SEASON ONE: The Basic Book Report, The Pamphlet Book Report, and The News Article Book Report

Beyond the Book Report is a middle school language arts curriculum. When it is paired with Analytical Grammar and a vocabulary program, it becomes a full curriculum that can be taught in about an hour a day. There are three seasons of Beyond the Book Report, one for each year in middle school. The first season teaches your child how to write three different book reports on any book that you choose. The program comes to you on a DVD. There are videos to watch along with worksheets to print out. During the program your child will learn about; following a rubric, conflict, point of view, climax, protagonist, antagonist, paraphrasing, summarizing, elements of plot, mood, tone, setting, genre, headlines, bylines, datelines, inverted pyramids, leads, objectivity, bias, and objective point of view. Beyond the Book Report Season One sells for $24.95.

Beyond the Book Report was made with middle school students in mind. Throughout the program time management, meeting a deadline, and following a rubric is stressed. After watching the introduction to the program, the student and teacher start by printing off lecture slides and then watching the first lecture. There are three lectures for the Basic Book Report. The first explains the difference between summarizing and paraphrasing, the second covers the first part of literary terms, and the last is directions for the book report. They can be watched one a day or all at one time. After the lectures are over the student is given a printed of reading log, literary terms worksheet, and a rubric. The teacher sets a due date for the report and the student has to figure out how many pages of their book they need to read each day in order to finish in time. Then it is time for the teacher to take a step back and let the student work on their report.

The second report is the Pamphlet Book Report. There are two lectures, the first covers the second half of literary terms, and the second is the directions for the Pamphlet Book Report. The student is given a blank pamphlet, a reading log, and the rubric.

The last report is the Journalism Book Report. This one also has two lectures. The first is about journalism and news writing and the second is the directions for the report. This report has an additional assignment about news writing. The student is given a reading log, literary terms worksheet, and a rubric.

It is up to the teacher to decide on the amount of time to give the student to read and write the report, but there are some examples given. Once each report is finished the teacher grades the report based on the rubric.

Beyond the Book Report is perfect for students who enjoy working independently and those who need practice working independently. There are a lot of days in between teaching so teachers who like being very hands on may find the program hard to work with. The student completes a lot of work but there isn't any unnecessary busy work, and some days the only work they will do is reading.

I liked that Beyond the Book Report was able to explain difficult concepts is a very easy to understand way. I struggled with not helping my student when I noticed her falling behind, but it was good for her. She was even able to turn in the assignment early a few times. The video lectures cover a lot of concepts in a short amount of time, and even though she wasn't answering comprehension questions after each chapter, it was easy to see that she really read the books. There was not very much work on my end, the only thing I needed to do was print out a few papers and then grade the reports.

AJ thought it was wonderful that she didn't have to write very much during the reports. She also enjoyed the variety of the book reports. She really liked that the rubrics gave exact details of what she needed to do, and that she could decide how to manage her own time.

One thing that I didn't care for were the actual lectures. The content was great, but both AJ and I found them a little boring. I think that this is a great way to study literature, but I’d suggest that the authors include more writing instruction.

Overall we enjoyed Beyond the Book Report Season One. It is affordable, easy to use, and teaches literary terms in a simple manner. We plan to do a lot more book reports using this method in the future. I was skeptical whether my student would learn very much from writing these book reports, but she learned a great deal. If you are tired of regular book reports, Beyond the Book Report is something you should look into!

—Product review by Katie Sheasby, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, May, 2016

SEASON TWO: The Poetry Book Report and The Drama Book Report

Beyond the Book Report Season Two
R. Robin Finley and Erin M. Karl

Analytical Grammar

www.AnalyticalGrammar.com

Book report. Just those two simple words often make middle school students cringe. The thought of writing a lengthy summary of a book they were not too keen on reading in the first place, does not inspire students of any age. Beyond the Book Report, Season Two brings enjoyment and interest to book reports through an elegant plan. Written by the daughter & mother team of Erin Karl and Robin Finley (Analytical Grammar), the second season of Beyond the Book Report focuses on poetry and drama.

