Adding Writing Into Our Curriculum: A Review of Daily 6-Trait Writing Grade 3

 

I received a COMPLIMENTARY copy of this book from Timberdoodle in exchange for my honest opinion. I was not required to write a positive review, nor was I compensated in any other way. This post contains affiliate links. Please see my Terms of Use and Disclosure Policy page for more information. Thank you.

While many of the subjects our third-grader has been studying include some writing, nothing focused on it specifically. So, I wanted to add writing to our curriculum, and with the opportunity to review Daily 6-Trait Writing Grade 3, it was the perfect time.

About the Workbook 

The workbook is designed to be used in a classroom setting. The lesson plan information is located at the beginning of each week for the teacher. Because of the way the book is set up, two of the four days of worksheets has the teacher's lesson plans located on them. So, you will need to decide – how will you share the work with your child(ren)? I photocopied side one and four for our daughter and then pulled out day two and three of the workbook.

Each week has a similar set up. Monday introduces the idea or concept, children practice it with short passages and questions on Tuesday and Wednesday, brainstorm ideas on Thursday, and then write on Friday. 

The book has 5 units: 

• Ideas
• Organization 
• Word Choice
• Sentence Fluency 
• Voice 
• Conventions 

And each unit has five weeks of lessons. These lessons are geared towards being taught with more than one child. For example, opportunities are given for students to work together and for you to collect ideas from a classroom of children. I found some of this put pressure on our daughter. She wasn't always willing or able to answer every question in the teacher lesson plans, so I had to adapt lessons quite a lot. 

Our Thoughts 

I really like the idea of Daily 6-Trait Writing Grade 3 as it provides short assignments focused on key topics that will help your child become a better writer. Mixed in are short grammar lessons, such as the discussion of commas when teaching about organization. These two topics fit hand-in-hand. 

With each week following a similar teaching pattern, children who thrive on consistency will do well. Knowing what to expect is important for children, and this workbook sets them up for success. However, if they find one or more activity difficult, they may dread those days. Our daughter was not fond of writing when we started out, so Fridays were not a fun day for her. I ended up staggering when I would start each week, so that the activities did not always fall on the same days. In other words, weeks would start on a Wednesday or Thursday, and then we would pick up again on Monday.

As a former teacher, I really wanted to like using Daily 6-Trait Writing Grade 3 in our homeschool. Unfortunately, I am finding out that the longer we homeschool, the more books designed for the classroom don't work for our family. With teaching only two children who don't happen to be on the same level for writing, it was difficult to make this resource work in our curriculum.

This is a good resource if you are teaching multiple children out of one workbook. With reproducible student pages and the opportunity for lots of class discussion, this will really help you add writing into your curriculum. There is an assessment rubric, so if you are unsure as to how to grade or evaluate your child(ren)'s work, you can do so easily. The tools are there to help teachers (and parents). 

One of the features I really like is something quite simple. At the end of the book there is a page of proofreading marks. I really like that the common proofreading marks are all listed on page. We'll be copying that and keeping that in the front of our language arts notebook for easy reference! 

Other Things to Know When Adding Writing Into Your Curriculum 

Daily 6-Trait Writing Grade 3 is published by Evan-Moor®. Permission is given to photocopy the pages in the book for single-classroom use. Correlations are available online for the current standards. So if you are interested in adhering to national standards, you have that information at your fingertips. 

There is a handy "How to Use This Book" guide in the beginning. This explains the teacher overview pages, the student activity pages, and ways to use the book. You can teach the lessons trait by trait or just pull out the lessons for the topics where your child(ren) need help and extra support. 

More Curriculum Choices 

Are you looking for more for your homeschool? Check out my other posts featuring Timberdoodle products. 

• Dice, Decks, and Boards: Penguins Huddle Up™ Game
• Including Geography in Your Homeschool: A Review of Skill Sharpeners Geography - Grade 2
• Supplementing Fifth Grade with a Geography Workbook

Printables for your Homeschool Classroom

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew.

Resources that help us review, refresh, and expand upon our homeschooling subjects are wonderful additions to our homeschool classroom. We have been blessed with a one-year membership to Super Teacher Worksheets, which has a variety of printables for elementary students. Since it is the summertime, we are mostly using the printables to help review and expand right now, but I have plans to use several of their grade-level-specific resources during the entire year.

