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New Look! Boomerang

All New Look for the Boomerang!

Check out the new look for the Boomerang. We’re posting a “sneak peek” of Week One from the up-coming August 2010 issue. In it, you’ll find the single page view of the copywork/dictation passage, and the subsequent notes that go with that week’s passage. To see Weeks Two—Four, plus the detailed think piece questions which guide your student into a deeper investigation of the novel, you’ll need to subscribe (See buttons on the right). Subscriptions (monthly payment plans) are now open. Or you can purchase the whole year at once for a reduced price!

This year’s Boomerang is beautifully laid out and so easy to use! Keep reading to understand how it works.

What is the Boomerang?

The Boomerang is the language arts product designed to aid 7th-9th graders in continuing their development in four critical areas:

• Spelling
• Grammar
• Mechanics (punctuation, handwriting)
• Literary Analysis

The book list moves between classic works of fiction (more challenging literature) and easier fare (easy-read novels). Books are meant to be read during the month they are slated. Students can read them to themselves, a parent can read them aloud or books-on-CD are also a good option (particularly if the book is more challenging).

The Boomerang is a digital product only. The issues are posted once per month in a private folder for subscribers. In each issue, you’ll find:

• Four weeks worth of dictation/copywork passages (one per week with grammar, punctuation and writing notes)
• “Think Piece” questions designed to train your child in literary analysis.

The “Think Piece” questions help your child think deeply about the content of the book while exploring those thoughts in exploratory writing. Format writing is saved for high school.

Literary Analysis

This year, we’re introducing Literary Analysis classes for the Boomerang Level. These classes will use the questions in the Boomerang to promote literary investigation, and the final weeks of class will be devoted to a creative writing response paper that will make use of the discussion material. The wonder of these literary analysis courses is that they offer a perfect bridge between elementary writing (which is much more free form and experience based) and high school writing (which is structured and governed by academic formats). The Literary Analysis classes will be guided by one of our instructors (Becky Parker) and will offer your kids a safe environment to develop their insights while exploring how to convey them in writing appropriate to their ages.

This year’s books that will be used for these classes are:

• Animal Farm (Fall)
• The Canterbury Tales (Winter)
• The Life of Ivan Denisovich (Spring)

Don’t miss this chance to gradually introduce your junior high/early high school student (We’ll happily take 10th graders too, if they need to start at a slower pace than high school literary analysis) to the world of literature and writing. There’s nothing like it elsewhere.

What’s in the Boomerang?

Each issue contains:

• A copywork/dictation passage (Guidelines give you options for ways to execute copywork/dictation).
• Notes to help you teach the literary style, grammar, punctuation and spelling of that passage.
• Think Piece Questions that give your student the freedom to explore the book in depth in writing.
• Golden Lines: Students are urged to select a favorite quotation from each novel to enter in a copy book and to explore in writing why they have selected it.

Copywork is the practice of neatly copying a passage of literature while paying attention to the punctuation and spelling. Dictation is the practice of reproducing a passage correctly in writing while someone else reads it to you. Copywork allows the student to look at the passage as he or she writes it down. Dictation requires the student to study the passage in advance and then to reproduce it accurately from memory while listening to someone read it aloud slowly. Each subscription to or single purchase of the Boomerang includes Guidelines that will help you know how to teach copywork and dictation. The dictation passages are appropriate for writers between grades 7-9. The Boomerang includes instructions about how to execute dictation practice and how to modify the difficulty based on what age and stage your student is in.

The Book List

Please remember that you’re the parent. If you have doubts about the content of a particular book, please check out the reviews of the novel or read it for yourself first. You may order individual issues once that issue has been published. We’ll move it the following month to the “already published issues” where you can purchase a single issue.

2010-2011 Boomerang Book List

(This new list becomes available for whole-year purchase in July and monthly subscription at the end of July. All Writer’s Jungle Platinum orders in July will be subscribed to this new list.)

• August: And Then There Were None; Agatha Christie

  Considered her ground-breaking mystery novel, the story is about ten strangers invited to an island by a mysterious host all trying to solve a mysterious death.

• September: Robinson Crusoe; Daniel Dafoe

  The classic adventure story of a man marooned on an island for nearly 30 years.

• October: The Bronze Bow; Elizabeth George Spears

  This is the story of a young Jewish rebel who is won over to the gentle teachings of Jesus.

• November: Animal Farm; George Orwell

  A fable of a workers’ revolution gone wrong. (Our book choice for Literary Analysis)

• December: Kon-Tiki: Across the Pacific by Raft; Thor Heyerdahl

  On a primitive raft made of forty-foot balsa logs, six men travel the 4,300-mile voyage to the Polynesian islands. Non-fiction, thrilling adventure!

• January: The Canterbury Tales; Be sure to get this translation: Nevill Coghill

  These tales of a motley crowd of pilgrims drawn from all walks of life—from knight to nun, miller to monk—reveal a picture of English life in the fourteenth century that is as robust as it is representative. (Literary Analysis Class slated for this book in January.)

• February: The Magician’s Nephew; C.S. Lewis

  The introduction to the magical land of Narnia.

• March: One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich; Alexander Solzhenitsyn

  Solzhenitsyn’s first book, this economical, relentless novel is one of the most forceful artistic indictments of political oppression in the Stalin-era Soviet Union. (Literary Analysis Class slated for this book in March/April.)

• April: Across Five Aprils; Irene Hunt

  The events of the Civil War unfold “Across Five Aprils.”

• May: Starship Troopers; Robert A. Heinlein

  Science fiction story that tells the tale of a young man who decides to join earth’s marine fighting force against a variety of alien enemies.

If you’d like to purchase the whole year at once, you can do so by paying with a check or a one-time Paypal payment. Get all ten months for only $79.00 (that’s a savings of more than $20.00)! The discounted, year long price is a non-refundable subscription. If you aren’t sure whether or not the Boomerang is for you, sign up for the monthly subscription at the end of July so that you can cancel if you choose to.

The Brave Writer Program