Reading and listening to high-quality literature is a vital component of a student’s education. When students engage with literature, some wonderful things happen: vocabulary expands, syntax develops, and comprehension matures. Not only that, reading literature helps students develop critical thinking skills as well as empathy. Best of all, reading literature is fun!
For educators teaching from one of IEW’s broad selection of theme-based writing lessons, there is an easy way to include fabulous, high quality, age-appropriate literature for your students. To access it, open the teacher’s manual and flip to the back of the book to the appendices. Look for the appendix “Adding Literature.” Virtually all of our theme-based materials, with the exceptions of Classical Rhetoric through Structure and Style and our Primary theme-based books, Bible Heroes and People and Places in Our Community, feature an appendix with suggested literature that loosely aligns with the themes explored in the writing courses.
The vast majority of the literature is not connected to a writing assignment, which makes it easy to pick and choose among the titles you and your students like best. Even better, students of all ages can enjoy the literature without needing to work through the writing course itself, so a homeschooling parent can feel free to read aloud to her entire family, using our lists for inspiration.
What are some of the suggested titles? Our history-based writing lessons focus on a particular historical period, whether it be ancient times, medieval history, U.S. history, or modern world history. Is your student working through Ancient History-Based Writing Lessons? Younger students will enjoy Diane Stanley’s Cleopatra, while older students will thrill to The Charioteer of Delphi by Caroline Lawrence (grades 4–6), Detectives in Togas by Henry Winterfield (grades 5–8), or The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare (grades 6–8).
If you are working through a course that doesn’t focus on history, such as Discoveries in Writing, the selections are broader in range. Perhaps you will select King Arthur and the Round Table by Alice M. Hadfield. Maybe a riveting Revolutionary novel of a young boy maturing into a man of integrity as encountered in Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes will excite your students. Lucy Maud Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables is a classic enjoyed by all ages.
Do you have students who prefer nonfiction to fiction? Wonders of Science includes some great options. Your students could learn about westward expansion by reading How We Crossed the West: The Adventures of Lewis and Clark by Rosalyn Schanzer. They can explore how electricity was harnessed by reading Electrical Wizard: How Nikola Tesla Lit Up the World by Elizabeth Rusch. Or they may find it a thrilling virtual voyage to journey alongside the sailors onboard the ship Carry On, Mr Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham. Options abound!
While it is true that most of the novels are not tied to a writing assignment, it is good to note that in some Level C theme books, there are a few novels that are. Advanced U.S. History-Based Writing Lessons requires students to read these novels: Uncle Tom’s Cabin (by Harriet Beecher Stowe) for a compare/contrast essay and To Kill a Mockingbird (by Harper Lee) for a literary analysis essay. Two other books included in the writing assignments are The Gardener, a picture book by Sarah Stewart (Unit 9) and The Boy on the Wooden Box by Leon Leyson (Unit 8 Super Essay).
If you want to dive more deeply into the literature beyond simply enjoying the books as read-alouds or assigned reading, consider taking the teacher training course Teaching the Classics, which provides guidance on how to have a Socratic literature discussion. This, however, is purely optional and not required.
Would you like to learn more about which literature suggestions are included in the theme-based courses? Check out our online samples! All of our curriculum sample pages include the literature suggestions for each book. Visit the product page and click on the Samples tab to view the content.
Is it required that students read the literature included in our lists? With the above exceptions noted, the answer is no. Will students enjoy the literature suggestions we’ve provided? Almost certainly yes! If you are working through a theme-based course, be sure to check out the appendices to see what options are included and prepare to have a literature-infused fabulous year!
by Jennifer Mauser