What are Super Teacher Worksheets? 

Super Teacher Worksheets is an online site that provides its members with over 20,000 printable PDF resources for children in Kindergarten through 5th grade. You can download as many worksheets as you need during your one-year membership. These 20,000+ printables are distributed among the following subject areas: 

• Mathematics 
• Reading
• Writing
• Phonics
• Spelling 
• Social Studies 
• Science 
• Holidays/Seasonal Activities 

And if you can't find the worksheet you are looking for...check back or create your own! 

Super Teacher Worksheets adds new resources on a regular basis, so don't forget to check back often during your membership. While many of their worksheets are Common Core-aligned, I haven't found that to make much of a difference other than the information is available for those who want it. 

If you want to make your own worksheets based on your curriculum, you can use their worksheet generator. I decided to create a crossword puzzle for our Roman history lesson to help our son remember the facts to know and the vocabulary from his first lesson. 

And many of their printables are also available with Spanish translations. 

Using Printables from Super Teacher Worksheets 

One of the first things I did when my membership to Super Teacher Worksheets was renewed was to check out the seasonal printables. I love finding mathematic sheets that will help reinforce our current studies that are themed. And Super Teacher Worksheets sometimes has coloring pages or crafts that we can do with our children. 

After I perused the Holiday printables, I began looking for worksheets that would help our children in areas where they were currently struggling. One of the topics in mathematics that our son needs help with is angles, so I found the various printables relating to identifying and measuring angles and printed those out for us to work on together. 

I decided to focus on grammar and spelling with our first grader in addition to the coloring sheets I printed for her. I found the Fix the Sentences collection for grades 1 through 4, where children correct the mistakes on the printable PDF worksheets. While we are using them daily, you could also use them all together rather than over the course of the week. I really like that there are different levels, so we can progress through them if our daughter is successful at the first grade level. 

Our Thoughts on the Printables from Super Teacher Worksheets 

One of the great features of Super Teacher Worksheets is that you have access to all the levels of worksheets at one time. You do not need to sign up for a specific grade level. So if your third-grade child is a wiz at mathematics but needs more help spelling, you could pick fourth grade math worksheets but second grade spelling worksheets. 

The worksheet generator was quite easy to use. I only needed to put in the names and facts to create our crossword puzzle. I also discovered they have a generator for classroom newsletters. This would be a neat thing to use with your homeschooled children, so they can create a newsletter for family and friends. I also like that I create as many math worksheets as I need so our children can practice addition, subtraction, and multiplication. You can make division worksheets, too. We just haven't reached that point yet in our curriculum.

Another neat feature that I didn't really use was the filing cabinet. You can create folders to save your favorite worksheets, and the worksheets you generate and save will be housed in your filing cabinet. I think this is a great feature if you travel and need your favorite worksheets accessible on different computers. 

While we have only been using Super Teacher Worksheets to supplement our current studies, there are some subjects where you could easily put together a semester or full-year curriculum from the printables on their site. I feel the most intuitive ones to use for a full-year curriculum would be spelling, reading comprehension, and perhaps science if you worked your way through the available printables.

I would recommend Super Teacher Worksheets to homeschooling families who are looking to supplement their curriculum. The printables make it very easy to help your children succeed in areas where they may be struggling. Review, refresh, and reinforce important skills with Super Teacher Worksheets.  

Please be sure to visit the Homeschool Review Crew to see how the other members of the Crew have used Super Teacher Worksheets in their homeschool classroom. 

Book Club: The Door in the Dragon's Throat

This post contains affiliate links. For more information, please see my Terms of Use and Disclosure Policy page. Thank you.

Our younger son loves to read! When asked to pick out potential gifts, he circled quite a number of books which made us quite happy. While I love gifting him things like Lego, reading is one hobby that I really want to foster in our son. My husband enjoys books by Frank E. Peretti, so we selected the first in The Cooper Kids Adventures series for him – The Door in the Dragon's Throat. It is a fast-paced Christian adventure book for pre-teens and teens. 

The Story 

"A mystery as old as the desert sands..." 

