chapters includes reading classical material as well as applying a literary lesson. Students read six full novels plus six shorter pieces taken from the book, Stories and Poems for Extremely Intelligent Children by Harold Bloom. This Student Guide consists of the lessons which cover author's purpose, setting, vivid language in poetry, writing about culture, details in writing, character development, figurative language, conflict, symbolism, humor, meter in poetry, and writing a literary analysis. Mini-lessons cover taking notes, rewriting in your own words, free verse and ballad, rewriting your own words, citing sources, bibliography, fun poems, genre fiction, sentence structure, and more. The workbook (sold separately) gives students the chance to practice the skills and concepts learned in the lessons along with composition skills, thinking skills (e.g., differentiating fact from opinion, identifying bias), and grammar review (e.g., capitalization, pronouns and antecedent). Book-length works are sold separately. The Teacher's Guide is also needed since it includes answers to comprehension questions and the workbook pages, a teaching schedule, extra teaching help for the lessons, help in choosing appropriate writing exercises, and discussion questions. Recommendations: Although this is listed as an eighth grade text, students cannot be easily boxed into grades. A seventh grader who is a strong reader and likes writing would be able to do well with this course. This course can also work for the ninth grader who needs to work at the foundations of composition. Books (in addition to Bloom's Stories and Poems) include: Treasure Island, A Day of Pleasure, A Christmas Carol, The Hobbit, My Family and Other Animals, and To Kill a Mockingbird. New paperback, 2nd Edition.

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