"There is a danger when using novels for your reading course that the novel is “read to death” and the enjoyment is lost for the students. Trying to teach individual skills using a novel or having the students stop after every chapter to answer mundane comprehension questions can spoil all the fun of reading and dilute the story so much that students dread to work on literature. At the same time, simply reading loads of books without reflection does not make a thoughtful, good reader. What students need is to read challenging texts and to think deeply about them.

So three methods of using a novel for a reading course are suggested. One method is to have the student simply read a work straight through, first of all to enjoy the story and then to discuss it at the end of reading. A second way is to reflect and discuss the novel as the story progresses, studying the work as literature and considering literary devices or plot and theme. A third way is to use the work as a basis for a unit of study on a particular time period, integrating it with other works. All three of these methods have merit. Using a combination of all three throughout the year would provide a well-balanced variety."

- Margot Davidson, author of the Connecting with History Literature Guide series

The Volume Two Literature Guide includes study guides and discussion guides for three age levels.

Beginner Level
St. Valentine by Robert Sabuda

Grammar Level
Cleopatra by Diane Stanley
City of the Golden House by Madeleine Polland
The White Stag by Kate Seredy

Logic Level
The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth Speare
Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff
The Ides of April by Mary Ray
The White Isle by Caroline Dale Snedeker
The King's Thane by Charles Brady
Fingal's Quest by Madeleine Polland
Son of Charlemagne by Barbara Willard

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Written by Margot Davidson
3-hole punched for convenient insertion in your lesson plan binder.