Raising the Bar :: Year 4 Narrations

As my children get older and mature in their lessons and abilities to narrate, I've got to keep up too! I found that by Year 3's end, my oldest was quite capable (and good!) at giving oral narrations of his readings. At the beginning of Year 4 (we are in our First Term now), I realized the necessity to push his narration capacities a bit ... to stretch his compositions. 

This last year I attended a homeschool conference where Sonya Shafer was one of the speakers. She gave a talk on narration, along with a handout of narration ideas. A nice list of ideas she presented is here.

She asked the question, "Is narration enough for high school?"

Answer: "Yes, IF you continue to raise the bar."

So here is a general guideline for narration "bar-raising" she gave:

Years 1-3 :: narrative
Years 4-6 :: narrative PLUS expository
Years 7-9 :: narrative, expository PLUS descriptive
Years 10+:: narrative, expository, descriptive PLUS persuasive

You can find a more in-depth explanation of the above in this article.

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...it is not a bad test of education to be able to give the points of a description,
the sequence of a series of incidents, the links in a chain of argument...

...to tabulate and classify series; to trace cause to consequence and consequence to cause;
to discern character and perceive how character and circumstance interact...

-Vol 3, p180

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What is expository writing? (It is called writing, although at this point ... Year 4 ... the majority of the "writing" is still oral). I viewed a helpful YouTube video here to outline the basics for me. The following are my notes:

Expository writing's purpose is to inform or describe. This is in contrast to just re-telling the plot in the early elementary years.

The 5 techniques are:
1) descriptive (use of the five senses; location, etc.)
2) process/sequence (how-to; order of events)
3) comparison (2 or more ideas)
4) cause & effect (seek to answer "why" and "what"; this technique is useful for science and anything occurring in nature or with inanimate objects)
5) problem & solution (seek to answer "what was the problem" and "what did people do to solve it"; is used only when people are involved)

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I have this list of techniques posted near my desk where I plan lessons for quick reference as I pre-read Royal's upcoming chapters. After reading the assigned pages, I grab a Post-It, jot down one or two narration prompts, then stick it at the end of Royal's reading for him to ponder until I can hear his oral composition. (Alternatively, SimplyCharlotteMason also offers some free narration bookmarks with general narration prompts printed on them).

The teacher's part is, in the first place, to see what is to be done, to look over the work of the day in advance and see what mental discipline, as well as what vital knowledge, this and that lesson afford; and then to set such questions and such tasks as shall give full scope to his pupils' mental activity.

-Vol 3, p180

The following are a few questions I have posed for him:

Trial & Triumph : The Two Margarets
     * According to King Charles II, what was the "problem" with the Covenanters?
     * What did they do to solve their "problem"?
     * How did the two Margarets handle the situation?


Madam How & Lady Why: The Glen (reading pages 14-18)
     * Why does the water run along the top of the clay near the New Forest? What is the resulting effect in nature?

Fun to find our own little "wash-out" due to water running atop layers of clay.

Storybook of Science : 
"The Age of Trees" (Ch 9)
     * Describe one of the oldest trees. Where is it? What is special about it? Did anything interesting or unique happen to it?

"The Length of Animal Life" (Ch 10)
     * Explain how the length of animal life differs from that of human life.
     * How do you think the jobs of each animal affect how long they live?

"The Kettle" (Ch 11)
     * Describe the process of mining copper.
     * How is copper fashioned (or made) into useful tools or kitchen items?


This Country of Ours : 
"The Witches of Salem" (Ch 34)
     * Pretend you are a reporter on the news. Report the story of the witches of Salem.

"How New Amsterdam became New York" (Ch 36)
     *How were the Dutch patroons like the feudal lords of old time?

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"...'In all labour there is profit,' ... and the labour of thought is what his book must induce in the child.

He must generalise, classify, infer, judge, visualise, discriminate, labour in one way or another,

with that capable mind of his..."

-Vol 3, p179