The Door in the Dragon's Throat starts with a conversation between President Al-Dallam and Gozan discussing the arrival of the archaeologist, Dr. Jake Cooper, his two children, and his small team. Dr. Cooper is there to uncover the truth behind an ancient legend involving a mysterious door hidden in a dark cavern called the Dragon's Throat. 

Danger quickly rears its ugly head in the eyes of a cobra and then a rumbling of the earth a short time later. Dr. Jake Cooper's children, Jay and Lila, explore the mysteries right alongside their father as they take faith in the knowledge that God will protect them. 

Including The Door in the Dragon's Throat Into Your Homeschool Day 

This book offers so many ways you can incorporate it into your homeschool day. From vocabulary to literature lessons, you can also spend time learning about earthquakes, characterization, and the Bible. What activities will you fit into your homeschool lessons? 

Vocabulary 

Define the following words with your homeschooler: 

• Primitive 
• Rampant
• Magnificent
• Conveyances
• Seismometer 
• Observant 
• Surrender
• Undulating 
• Discernible  
• Passageways 
• Reversible 
• Perilous  
• Expedition 
• Inscription 

Study History 

While reading The Door in the Dragon's Throat, there are a number of geographical places for your child to study. You can research the ancient civilizations of Babylon and Chaldea, as well as study Nimrod. In addition to studying the civilizations, your child can label a map of the Middle East from the past as well as today.

Science 

During the course of the novel, there are a few natural occurrences and locations that you can study with your child. For example, earthquakes play a prominent role in the story. Dr. Cooper and this team bring a Geiger counter to take measurements and they do a visual check for any geophysical indications, cracks, or fissures that the area was different or unsafe. 

What about the animals that show up in the book? Take the time to study cobras, scorpions, and vipers. 

Cobras 

• Venomous snake 
• Lives 20 to 30 years 
• Lays 12 to 60 eggs, depending on the specific breed of cobra 
• Cobras live in Africa and Asia

Scorpions 

• A variety of species lives in Africa 
• Member of the arachnid class 

Vipers 

• A variety of vipers lives in Africa, including the largest one – the Gaboon viper 
• Most vipers eat small to medium-sized animals 

Language Arts Lessons 

There are many wonderful characters in The Door in the Dragon's Throat. There are a number of activities your child can do to help them describe the characters in Peretti's book. They can create trading cards, a photo album, and more to demonstrate what they know about the characters. 

Characters include: 

• Jay Cooper 
• Lila Cooper
• Dr. Jake Cooper 
• The Shaman of the Desert 
• Gozan 
• President Al-Dellam 
• Jeff 
• Bill 
• Tom 

Questions to Discuss 

1. How would you retell the Gospel to someone who has not heard it before and who has no background knowledge of the Bible? 
2. What Bible verses would you read or recite to calm your fears? 
3. How is the Door described? 
4. What was the scariest moment in the story for you? 

Books give us the opportunity to learn more about the world around us. They can be wonderful forms of entertainment and education. Our children can enjoy mysteries, adventure stories, and nonfiction. We only have to find out what they like and the world can be open to them through books. If you are looking for more exciting books for your pre-teen and teen, read my review of Britfield & The Lost Crown. 

Building Spelling Confidence: A Review of Spelling You See - Level D

I received Spelling You See - Level D at a 50% discount from Timberdoodle in exchange for my honest opinion. I was not required to write a positive review, nor was I compensated in any other way. This post contains affiliate links. For more information, please see my Terms of Use and Disclosure Policy page. Thank you.

We have tried a few different approaches to helping our younger son master spelling, from creating our own spelling lists using his current literature assignments or science units to picking words he is consistently spelling wrong in homeschool and outside homeschool assignments. Nothing seemed to be sticking with him. 

Over the summer, I researched several different options and looked at Spelling You See again. I had passed over the earlier levels because our son learned how to read and write at an early age. So even with the Readiness Guidelines that Spelling You See provides, I was unsure if I should start with levels A, B, or C. This year Level D seemed to be the perfect fit. We are studying American History. And Level D - Americana seemed to provide a challenge but also allow our son to build his spelling confidence.  

When Timberdoodle offered us the opportunity to purchase the Spelling You See - Level D curriculum at a 50% discount in exchange for a review, it seemed like the perfect time to try this spelling curriculum. And as it is part of the 2021 Third Grade Curriculum Kit at Timberdoodle, it also seemed like a great idea to pick this level for our son. 

