How to Use LitHouse Learning Novel Studies

How to Use LitHouse Learning Novel Studies

Building Writing and Analysis Skills

LitHouse Learning novel studies have structured writing activities, guided literary analysis, and vocabulary study.

Before students are able to write an effective essay, they first need to learn how to craft a paragraph. And before they can write a good paragraph, they have to learn how to form varied types of interesting sentences.

These novel studies gradually build the skills necessary for students to become excellent academic writers. 

In addition to the conventions of sentence, paragraph, and essay writing, we also include extensive note-taking practice and literature analysis in Levels 1, 2, and 3. Levels 2 and 3 also include outlining.

All of these skills are necessary to plan, organize, and write essays.

Click here to see the Scope and Sequence for our Novel Studies.

How to Use the Levels

There are three levels of Novel Studies in development:

For each level, the books are age appropriate in content and typical reading ability. We recommend doing 6 to 10 novel studies per year.

Level 0 is best for grades K to 2. There are modifications for different ability levels in the Teacher’s Guide. 

Some 2nd graders will be ready for Level 1. To use Level 1, students must be able to read well, have mastered handwriting, and be able to write a simple sentence correctly. However, I would suggest all second graders complete at least one Level 0 Novel Study before moving to the Level 1 Novel Studies.

If you are starting with a student in 2nd or 3rd grade, we recommend doing one to two years at Level 1 and one to two years at Level 2 before moving on to Level 3. We do not recommend starting Level 3 until 5th grade at the earliest.

If you are starting with a student in 4th or 5th grade, ‌begin with three Level 1 novel studies. Then if your student can confidently do the Level 1 activities, you can move on to the Level 2 novel studies.

If you are starting with a student in 6th, 7th, or 8th grade, ‌begin with one Level 1 novel study. Then move up to three Level 2 novel studies. Make sure that they can confidently do the Level 2 novel studies before moving into the Level 3 novel studies.

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