While there is a decided emphasis in Lightning Literature on enjoying and understanding the literature, the program is also decidedly comprehensive in its grammar and usage coverage and just plain expectant in its composition assignments. A Teacher Guide, a Student Workbook, and lots of classic (along with some contemporary) children's literature are the components for the program. Believing students are more capable of understanding greater depth and nuance in story and character at this level, the author has chosen books that address more serious subjects such as war, bigotry, and the Holocaust. Along parental discussion about these tumultuous times, students are encouraged to look for signs of hope within the readings. Grammar and mechanics are reviewed. Composition assignments vary and cover a variety of styles including creative writing, essays (persuasive, explanatory, opinion for example), research papers, poems, etc.
Students read eight modern and classic books from different genres, including historical fiction and non-fiction. Literature titles can be purchased in a package or individually. They may also be available from your library. Four poetry units are included in the workbook citing authors such as Melville, Longfellow, Tennyson, Poe, Frost, Dickenson, Kipling, Bronte, Yeats, and Whitman.
Literature selections for Grade 6 include: Wonderful Wizard of Oz, The Wednesday Wars, Pax, Long Walk to Water, Yellow Star, Roll of Thunder; Hear My Cry, and The Wind in the Willows. Poetry selections are included in the Student Workbook.
The Teacher Guide is the heart of the program and is necessary. It's here that the general flavor of the program is most obvious including its orientation toward teacher-student interaction rather than independent student work. Detailed daily instructions are written in first person to the parent/teacher. The flexibility built into the program is reiterated often with examples of how to adapt the teaching instructions for students who are sluggish or need extra challenge. Weekly schedules have a basic structure. Each day includes literature study, grammar/mechanics study, and work on the weekly composition assignment. All workbook answers are provided in the Teacher Guide
The Student Workbook includes some instructional material but are essentially consumable worktexts. Most of the grammar exercises are included here along with space to write thoughts about the reading selection (i.e. Reading Journal Pages: What this Story is About, What I Think of this Story, and My Favorite Sentence). The books are colorful and appealing. Literature Only Packages include all the literature selections needed for the course. The Grade 6 Full Year Package includes all the literature plus the Teacher Guide and Student Workbook.