What Is Spelling You See? 

Spelling You See takes a multi-sensory approach to teaching spelling through writing, reading, speaking, and listening. It was invited by Dr. Karen Holinga, a former teacher, to allow students to build confidence and develop spelling skills at their own pace. There are no spelling lists. Instead, there are reading passages with everyday words for your child to practice their spelling skills. 

What Is Part of the Curriculum from Timberdoodle? 

If you purchase Spelling You See - Level D, you will receive the following items: 

• Instructor's Handbook 
• Student Workbook, Part 1 
• Student Workbook, Part 2
• Colored Pencils 

Instructor's Handbook 

The slim 52-page Instructor's Handbook provides all the information you need to smoothly run the lessons with Spelling You See. In it, you can read about the philosophy behind Spelling You See, the five developmental stages of spelling, the sequence for Spelling You See, and general information about the level you purchased. 

After the general introduction, the Instructor's Handbook provides instructions for the lessons, which are grouped together based upon chunks: 

• Vowels 
• Consonants 
• Bossy r 
• Tricky y 
• Endings 
• Silent Letters 

The weekly activity guide is explained, which consists of guided reading, chunking, copywork, and two levels of dictation. The material needed for the dictation is printed separately from the answer key for the chunking. If you want to learn more, there is a glossary and bibliography, as well as access to online videos. 

Student Workbooks 

The lessons for your child are split into two workbooks – Part 1 and Part 2. Each part contains 18 lessons for a total of 36 lessons for your homeschool year. The pages are thick and colorful. Each of the paperback books has over 180 pages. Each daily lesson has two pages dedicated to it. The story is on the left-hand side, while the page for your child to write the passage is on the right. For those days when you are doing dictation, you merely cover the left-hand side.

Some of the stories included in Spelling You See - Level D are: 

• Pilgrims arriving in the New World 
• The story of Lewis and Clark 
• Information about the Liberty Bell 
• Explanation of Poor Richard's Almanac 
• The usefulness of the buffalo 
• The gift of the Statue of Liberty 
• Information about the American Civil War 
• Biographical information about Paul Revere, Abraham Lincoln, Daniel Boone, Martin Luther King, Jr., Johnny Appleseed, and more 

How We Use Spelling You See - Level D in Our Homeschool Day 

We work on completing our spelling assignments during the week. So, Monday through Friday, our son completes lessons A through E. If we miss a day, we sometimes complete it during the weekend even though the book does say if you don't finish, you may go ahead to the next set of lessons the next week. So if we didn't finish 9E, we could jump to 10A on Monday. I usually only skip one day of dictation as I feel it is important to practice spelling the words without seeing them at least once. 

Sometimes, we complete the spelling lessons first thing in our homeschool day, as our son likes to get it out of the way. Other times, I need to save it for the end of the homeschool day because he needs me to work through the lessons. But no matter what time we complete our spelling lessons, they have become an integral part of our homeschool day.

Day One starts with reading the story and working together to find all the chunks. These can be vowel chunks (aa, ae, ai, ea, oa, etc.), consonant chunks (ch, gh, wr, etc.), bossy r chunks (ar, er, etc.), or others. These are marked in different colors. The chunking provides hands-on experience with irregular letter patterns in English. After the chunking is completed, our son copies the story and chunks it again. 

Day Two and Three follow the same pattern. I usually help him less each day as our son looks for the chunks. He then copies the story again. The copywork should be timed to ten minutes. 

On the last two days of the week, we read the story, mark chunks, and then I dictate the story for our son to write down. On the first dictation day, I assist him with his spelling. I ask him if he is sure about a word or if he wants to try writing it differently to see if that spelling is correct. On the second day, I do not provide much assistance as he writes the story. 

What We Think 

I have mixed feelings about Spelling You See - Level D. I love the fact that it includes nonfiction stories about American history and culture. The tie-in to our history curriculum is terrific. The stories provide a way to not only focus on vocabulary but also to introduce new facts and review ideas with our son. 

I appreciate the philosophy – that children work through five stages of development and not focus upon memorization of spelling words. We tried that route, and it didn't seem to work for our son. As we are only nine weeks into Spelling You See, it is hard to see how much progress our son has made. There are some weeks where he corrects mistakes from dictation day 1 to the second dictation day, but then there are a few words he continues spelling wrong, like British. 

