Tag: literature

Just in time for a new school year, here is the third book in our FREE Writing Lessons from Literature series. And it’s based on Clara of Strawberry Fields, a story of a dreamy, imaginative girl growing up on a farm and her perpetually-growing family. It’s a historical novel that will make your daughter laugh and cry as she reads about the misadventures of this impulsive young girl living in the Patapsco Valley of Maryland right before the Civil War.

Do you have a daughter who loves to read and write stories? If you do, here is something I think you’ll both appreciate. It’s a resource you can use for reading comprehension, for a book club, or for writing lessons.

For years I have thought that a wonderful way to teach writing would be to help students study and analyze the actual writings of accomplished authors. It’s how musicians learn to compose music (at least back in the day when I was studying music theory and composition.) We’d study the music of the great composers by analyzing the chord progressions and melodies, taking note of the structures of the compositions, investigating the composers’ use of instrumentation, and so on. And then we’d try to imitate their style in our own compositions.

I have looked and looked for a similar approach to teaching writing. However, I have not been able to find exactly what I was searching for. So last year my college-age daughter and I wrote Writing Lessons from Literature for my youngest daughter. They include the following: