.s:
I would like to share Homeschool Resource Languages: Arts resources with you.. The first resources are for Grammaropolis and the second resource I would like to share with you is called LitCharts. I haven’t used either of these resources.
I plan on trying both of them out in our classroom this week. Charlie has said, he is tired of the workbooks we use. So if I can find something that will capture his attention and let me do the things I need to do, then you can bet I’m checking into it as soon as possible.
Grammaropolis is an online curriculum for teaching parts of speech to children in grades 1-7 using animated characters starring in books, songs, videos, and interactive games and quizzes. Who says grammar can’t be fun?
I’vebeen telling Charlie we need to start writing Research Papers, so Charlie knows the correct way a research paper should look and what it should cover.
LitCharts, Charlie and I will be using this website in our reports.
Recommended Website:
Age Range: 11-18 (Grades 6-12, with parental supervision)
LitCharts offers free literature guides to help students analyze novels and plays.
LitCharts are similar to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes except the summary and analysis sections are side-by-side, making them easier to use, and created by the original editors of SparkNotes. They are shorter than conventional guides but haven’t sacrificed detail for brevity.
These literature guides provide students with everything needed to understand better what they read, ace any tests and quizzes, and write analysis papers.
When you get to the site, you’ll see a menu of literature titles that include:
- Animal Farm by George Orwell
- Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
- The Catcher In the Rye by J.D. Salinger
- The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
- Hamlet by Shakespeare
- Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
- Lord of the Flies by William Golding
- Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
- To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
You can view the guides online for free by clicking a title. A new page opens with the complete literature guide that includes:
-
- Context
- Plot Summary
- Detailed Summary and Analysis
- Themes
- Quotes
- Characters
- Symbols
- Theme Wheel
The book Charlie picked out to write his first report on is The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Study Guide, and we will be purchasing a copy of the book from Amazon. Then searching for other resources to use in our studies as I bet you there is a lot out there if we take the time to look for them.
Tom Sawyer lives with his Aunt Polly and his half-brother Sid. He skips school to swim and is made to whitewash the fence the next day as punishment. He cleverly persuades his friends to trade him small treasures for the privilege of doing his work. Tom falls in love with Becky Thatcher, a new girl in town, and persuades her to get “engaged” by kissing him. But their romance collapses when she learns Tom has been “engaged” previously to Amy Lawrence. Shortly after Becky shuns him, he accompanies Huckleberry Finn to the graveyard at night. They witness a trio of body snatchers, Dr. Robinson, Muff Potter, and Injun Joe, getting into a fight in which Robinson murdered by Injun Joe and Joe pins the murder on Muff Potter, but the boys know he is innocent.
At Potters trial, Tom speaks out, and Joe escapes through a window before he can be apprehended. Henceforth the boys live in constant fear of Joe’s revenge on them for incriminating him. Bored by school, Tom, his best friend Joe Harper and Huck run away to an island in the Mississippi called Jackson’s Island. While enjoying their new-found freedom, they become aware that the community is sounding the river for their bodies. Tom sneaks back home one night to observe the commotion.
After a brief moment of remorse at his loved ones’ suffering, struck by the idea of appearing at his funeral. They later carried out this scheme by making a sudden appearance in the church in the middle of their joint funeral service. Back in school, Tom gets himself back in Becky’s favor after he nobly accepts the blame for a book she has ripped. Summer arrives, and Tom and Huck go hunting for buried treasure in a haunted house. After venturing upstairs, they hear a noise below.
Peering through holes in the floor, they see Injun Joe disguised as a deaf-mute Spaniard; Injun Joe and his companion plan to bury some stolen treasure of their own. From their hiding spot, Tom and Huck wriggle with delight at the prospect of digging it up. The villains discover an even greater hoard and carry it all off to a better secret hiding place. The boys are determined to find where it has gone. One night Huck spots them and follows them. He overhears their plans to attack the Widow Douglas. By running to fetch help, Huck prevents the crime and becomes an anonymous hero. In the meantime, Tom goes on a picnic to McDougal’s Cave with Becky and their classmates. Tom and Becky get separated from the others and wander the extensive cave complex for the next few days. Becky gets extremely dehydrated and starved, so Tom’s search for a way out gets even more determined. He accidentally encounters Injun Joe one day and isn’t seen by his nemesis.
Eventually, he finds a way out, and they are joyfully welcomed back by their community. As a preventive measure, Judge Thatcher has McDougal’s Cave sealed off, but this traps Injun Joe inside. When Tom hears of the sealing several days later he directs a posse to the cave; they find Injun Joe’s corpse just inside the sealed entrance, starved to death. A week later, having deduced from Injun Joe’s presence at McDougal’s Cave that the villain must have hidden the stolen gold inside, Tom takes Huck to the cave, and they find the box of gold, the proceeds of which invested for them. The Widow Douglas adopts Huck, and when he attempts to escape civilized life, Tom tricks him into thinking that he can join Tom’s robber band if he returns to the widow. Reluctantly, he agrees and goes back to her.
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie, and David Cates