There is not a lot of prep work required on my part as a parent. I just need to review a few paragraphs for the lessons as we progress through the different chunking lessons. I also like that there is one Instructor's Guide but two Student Workbooks. It makes it easier to keep track of the materials. 

I asked our son his feelings about the curriculum, and here are his thoughts: 

Q. Is it difficult? Too easy? Too hard? 

A. It can get a little difficult once you are starting a new story or part. The first day can be hard as the new words are introduced. The dictation days are also hard. 

Q. Do you think it is helping you with your spelling? 

A. It may not be helping with spelling, but it is helping me find the chunks. (He is finding the vowel, consonant, and other chunks in his other homeschool assignments. Whether he realizes it or not, I think this is helping him with his spelling.)

Q. What is your favorite part about the curriculum? 

A. I like all the different colorful parts where I have to chunk more than one thing. I am looking forward to reading about Thanksgiving because it will remind me of the best food ever – turkey. 

Will we use Spelling You See - Level E next year? I am not sure yet. I don't think I have found anything I want to use instead of Spelling You See, but I think we need to evaluate the curriculum around the 30-week lesson with our son. Would I recommend Spelling You See - Level D? Yes, I would recommend it. I think it might be easier if you were able to start with the lower levels, but I think that our homeschool year will be enriched by the use of this curriculum. 

Looking for More Homeschool Resources from Timberdoodle? 

We've had the opportunity to review several materials from Timberdoodle, including a literature curriculum, fun games like Battle Sheep, and a unique puzzle. 

Building Reading Comprehension and Fluency Skills: A Review of Mosdos Press Literature - Opal

I received a copy of this curriculum from Timberdoodle for a 50% discount in exchange for my honest opinion. I was not required to write a positive review, nor was I compensated in any other way. This post contains affiliate links. For more information, please see my Terms of Use and Disclosure Policy page. Thank you.

For our younger son's third grade year, I did a lot of research into what type of language arts program or materials I wanted to use with him. I knew I did not want to piece together something myself from books we read together or use solely unit studies. These are both valid ways to improve reading comprehension and fluency skills, but I wanted something different for his third grade homeschool year.

I read and watched several reviews of Mosdos Press Literature before I made the decision that I wanted to try their Opal edition this year with our son. As part of the Timberdoodle Blog Team, I was fortunate enough to receive a 50% discount in exchange for my honest review of these language arts materials. 

Description of Product 

• 2 Teacher's Editions – spiralbound
• 2 Student Textbooks – hardcover
• 1 Student Activity Workbook – softcover

Teacher's Editions 

While the Teacher's Edition has a classroom feel to it – describing the steps the manual takes to help you teach the same thing next year – and discusses possible classroom activities, a homeschooling family can easily adapt the lessons. I really appreciate that it is also homeschool-friendly, too. 

The Teacher's Edition has 12 parts: 

• Scope and Sequence 
• Lessons in Literature 
• Reviewing Vocabulary 
• Getting Started 
• Selection Summary 
• Blueprint for Reading 
• Guiding the Reading 
• Literacy Components 
• Tie-In Poems 
• Studying the Selection 
• Jill's Journal 
• Teacher's Answer Guide for the Workbook Activities 

The lessons are split between six units which are organized between the two Teacher's Editions and the Student Textbooks. The Student Activity Workbook is used for both units. Your student only has to flip the book over the second unit. 

• Unit One: All About the Story! 
• Unit Two: All About the Plot! 
• Unit Three: All About the Characters! 
• Unit Four: All About Setting! 
• Unit Five: All About Theme! 
• Unit Six: The Grand Finale! 

My Thoughts on the Teacher's Edition 

We are about halfway through Unit One after using the language arts curriculum for several weeks. I am finding it very easy to prepare for each reading selection. The largest amount of prep time on my part is reading the selection summary, getting started portion, and the eyes on focus each week. After this initial prep, I can easily assist our son as he completes vocabulary exercises in his workbook, answers the literal and analytical guided reading questions, and answers the closing questions in his notebook. 

