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May 6, 2009.
Dear Fellow Writing Teacher, Homeschool Mom or Parent,
At first glance, I
wasn't sure about Janice Campbell's new book, Excellence in
Literature. But when I began reading the introduction and all the
material available for high school students to use in literature
studies, I was sold on the program.
Mrs. Campbell has done an excellent job of creating a college-prep
course that high school students can use independently. Let's face
it, by the time a student is in high school, teachers should not be
spoon-feeding them. Students should assume responsibility for
learning and use Excellence in Literature (EIL) as a guide for their
study routine. Not only is this my belief, this is Campbell's belief
as stated in the Overview.
In this guide, you will find a wide variety of helps for high
school literature. Let me share just a few:
Specific instructions
for each assignment
Suggested schedule to
follow for each piece of literature
References for
background & research of each work
Time management &
organization tips
Specific tips on how
to read a book (Fiction, Poetry, Tragedy, Comedy, Challenging
Literature)
Variety of writing
topics for each piece
Most of the work in this
course is done by the student. Parents & teachers come alongside to
guide and evaluate the student's writings and readings. That saves
moms & teachers a lot of time!
I wish there was a course like this when my children were in high
school. I would definitely had used it because it would make it very
easy for me to "teach" literature in high school.
Since the parent/teacher is not actively teaching, the student is
responsible for "learning" or discovering what each literature piece
is all about.
To summarize,
students will:
Study the book,
following the scheduled assignments
Ask their mentor when
they don't understand
Actively seek to learn
from each assignment
Complete each
assignment
Make no excuses! (I
really like this one)
Enjoy Fine Literature
(Of course, I love this!)
Overall, Excellence in
Literature is a superb guide for high school students to use with
their mentor/parent/teacher. It encourages responsibility of the
student as he studies & enjoys literature.
If you are following the
Leadership Education/Thomas Jefferson Education model, Excellence in
Literature is a perfect complement for the Scholar stage. Janice
provides just enough guidelines for students to get started, but
leaves it open-ended enough to allow students to learn on their own.
One particular section I think is pertinent to Scholar phase
students is the section on discerning worldviews in literature. This
helps your Scholar student understand what the worldview of that
time period is so he can better study the piece of literature at
hand.
If you are following a Classical model of education, you will find
literature that is truly classic. Your students will use their
independent learning skills to enjoy and study great works of
literature. As they read these pieces, they should grown in their
love of learning.
I believe Charlotte Mason would endorse this guide, too. Ms. Mason
wholeheartedly believed in literature based education. EIL uses
literature that are truly "living books". This literature provides
opportunities to discuss lessons that pertain to our lives today.
Thus, making them living books you will want to read & discuss with
your children.
Because of the nature of the literature, Excellence in Literature is best for 10th-12th graders, whereas Windows is ideal as a freshman Intro to Literature class. EIL has very little direct teacher instruction in the book. Instead, Janice Campbell provides a wealth of internet articles for the student to read about the topic, plus writing assignments. One of the exciting things in the book is a detailed explanation (with examples) of how to write various literary analysis papers. I think she does a very fine job explaining how to go about writing these. Unlike Windows, EIL is more of a student-directed course, with very little teacher involvement required. Windows has extensive instruction for the teacher as well as extensive instruction for the student. If you've not done either, I'd start with Windows and then move to EIL.
~P. White~
IEW Accomplished Instructor
*Windows to the World is recommended before Excellence in Literature.
For each unit, Mrs. Campbell shares the edition of the text she
recommends, as well as additional texts you may use for honor
students. The background information she provides includes the
literary period, a unit focus, an introduction (short), something to
think about, and something to be sure to notice. Context resources
cover the readings itself, the author's life, and poetry/poets of
that time period. Enrichment resources include music, audio books,
videos, visual arts, historical context, places to go, and just for
fun.
Finally, your student has the assignment schedule for that unit. The
schedule is divided by weeks and includes reading & writing
assignments. As the parent or teacher, you should check the progress
of your students each week and guide them through their writing
projects.
As a bonus, you will receive some fantastic extras in the
back of this book.
An Honors Program
is outlined for those families who want to go over & above
this college-prep course.
Formats & Models
provides sample formats for the different writing projects
assigned throughout the year. Not only will you have an outline or
model of what your student should consider for each paper, you
will receive samples (or models) of each type of writing.
Excellence in
Literature Evaluation Rubric gives the mentor a specific
checklist to use in evaluating the student's writing. If you use
IEW now, you can use the additional Evaluation Rubric for IEW
students.
Student Evaluation
Summary is a chart you can use throughout the year to record
progress. It specifically records the mentor's evaluation of
writing projects.
The Glossary
defines terms for the students as they study Literature.
Selected Resources
are additional resources the mentor or student may want to use in
their study of British literature.
Overall, Excellence in
Literature is a superb guide for high school students to use with
their mentor/parent/teacher. It encourages responsibility of the
student as he studies & enjoys literature.
If there is a weakness in this program, it would be the idea of not
encouraging the mentor to read & discuss the literature pieces with
their student. This is easily overcome because Janice gives some
great "things to consider" and ideas to think critically about in
the writing assignments. I would encourage mentors to use the ideas
in each unit as a basis for verbal discussion. If your students
struggle with the writing assignment, be sure to verbally discuss
the assignment so they can get ideas out of their head.
