Fifth Grade Literature Set (A Homeschool Crew Review)

Some time back, I had the opportunity to review one of the literature sets from  Memoria Press. However, at that time, the format of the curriculum did not fit well with my children.  That was roughly three years ago and through those years, the kids have changed.  When we were given the opportunity this time around to once again review a literature set,  I was curious to see how Ashleigh would now do with the classical style literature curriculum. 

For this review we were given our choice of a full grade literature set (minus the books).  After much debate, I opted for the Fifth Grade Literature Guide Set  because I felt that Ashleigh would really enjoy the book selection for this set.


About Memoria Press

Memoria Press is a well know provider of classical education curriculum.  A family ran company founding in 1994 by Cheryl Lowe, Memoria Press has developed K-12 classical curriculum at Highlands Latin School in Louisville, Kentucky.   Our family uses Memoria Press curriculum for Ashleigh's Latin studies and we recently purchased the Greek Elementary curriculum for Garrett to begin this fall.

About the Fifth Grade Literature Guide Set

For this review, we received a 6 book set of literature study guides for three books on the 5th grade reading level: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, Heidi and Lassie Come Home.  The set includes one student guide and one teachers guide to be used while reading the corresponding novels (Memoria Press offers a set that includes the three required novels if necessary).

Each book set includes a student guide as well as a teachers guide.  The Student Study Guides each follow the same format, starting with reading notes that help to introduce readers to words they might not have been familiar with in the reading, followed by vocabulary exercises, comprehension questions, quotations, discussion questions and enrichment exercises.

The Teacher's Guide has all the questions that the student guide contains, only with the answers provided.

This guide also contains appendices which contains map activities, biographical sketches, and/or other activities that offer enrichment for the book, as well as answers for the discussion questions and printable quizzes and tests as well as the answer key for those.

The quizzes, which cover a few chapters each, build upon the vocabulary and comprehension activities provided in the student guide.  A comprehensive final exam that covers the entirety of the book as well as the exercises in the student guide.  The quizzes are two pages each while the comprehensive final exam is four pages in length and are made up of matching, multiple choice and short answer questions.

Each of the books has saddle stitch binding with wire staples.

How We Used It

For this review period, we began with the guide for The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis.  This was a book that I knew that both my kids would enjoy and I could ease Ashleigh into the writing work involved in these studies.

 These studies are designed to take the student on a deep journey through the story, delving into the characters and their decisions and really end up with an understanding of what the author wanted to convey in their writing.  Because of this, for grades 2nd - 12th Grade, each literature study should take roughly 6-7 weeks.  For our purposes, Ashleigh and I have been working with the literature study three days a week.

Following each chapter in the novel, there are two corresponding pages in the Student Guide.  Each page offers a vocabulary exercise where Ashleigh must look up words in her dictionary and write the definition out and then there are several comprehension questions about what was read in the chapter.

Comprehension Quesetions following a biography about C.S. Lewis

In addition to the written work, we also have included the enrichment activities in our lessons.  In one lesson, we given instructions as to how to make Turkish Delights, a confectionery treat mentioned in the book that is flavored with rose water. 

This was a fun activity and gave Ashleigh something else to do besides just write out answers.  However, our household was not a big fan of Turkish Delights - they were way too sweet for our taste.  

Overall, our reintroduction to the literature study set by Memoria Press has been a positive one and I'm looking forward to completing the study we are currently working on and using the remaining studies through the year. 

For more information about the literature studies for various grades offered by Memoria Press,  please visit their website.  You can also find Memoria Press on the following social media platforms:

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Memoria Press was very generous by giving members of the Crew their choice of Literature studies to share with their students.  Be sure to click the banner below to read their reviews and see which ones would be right for your school today.