I love the fact that the Student Textbook is part of the Teacher's Edition. I am easily able to point out key details in his text without having to look over our son's shoulder. The quality of the paper of the Teacher's Edition is thick, which reinforces the idea that these books are meant to last for a classroom teacher or a homeschooling teacher using them through the years to teach reading comprehension and fluency skills. 

A key component to the Teacher's Edition that helps me ensure that our son understands and comprehends what he has read is the Guiding the Reading questions. For each reading selection, there is a series of questions on each page that check for understanding. Questions might ask for a specific detail such as "What did the plane have to fly over in order to reach America?" Other questions require our son to think deeper about the story and sometimes make predictions when asked, "Can you guess where the ship was headed?" 

Previewing the material for the next reading selection

Student Textbooks 

Our Student Textbooks have that wonderful new book smell! The pages are colorful, and the text is easy to read. Each unit follows a similar setup, so children who enjoy consistency will find the textbooks easy to navigate and use while working on reading comprehension and fluency skills. 

With the Lesson in Literature, our son has learned about the elements of a story, plot, characters, and setting so far as he reads his textbook. This is done using short selections and key questions. Next comes the Blueprint for Reading in his book and a description of the focus of the reading selection. For example, in A Cane in Her Hand, the focus was on characters. We talked about the main character of the story, Valerie, and how she felt and reacted to events in her life. After the reading selection closes, there is a brief description of the author. This is followed by a prose piece before the final set of questions on the reading selection in the textbook. 

Just like the Teacher's Edition, the Student Textbook is divided into two parts with the Sunflower book having units 1 to 3 and the Daisy book having units 4 to 6. I found having the material split between two textbooks is helpful because the book is more manageable for our son to carry around and read away from the dining room table. 

Reviewing setting

I really like that the selections chosen are varied. We have read and will read works of literature that include: 

• The tale of a Pueblo Indian girl 
• The story of two young boys in Mexico 
• A story of a young blind girl 
• A Goldrush story 
• A tale about a young Korean girl who moves to America 
• A story taking place during the American Revolution 
• A story taking place on the journey of the Mayflower 
• Children searching for frogs 
• And more! 

Student Activity Workbook 

The Mosdos Literature Opal Student Activity Workbook is two-sided. For 99 pages, our son will use the Sunflower side and then flip it for the remaining 97 pages to use the Daisy side. While I like having the two textbooks, I am glad that the workbook is combined into one book. 

Just like the other two books, the Student Activity Workbook has thick pages which allow for erasures of mistakes without tearing the page. The pages are primarily green (Sunflower side) or blue (Daisy side) with some color illustrations scattered throughout. There is a glossary of vocabulary words at the end which I recently discovered. I can't wait to point that out to our son! This will help as he works on his reading fluency and learns new vocabulary with each reading selection.

Each story selection has several worksheets associated with it, including: 

• Two vocabulary activities 
• More About the Story 
• Language Arts Activity 
• Graphic Organizer 

Another helpful part of the workbook is the reference to the accompanying textbook page at the bottom of the workbook page. If our son has difficulty with a question, he can easily look back in his textbook for an answer or idea. Being able to go back to the textbook helps provide a way for our son to check how accurately he understands the story. 

Our Son's Thoughts 

When asking our son his thoughts, here is what he shared: "It helps me learn words I do not know yet." (Can you tell we were discussing vocabulary words today?) 

His favorite story so far is A Cane in Her Hand. He liked the story of Valerie. He really likes the ending, "Seeing with your eyes is important, but it isn't everything." He quoted that to me without the use of the book. 

He enjoyed completing one page in particular in the Student Activity Workbook: A Conversation. In this activity, he needed to fill in the missing parts of the conversation that was happening at a support group for the visually impaired. Valerie was a new member of that group and he needed to write down two things she would say in response to the other members. For example, when he had to write what Valerie would share as an introduction he wrote, "Well, when I got up, I couldn't find my new clothes. Everything was coming out of a dark fog." 

And, finally, when I asked him to flip through his Sunflower Textbook to look for what story he was excited about reading next, he picked the one we will start this week – Boom Town. It was either the bright colors of the illustrations that got his attention or the apple pie. Or maybe the fact that a lot of the vocabulary are words that we could relate back to Minecraft. For whatever reason, he can't wait to start reading it. 