The curriculum is designed with middle school students in mind and comes with a lesson DVD that includes video lessons hosted by Erin Karl and Robin Finley, assignment files, and printable copies of the presentations for student use. This makes the curriculum suitable for audio learners, who need to hear the lesson presented, as well as visual learners who need to read the lesson details in order to retain the knowledge.

The remaining component of the set is a 46 page, three-hole punched teaching guide which includes a sample teaching timeline, lesson guide, answer keys, rubrics, and a glossary. Everything a teacher needs to successfully encourage students is right at your fingertips. The teacher will not be actively involved in every day of this curriculum as some days are set aside for student assignments. Although the guide does provide outlines for the teaching days, they are adaptable to the student's needs and can be restructured.

The premise of Beyond the Book Report, Season Two is to provide students with knowledge on the topics of poetry and drama through video lessons and intriguing assignments prior to the actual book report in each module. Students then take a final quiz over the module topic before selecting an appropriate book, with their teacher's approval, for use in the book report project. The curriculum makes no suggestions of books the student should read, but instead encourages only to consider classics. The choice is based on the student's needs.

The actual book report writing is not your standard cut and dry novel summary. Instead each module of season two sets forth a related assignment on poetry or drama, using the assigned book as project basis. The rubrics for the book reports allow the student to be as creative as desired while still providing structure for those who prefer straight-forward writing.

My fourteen year old, eighth grade daughter is an avid reader and writer who flourished while using the second season of Beyond the Book Report. She did have concerns over writing her very own poetry even when it was rooted in her selected fantasy book. However the initial poetry lessons prepared her quite sufficiently to create four different styles of poems.

While the video lessons worked well for my daughter who followed along with copies of the printed lesson, she did find the presentation to be a bit slow at times. She much preferred Erin Karl as the lesson host as she enjoyed her engaging style of communication. There were even a few times we skipped through the video and read the lesson PowerPoint in order to keep my daughter from losing interest. Still, as a whole, the curriculum is a fantastic concept with engaging assignments.

In our opinion, Beyond the Book Report, Season Two, is well worth the $24.95 cost for the easy to implement and understand poetry and drama lessons alone. The final projects in each module, which elegantly tie any type of literature to poetry and drama, are quite simply priceless.

-Product review by Christy Schaefer, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, May, 2016

SEASON THREE: The Essay, Oral Reports, and The Research Paper

Erin Karl and Robin Finley

Analytical Grammar Inc.

www.AnalyticalGrammar.com

Beyond the Book Report (BBR) Season Three is what I had the opportunity to review. BBR is a curriculum that works hand in hand with Analytical Grammar and rounds out the Language Arts learning process by adding in the Literature and Composition portion of it. Written by Erin Karl and Robin Finley, season three is created for students in eighth grade through high school.

Season Three is divided into three separate sections: essays, oral reports, and research papers. Season three came with a Teacher Guide packet and a CD with lectures, rubrics and worksheets. For each individual section you and your student will select a book to read and write a book report on. Since there was no book list provided, we did a google search of “middle school book lists.”  The goal of BBR as stated in their Teacher Guide is to prep students to study great works of literature in high school.

I found the Teacher Guide packet to be invaluable as we worked through season three. The packet itself is also split into three sections: teaching guide, examples, and a glossary of terms. The teaching section is divided into teaching days or student work days. The example section is a wonderful help. The samples really helped my daughter understand exactly what she was supposed to be doing. Then of course the glossary section is a big help when it comes to understanding anything said in the lectures.

When I decided to homeschool my daughter it was because she was struggling with reading comprehension. That particular struggle rolled over into all areas of her learning, including her writing. She found that she was frustrated and limited in her ability to put paragraphs, let alone stories together. That is why I was so excited to have the opportunity to review this great product. I wanted her to have the opportunity to build her writing skills as she prepares to head into high school.

I found BBR very helpful. More to the point, my daughter enjoyed working through the curriculum and I could see her writing skills grow throughout the review. As a homeschool mom, I find that personal and educational growth is always the end game when it comes to curriculum.

Beyond the Book Report (BBR) season three is available for $24.95. You are also able to purchase the bundle pack of BBR which would include all three seasons (1-3) for $69.95. As a homeschool mom of both middle and high schoolers, I can tell you that this curriculum is a great addition to any homeschool.

—Product review by Barbette Yingst, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, May, 2016