CW-Homer Models -- which ones to choose??

[Kelly in GA]

Lene gave us so many websites with models for Homer that I can't decide. For CW-Aesop I just used the ones in the Traditional Tales book so I didn't have to spend hours choosing. I tend to get a little carried away and want to look at them ALL! I really don't have time to do that right now. I appreciate being given so many models, but can someone please narrow this down for me!? My poor little brain is on "decision overload!"

Can anyone who has started with CW-Homer give me a few to start with? What were your children's favorite models? I am looking for some that are similar to or maybe a step up from the longer Aesop models. I wanted to make a list to start the year with.

Thanks sooooo much!

Blessings,

Kelly in GA

[Tracy Gustilo]

Hi Kelly,

Yes, the resources available can be overwhelming, eh? How to choose, how to choose...

Here are some thoughts. Most of the models Lene selected are coming from the Baldwin Project (www.mainlesson.com). No doubt you have some great books on your shelves at home as well. And there is a lot of other stuff online.

If you go to the Baldwin Project, there are resource indexes of various sorts, including grade level suggestions, genres, titles, and authors. You can look at subject areas and lengths of stories, too.

My tendency is to use a few favorite authors and/or subjects/genres, then pick a handful of stories from each one. Kids will do better if there is some continuity in subject matter, form, and style for a few weeks at a time. How about something like the following:

If you schedule 36 weeks, you could do six groups of six models. Pick 6 stories from Homer retellings (Odyssey, Iliad, Greek heroes). Pick 6 Bible stories. If you want more fables, pick some longer Aesop's fables and/or use fables from another source, such as Fontaine or Tolstoy. There's 6 more. Do you have a particular historical period you want to cover? (ancient, medieval, American) If so, pick 6 or more stories from that period, myths, legends, tall tales, or historical accounts (like from Baldwin). Then pick a couple favorite authors or literary genres. Lene really likes Hans Christian Andersen. I like Howard Pyle and Kenneth Grahame. Maybe you like Beatrix Potter or A.A. Milne or Andrew Lang. Or maybe your children have favorite authors they like to read. Laura Ingalls Wilder could be given 6 stories easily, selected from her books. Or E.B. White; each chapter of Stuart Little makes a nice little independent story. Some of my favorite retellers on classical (ancient, medieval) themes are: Roger Lancelyn Green, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Padraic Colum, as well as Joseph Jacobs and Lang for fairy tales and such. I believe some of the works of Alfred Church and William Stearns Davis are online for non-fiction history. Or use Comstock or Fabre Ernest Thomson Seton for natural history. You could buy selections of classic literature from Dover and have the kids mark up their models right in those books, since they're so cheap.

There is an overabundance, I agree. Go for needed subjects, favorite authors and the right story lengths in groups of six. That would be how I would approach it.

HTH,
Tracy