Lightning Literature Middle School

Lightning Literature for the 7^th and 8^th grades has experienced a transition. Needs vary at this age. Some students need formal grammar and spelling reinforced before moving on to composition. Others are solid in these skills and can write freely and confidently, expressing their thoughts and opinions about what they have read. Here lies the issue – how do you treat all 7^th and all 8^th graders one way and do them justice?

The author, Elizabeth Klamath, heard your feedback and responded with 2 new levels: Storm and Tempest. These can be used as grade 7 and 8 ELA courses, or they can be used by a freshman in high school who needs a different pace. There is some flexibility here.

Below is the information regarding the former Lightning Literature grades 7 and 8. If you wish to see more about Level Storm and Level Tempest, click the links.

Regarding the Original versions of Grade 7 and Grade 8:

Lightning Literature's author, Elizabeth Klamath, wants students to enjoy reading. There is good variety in terms of genre in the reading selections. The lessons are effective vehicles for grade-level skills with thorough coverage of vocabulary, comprehension, literary elements, and writing instruction, along with grammar, usage, and mechanics. To give you an idea, in Chapter 6 of the 7th grade course, Helen Keller's autobiography, The Story of My Life, is covered. Lessons, in addition to the usual background, vocabulary, and comprehension, include these writing skills: lists about yourself, developing an idea, putting ideas into a paragraph, identifying resources, determining fact or opinion, identifying a biased viewpoint, and identifying sentences, plus a crossword puzzle, a word search, and an extra challenge exercise on autobiography and culture.

In each course, there are 36 weekly lessons grouped into chapters. There are eight chapters in Grade 7 and twelve in Grade 8, one for each of the major pieces of literature that are studied throughout the year. The chapters vary in length. For instance, in the 7th grade course, Chapter 5 is covered in two weeks, Chapter 6 in four weeks, Chapter 7 in two weeks, and Chapter 8 in nine weeks. There is a consistent pattern in the chapter contents, however: Introduction (to the literary work), While You Read (what to look for), Vocabulary List, Comprehension Questions, Literary Lesson, Mini-Lesson (writing lesson), and Writing Exercises.

There are 8-12 exercises per chapter, in seven different coded types - L for literary lessons, M relating to mini-lessons, C practicing composition skills, T for thinking skill pages, G for exercises that review grammar and mechanics, P for puzzles, and E for extra-challenge (the last two being the optional ones). There's a nice variety in these exercises and a well-thought-out relationship between the literary and composition activities. Frankly, I like the step-by-step skill building that is integral to the course.

The Student Guide includes instructional text, shorter works (i.e. poetry, excerpts), author backgrounds, discussion questions (comprehension, thought, literary), and writing exercises. The Student Workbook provides workpages to practice the skills and concepts learned in the lessons, along with composition skills (writing from note cards, rewriting in your own words, etc.), thinking skills (e.g., differentiating fact from opinion, identifying bias), and grammar review (e.g., capitalization, pronouns and antecedents). There are also optional puzzles and extra "Challenge" workbook pages. The Teacher Guide provides answers, schedules, teaching/grading tips, rubrics, project suggestions/checklists, and grade-tracking records.

There are required literature resources to use with each course. While you may be able to locate some or all the books at a library, we also offer Literature Packages for each guide that include the necessary books.

If your goal is to prepare your student for high school literature and composition skills, then Lightning Lit & Comp is a good, solid choice. Although there is a conservative moral "feel" to the series and an occasional mention of God (by authors Stephen Crane and Mark Twain, for instance), there is no obvious Christian content. ~ Janice