In Conclusion 

While the main focus of this curriculum is building reading comprehension, fluency skills, vocabulary, and more skills connected to the language arts, there are also a number of unique assignments included with each reading selection that go beyond just reading and writing. For example, in the first selection, The Jar of Tassai, one of the two final questions said to "find an empty jar. Clean it well and decorate it. Fill it with something you like, such as candy or small pieces of a game." Another Creating and Writing question asks students to design an ad for a business that would have been in existence during the Gold Rush. Our son appreciates the opportunity to go beyond reading and writing to do something he considers fun and not like homeschool work at all. 

I know our son enjoys reading, but sometimes when asked to share about the book he is reading, he would not remember or be able to retell the story. I strongly feel that by working through the activities presented in the Opal edition, our son will build his ability to comprehend and remember what he has read. The fact that he can quote some of the stories already demonstrates that he remembers what he has read. 

I could very easily see our family using this same curriculum in a few short years for our daughter. The story selections are interesting, the questions posed are ones that develop critical thinking skills and reading comprehension, and they are attractive materials to use. As Timberdoodle provides you with the option to purchase the entire set - like we did - or just the parts you need, we could pick up the Student Activity Workbook for our daughter and reuse the Teacher's Edition and the Textbook. Being able to reuse materials is always a blessing for larger homeschool families. 

I would recommend Mosdos Press Literature Opal to families who are homeschooling third graders. I feel it has been a perfect fit so far for our son. I look forward to continuing to use it the rest of our homeschool year. 

Interested in more products from Timberdoodle? Check out these posts: 

• Puzzles in Our Homeschool
• Building Critical Thinking Skills with Games
• Using Classics to Teach About God: A Review of Little Pilgrim's Big Journey

A Brief Journey through the Quotes of Shakespeare's Hamlet

During high school, we read at least one play by William Shakespeare every year (in my own freshman year, we read two: Romeo & Juliet and Merchant of Venice). In our teen's sophomore year, we read Julius Caesar with him using Shakespeare's Tragedies from Hewitt Homeschooling Resources to facilitate our lessons. Last year, we did not read any Shakespeare, sadly, but this year, he read Macbeth using the British Literature course from SchoolhouseTeachers.com. I also hope to include Hamlet if we have time before he graduates. 

Hamlet has been a favorite of mine for a number of years. Even though I am unsure if we will get to read it, I do hope to be able to share at least one theatrical version of the play with our son. As I was looking through my books (so I can share my copy of Macbeth with him), I stumbled upon my well-worn copy of Hamlet and found some favorite quotes to share. 

"To thine own self be true." 

Act I, Scene III 

"That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain." 

Act I, Scene IV 

"More matter, with less art." 

Act II, Scene II 

"Suit the action to the word, the word to the action." 

Act III, Scene II 

"A man may fish with the worm that hath eat of a king, and eat of the fish that hath fed of that worm." 

Act IV, Scene III 

Interested in more Shakespeare quotes? Check out these other posts from A Mom's Quest to Teach. 

A Brief Journey through the Quotes of Shakespeare's Macbeth

This post contains affiliate links. For more information, please see my Terms of Use and Disclosure Policy page. Thank you.

During our oldest son's sophomore year of homeschooled high school, he read William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. We had the chance to review Shakespeare's Tragedies from Hewitt Homeschooling Resources. This resource examines four tragedies of Shakespeare and several sonnets: 

• Julius Caesar
• Hamlet
• Macbeth
• King Lear 
• and several sonnets (5, 6, 18, 29, 30, 65, 73, and 97)

We read Julius Caesar using this paperback book as our resource for questions and lessons. Originally, I had planned on asking our son to read Hamlet during his junior year, but we spent the year reading works by Tolkien using a wonderful course at SchoolhouseTeachers.com. I do hope to read Hamlet with him this year, but he has already read Macbeth as part of his British Literature course. 

A good place to start prior to reading Shakespeare is with the famous quotes from the plays and references in other works of entertainment. From the witches trying to bring about confusion to order finally being restored at the end of the play when English customs are introduced with the crowning of Malcolm, there are many famous quotes and memorable lines from Shakespeare's Macbeth.   

"Fair is foul, and foul is fair.

Hover through the fog and filthy air." 

