The Treasure Trove of Literature and the Art of Understanding It is a series of five courses for grades three through seven, each taking students through an in-depth study of three to five novels. A sixth course, The Treasure Trove of Poetry, is recommended for grades eight through ten. The courses gradually increase in difficulty and can be used a year later than the designated grade levels. Full-length novels are read with all except the poetry course, and the selected books are excellent choices.
Written for Catholic students, the courses have numerous references to Catholic beliefs, practices, and saints.
My First Treasure Trove of Literature
My First Treasure Trove of Literature takes third graders through the chapter books Pinocchio, The Whipping Boy, and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. This course is designed for students to read independently, study vocabulary words, and answer questions in the book two days a week, with a third day used for the lessons titled Discussion & Activities. (Note that this course includes only fiction, and the publisher recommends that students read the non-fiction book, How to Dress a Duck and Other Stories from Science, on a fourth day each week.)
Some third graders might need more assistance with the reading and writing, and it should be okay to read some of the books aloud together and help them answer questions as needed.
My First Treasure Trove of Literature teaches vocabulary, comprehension, inferences, literary elements and devices (e.g., plot, characters, similes, allusions, puns, and onomatopoeia), and character qualities.
The 240-page coursebook includes lines on which students can write out answers to questions. A removable answer key is at the end of the book, and suggested answers are included for the discussion questions. Some answers might vary so much that parents really should read the books themselves to be prepared for discussions. The discussion lessons include instruction on literary devices and reading skills that students can read for themselves. The Discussion & Activities lessons include a section with the heading Games, Projects, and Activities. Parents and students might decide together which ones they want to do from among a selection.of artwork, crafts, musical activities, drama, writing projects, recommended movies, and all sorts of games.
The study of each book concludes with a final project which is created from one or more pages in the coursebook. For instance, for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, students create a map showing the adventures featured in the story.
Levels 1 through 4
Level 1 and Level 2 each have two components: a non-consumable guidebook and a notebook—each about 300 pages. Students will use both books, getting their assignments from the guidebook and writing and drawing directly in the notebook. An answer key for parents is at the back of each notebook, and you might want to remove those pages so that they are available to the parent rather than the student. Level 3 and Level 4 are each contained in one consumable book with over 400 pages, also with answer keys at the back.
These courses are written directly to students so that they can complete much of their work independently the first four days of each week and work with a parent or teacher the fifth day. This lesson design makes the courses perfect for group classes that meet once a week, using the fifth day’s work in the group class.
Level 1 has students read Little House in the Big Woods; The Father Brown Reader; Minn of the Mississippi; The Winged Watchman; and The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. In Level 2, they read The Wizard of Oz, Madeleine Takes Command, The Borrowers, Misty of Chincoteague, and The Magician’s Nephew. The five novels for Level 3 are The Hobbit, The Door in the Wall, The Phantom Tollbooth, The Endless Steppe, and Treasure Island. For Level 4, the novels are The Bronze Bow, The Miracle Worker, A Christmas Carol, Banner in the Sky, and The Fellowship of the Ring.
The first lesson for the study of each novel opens with information about the author, followed by information that might address the genre of the book, the historical setting, or another helpful topic. This first lesson varies. It usually covers introductory material, but sometimes it introduces some assignments. Most lessons include some vocabulary words with their definitions in Level 1 and Level 2. Levels 3 and 4 differ in that most lessons direct students to select three or more unfamiliar words from their reading, look them up, and write down their definitions. Next, students will answer a series of Reading Review Questions for each lesson that checks for reading comprehension. Levels 3 and 4 often substitute an oral narration in which the student summarizes what they have read to another person, and occasionally they give students a journaling assignment. Most lessons also include brief instruction about a literary element (plot, theme, characters, and setting) or a literary device (e.g., figures of speech, dialogue, and techniques authors use to build suspense). Instruction about a literary element or device is often followed by its own writing activity or exercise and, occasionally, a quiz.
Almost every fifth lesson for each novel is titled Discussion & Activities. Parents or teachers need to be involved at this point. These lessons present a series of questions for students to discuss with their parents, many of which require deeper levels of critical thinking. The suggested activities offer a wide variety of options, such as art projects, field trips, games, research, drama, and science projects—all related to the novels.
Each level uses graphic organizers to study the plot of at least one of the novels. Level 1 students simply write down the key event in each chapter of Minn of the Mississippi on a river-shaped graphic, then they create a visual panorama by drawing three to five key scenes that illustrate the story. Levels 2 through 4 provide more detailed graphic organizers for students to complete by filling in elements such as the rising action, the climax, and the resolution.
Concluding activities for each book vary greatly. Some are simple and others are quite involved. For instance, the study for Little House in the Big Woods has students create a diorama. For The Winged Watchman, they will create a themed poster, and for The Endless Steppe, students create a detailed family tree. These projects are in addition to other concluding activities, such as discussions about characters in the novels (in the first two levels), and optional activities, such as hosting a family party, playing a game, or listening to music.
Levels 1 and 2 include a few features not found in Level 3 or Level 4. To help students visualize what they have read, their notebooks have boxes in which they are to draw a simple illustration for each chapter of the book and write a brief note about their drawing. Students will discuss their illustrations and observations about the characters with their parents at the end of each study. Also, the Discussion & Activities for the fifth lesson has a substantial section titled either “Character Quality of the Week” or “Lessons from Nature.” These sections use the content of the novel as a springboard for personal and spiritual growth by focusing on a particular character quality each week. (Level 3 and Level 4 include only an occasional character-quality study.) The sections specifically titled Character Quality make connections to pertinent Bible verses. The character-quality studies continue with a story about a saint, or group of saints, who exemplify the character quality. Suggestions for practical application of the character quality sometimes follow this.
Level 1 and Level 2 handle the study of character qualities in a different fashion for one of the five novels. In Level 1, for the study of The Winged Watchman, all character-quality studies are focused on the theme of bravery, rather than a different character quality each week. In Level 2, for the study of Misty of Chincoteague, these sections focus on the theme of freedom in its various aspects. All character-quality sections conclude with a prayer. The other levels include only a few character quality studies.
The books are all bound with a plastic spiral so they will lie flat as students read or write in them. Hand-drawn illustrations, scanned images, graphic organizers, and decorative borders on the pages make the books attractive even though they are printed in black and white.
The lessons vary in the amount of time required each day, but it will usually be substantial since students will read lesson material from the coursebook, read pages from a novel, answer questions in their notebooks, and complete other assignments. The studies average about six weeks per novel (with just a few significantly shorter or longer), so students should have time to savor the novels if they read slowly. Students who can’t wait that long to find out what happens next will probably read each book quickly and then review what they read as they complete the lessons at a slower pace. The Discussions & Activities section of a lesson could take anywhere from an hour to an entire day depending upon what you choose to do, so you might want to plan ahead and free up extra time for those days.
The Treasure Trove of Poetry, Level 5
Level 5, The Treasure Trove of Poetry differs significantly from the other courses, so I review it separately.
Summary
The entire series does an excellent job of teaching literary appreciation, literary analysis, and vocabulary (along with a bit of work on composition skills), and it goes much deeper than some other study guides for novels. While you might need to add some instruction in composition skills, grammar, and spelling, these courses will be a significant piece of your language arts curriculum rather than a supplement.
