hang a modifier off of the wrong thing, but so do the rest of the kids. I have 3 girls and 4 boys in this class. One student has some processing difficulties and he is doing super, too. There are wiggly willies and quiet Quincys and all have done a great job. JAG, we watch the dvd explanation which is really just going over the notes and then work 1 worksheet of examples on the board together.

AG – We had 7, but went to 6 students. 3 boys and 3 girls. A big variety of kids here, too and all are doing well, typically scoring Superiority or Mastery on the tests. These kids watch the dvd and work the examples with the dvd and then complete at least 1 full page in class. My dd12 is in this class and is doing wonderfully.

PROS OF THE PROGRAMS

• Kids can simply watch dvd and do it on their own at both levels. I would do this if I weren’t teaching a class, but the class is great accountability.
• Very straightforward
• All exercises and tests are open book
• JAG exercises are the perfect length with 5 sentences to parse & diagram each page and a few extra questions.
• AG exercises are appropriately more difficult.

CONS OF THE PROGRAMS

• Both presenters are left handed and their hands cover what they write until they finish. Not a huge thing, but the kids have all commented.
• AG exercises have 10 sentences each and that difference with JAG feels huge. I think 7 would have been good, but we do all of them anyway because I don’t wish to pick through them. 

Yes, I find both programs worthwhile and will have my younger kids use JAG, too. I expect it to spill over into ds9’s written narrations, too. (He has a broken finger in a full arm cast at the moment, so no writing.) On the other hand, I think waiting is fine, too. Most of my AG kids haven’t had any grammar before and it’s working well for them.

In addition…

We spent several weeks looking at written narrations. This was time well spent and the kids, esp. the younger ones, showed great improvement.

We are spending the next 4 lessons learning how to outline using material found at http://www.higherupandfurtherin.blogspot.com and after only 1 lesson, all of the kids are getting it and of course this skill will be super useful throughout life.

ALL students will begin using JAG Mechanics in a couple of weeks. We will go through that through April 2014.

In Jan. 2014, the older students will begin season one of BBR. I’ll report on that later. 

Beneita – http://www.lulu.com/shop/angela-wilson/my-little-handbook-of-written-narrations/ebook/product-17454849.html

We used this as a basis for the kids. It’s not perfect, IMO, but it worked well. My ds9 was new to written narrations and his first ones are pretty good and longer than 2 sentences. 🙂

Sincerest thanks, Christie, for taking the time to post in such detail! Sounds as though your program is going beautifully. How amazing to hear that ALL the children have given it praise and are learning well. Loved that link to HigherUP blog post; good reminders for me.

Sorry to hear about Mr. Sports’ injury/cast (I can only imagine how hard that must be on him and on you!) and thanks again for sharing all your experiences with us 🙂

Yes, thank you, Christie.  Very helpful.

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Beyond The Book Report @ Analytical Grammar - Reviews?

By 5LittleMonkeys , July 22, 2013 in Logic Stage & Middle Grade Challenges

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5littlemonkeys.

Anyone had a chance to review this yet?

http://www.analyticalgrammar.com/index.php/analytical-products/bbr-season1.html

I just received my copy today, so I don't have any actual experience with the program.  It does not teach composition.  It is more of an introduction to literature.  Basic literary terms are covered.  The first assignment is a paraphrase and a two page summary of a book of your choice.  The second assignment is a pamphlet explaining the conflict, characters, plot, and other elements of a book of your choice.  Instruction is geared toward the student. I haven't yet viewed the material for the third assignment. Do you have any specific questions? 

I have been looking at this, as well.  I thought it covered the essay and the research paper, as well as literature.  So do you think that it should be used with Writing with Skill then since it does not cover composition? 

I bought this, too, but decided to save it for next year. I'm not sure about the writing instruction, but the essay and research paper are in season three.

Those are covered in Season 3 which I have not seen. BBR season 1 does not teach anything about the writing process.  It teaches literary terms, summarizing, and newspaper writing.  I think BBR might be overkill if you are doing WWS since WWS covers literary analysis. 

I was going to ask the same thing.  Might have to compare the SS for each to see which does a more thorough job.  I'm not there yet, but I believe WWS doesn't really get into individual literary terms as much as it does just writing about literature...could be totally wrong though.

Looks promising. I can't wait to hear reviews as everyone uses it.

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TOS Review: Analytical Grammar, Beyond the Book Report

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Analytical Grammar Reviews

Beyond the Book Report is a three-part video-based curriculum that is designed to be scheduled along the same timeline with Analytical Grammar .  It covers literary analysis, journalism, drama, poetry, essays, oral reports, and research papers.  Each teaching module is designed to be completed as a different type of book report; the books used are chosen by the teacher and student.

After completing Analytical Grammar , students can use one of four High School Grammar Reinforcement books, one per year, to keep their grammar skills sharp.  These each contain 18 worksheets, one every other week, and have a literary topic. Finally the company offers a supplement called The Eternal Argument .  This book is intended as a jumping-off point for substantive literature study and is available in both paperback and audiobook formats.

Website: Analytical Grammar

( 1 Reviews )

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We used this for my daughter's 7/8 grade grammar homeschooling. I believe it's designed to be a 3-year course but we jammed to finish by end of 8th grade. Not too difficult. I was an English minor and I love this program. It's very technical. It has a good explanation, 3 lessons & test for each concept. There is sentence breakdown & diagramming. Each subject is thoroughly covered. It's for the student that likes to be challenged for sure and will definitely prepare them for any highschool grammar/writing.

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Beyond the Book Report

Developed for middle and early high school students, this flexible program helps students build language arts skills in preparation for high school studies and is designed to work with any work of fiction as long as there is one overarching storyline.

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The Beyond the Book Report is broken into three seasons. Each season includes:

Printed instructor materials with:

• Teaching schedule and guides
• Examples of student work
• Glossary of terms

One disc with:

• Video instructions and lectures
• PDF rubrics
• Student activities and assignments

Please note: You will need a computer system to access the files needed for this program.

This season builds the foundation by focusing on literary analysis and journalism. Concepts introduced include:

• Following a rubric
• Conflict, point of view, climax, protagonist, antagonist
• Paraphrase and summary
• Elements of the plot, mood and tone, setting, genre
• Headline, byline, dateline, inverted pyramid, lead
• Objectivity, bias, objective point of view

Season 2 contains two units: the Poetry Book Report and the Drama Book Report. These units introduce concepts including:

• Figurative language: alliteration, metaphor, hyperbole, simile, personification
• Terms: stanza, rhyme scheme, verse
• Types: sonnet, haiku, limerick
• Terms: dialogue, monologue, cast, props, staging, aside, blocking
• Genres: comedy, drama, farce, melodrama

Season 3 includes units on the essay, oral book report, and research paper. Concepts introduced include:

• Personal, literary, and SAT essays
• The DOs and DON’Ts of giving an oral presentation with slides
• How to write a research paper

Buy the Bundle

Get all three seasons in one convenient set. Order the bundle on store.demmelearning.com