All the witches from Act I Scene I 

"This supernatural soliciting, 

Cannot be ill, cannot be good" 

Macbeth from Act I Scene III

"If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere well

It were done quickly." 

Macbeth from Act I Scene VII

"What's done is done." 

Lady Macbeth from Act III Scene II 

"Out, damned spot! Out, I say!" 

Lady Macbeth from Act V Scene I 

"Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player

That struts and frets his hour upon the stage

And then is heard no more. It is a tale

Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, 

Signifying nothing." 

Macbeth from Act V Scene V 

Do you have a favorite Shakespeare play? 

Homeschooling Resources: Language Arts

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Reading comes naturally to some individuals. Some parents struggle with getting their kids to go to sleep because their children are too busy reading books late into the night. Other children might struggle with learning but eventually grow to enjoy it. And don't forget those children who don't seem to like reading no matter what the subject material.

Our three children represent the spectrum of readers. Our younger son loves to read and was reading the letters and words printed on our clothing at early age while our (even younger) daughter took a while to learn to read but now quite happily sits down with a book. Our oldest was a fan of books when he was much younger but really does not enjoy to read as much as my husband and I do.

So how can you help your children become better readers? How do you help them master different language arts skills? There are so many options from online sites that provide fun games like Reading Eggs to offline unit studies that focus on one specific author like William Shakespeare. And don't forget to provide your children with good literature like the Boxcar Children series, Britfield & The Lost Crown, The Chronicles of Narnia, and J.R.R. Tolkien's works.

Reading Curriculum and Language Arts Courses 

One of the resources we were able to review was StoryTime Treasures and More StoryTime Treasures from Memoria Press. Memoria Press follows a classical approach to education. The children's books used with StoryTime Treasures are children's classics. While reading the stories, children will use workbooks that provide vocabulary exercises and an introduction to grammar and punctuation and will also practice critically thinking about stories. We were able to read a number of fun and interesting children's storybooks while teaching key concepts in the language arts.

Another fantastic source that we have used with our teen son is the wide selection of language arts courses at SchoolhouseTeachers.com. He has taken American Literature in Historical Context and Christian Values in J.R.R. Tolkien. In the first course, he read a variety of work written by Americans and studied it in relation to events in American history. For example, he read:

• Poems by Anne Bradstreet 
• Writings from George Whitefield 
• The Scarlet Letter
• Little Women
• And more! 

While studying J.R.R. Tolkien, he read through The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings series, and The Silmarillion. In addition to answering questions that required him to reflect upon the stories, he also wrote several papers for the course. 

Unit Studies and More

If you prefer to use unit studies in your homeschool, there are also many great options. You can find several unit studies at SchoolhouseTeachers.com that allow you to read entire works, read selections that include poetry, or focus upon reading comprehension and writing skills.

Another great resource for language arts unit studies is Progeny Press. They offer unit studies on a numerous selection of books that could suit the needs of kindergarten through twelfth grade. In the past, we have reviewed several of the study guides including:

• Perelandra by C.S. Lewis 
• The Long Way to a New Land by Joan Sandin 
• A New Coat of Anna by Harriet Ziefert 

All of the study guides from Progeny Press incorporate vocabulary activities, critical thinking, and additional activities where children can be creative. For example, one could bake a cake, create a bookmark, or draw a scene from the book. One other aspect of these language arts studies guides that I like is that they ask children to reflect upon various Bible quotes and relate them to the book they are reading. 

Reading Good Books 

As someone who loves to read, I can't finish this post without mentioning some of the books that our children have enjoyed reading while homeschooling. If you have been reading A Mom's Quest to Teach for any length of time, you have probably seen at least a few book reviews that I have shared so you might know what types of books I enjoy. But what about our children?

Even our teen, who is not a huge reader, really enjoyed Britfield & The Lost Crown. In fact, just a few weeks ago he picked up the book so he could see when the next one in the series is supposed to be released. This is a tremendous compliment from him.

Both our younger children enjoy the Who Was Series of books which we were first introduced to on a trip to the library. They also have a huge collection of Minecraft themed books and Joke books that they seem to read on a daily basis. This is in addition to the large collection of children's picture books that we often read together. Personally, I love books by Leo Lionni and Jan Brett.

What are your favorite books for children or teens?