Classical Composition

Continue to use the classical approach in all of your subjects- - including writing! Memoria Press' Classical Composition program has updated the teacher's manuals that go along with their updated versions of author James Selby's classic homeschool curriculum.

Designed for students as young as 4th grade, Classical Composition teaches students the fourteen composition skills known as the progymnasmata. This Fable level is the first level in the program and provides the first of 14 stages. Through a number of re-writing, re-narrating, and re-composing exercises based upon the original fable, students will practice expanding their vocabulary, rewording ideas, expanding and reducing descriptive details, varying their sentences, and proofreading. Short entertaining fables are chosen for their instructive value and children's ability to easily imitate them. The focus on imitation as a tool to good writing uses an emphasis on variation and paraphrasing to provide the basic first step towards mastering writing skills.

Lessons are designed to take 30 minutes per day and to be completed after 8 working days. Easy-to-use worksheets include the fable at the top, and plenty of line space for students to fill in their variations, plot components, outlines, and paraphrases. The final draft should be completed in a different notebook.

4th Grade is the recommended first grade to complete the series; however it may be used by older students. Syllabus plans are included for both students in grades 4-6 and grades 7 & up. 103 pages, softcover.

This teacher's guide accompanies the sold-separately Classical Composition: Fable Stage Student Book. A section of teaching guidelines outlines the goals and basic steps for each type of exercise at the outset of the book. A short suggested sequence is also provided. Lesson plans include reduced student pages with the correct answers overlaid. Teacher lesson plans provide detailed, step-by-step instructions for each exercise with examples and scripted questions included. There is also room to record grades on the final draft of each exercise. 103 pages, softcover. Grade 4.

This set of lesson plans is designed to be used with the Memoria Press Classical Composition: Fable Stage curriculum.

This lesson plan features a five-days-per-week breakdown over 34 weeks. There are checkboxes by each assignment for easy tracking.

11 pages, comb-binding, paper cover.

Please note that this resource is only a lesson plan and does not contain any teaching content. The following resources (not included) are assigned:

• Classical Composition Book I, Student Book, Fable Stage
• Classical Composition Book I, Teacher's Guide, Fable Stage

This set of instructional DVDs is part of the Classical Composition series from Memoria Press, and is designed to be used with the Classical Composition I: Fable Stage curriculum (sold-separately). Lessons are divided into the sections given in the book for easy menu navigation. Teacher Brett Varden teaches the lesson in front of a background, with cuts to typed exercises (e.g. an outline being filled out) shown as necessary. 4 discs included.

Continue to use the classical approach in all of your subjects- - including writing! Memoria Press' Classical Composition program has updated the teacher's manuals that go along with their updated versions of author James Selby's classic homeschool curriculum.

Designed for students as young as 5th grade, Classical Composition teaches students the fourteen composition skills known as the progymnasmata. This Narrative level is the second level in the program and provides 20 lessons that comprise the second of 14 stages.

Through a number of re-writing, re-narrating, and re-composing exercises based upon the original fable, students will practice expanding their vocabulary, rewording ideas, expanding and reducing descriptive details, varying their sentences, and proofreading. Short narratives from the Bible, the classics, and traditional stories, are chosen for children's ability to easily imitate them. The focus on imitation as a tool to good writing uses an emphasis on variation and paraphrasing to provide the basic first step towards mastering writing skills.

Easy-to-use worksheets include the narrative and plenty of line space for students to fill in their variations, plot components, outlines, and paraphrases. The final draft should be completed in a different notebook.

5th Grade is the recommended grade for this set of books; however it may be used by older students. 125 pages, softcover.

This teacher's guide accompanies the sold-separately Classical Composition Narrative Stage Student Book, Book II.

A section of teaching guidelines outlines the goals and basic steps for each type of exercise at the outset of the book. Lesson plans include reduced student pages with the correct answers overlaid. Teacher lesson plans provide detailed, step-by-step instructions for each exercise with teacher tips, examples and scripted questions included. There is also room to record grades on the final draft of each exercise. 125 pages, softcover. Grade 5.

This set of instructional DVDs is part of the Classical Composition series from Memoria Press, and is designed to be used with the Classical Composition II: Narrative Stage curriculum (sold-separately). Lessons are divided into the sections given in the book for easy menu navigation. Teacher Brett Varden explains the exercises in front of a background, with close-ups of exercises (e.g. an outline being filled out) shown as necessary.6 discs included.

Continue to use the classical approach in all of your subjects- - including writing! Memoria Press' Classical Composition program has updated the teacher's manuals that go along with their updated versions of author James Selby's classic homeschool curriculum.

Designed for students as young as 6th grade, Classical Composition teaches students the fourteen composition skills known as the progymnasmata. This Chreia/Maxim level is the third level in the program and provides 18 lessons that comprise the third of 14 stages.

Through a number of re-writing, re-narrating, and re-composing exercises based upon the original saying, students will analyze the chreia or maxim, expand the original idea, identify the thesis, vary the words and sentences, re-write it through identifying nine narrative components, and create their own final draft version. Short chreias (sayings that are about a person) and maxims (attributed to a person), are chosen for children's ability to easily imitate them and their instructive value.

Easy-to-use worksheets include the saying at the top, and plenty of line space for students to fill in their variations, encomiums, narrative components, and paraphrases. The final draft should be completed in a different notebook.

6th Grade is the recommended grade for this set of books; however it may be used by older students. 134 pages, softcover. Classical Composition Book III.

This teacher's guide accompanies the sold-separately Classical Composition Book III Student Book: Chreia/Maxim Stage.

A section of teaching guidelines outlines the goals and basic steps for each type of exercise at the outset of the book. Lesson plans include reduced student pages with the correct answers overlaid. Teacher lesson plans provide detailed, step-by-step instructions for each exercise with teacher tips, examples and scripted questions included. There is also room to record grades on the final draft of each exercise. 137 pages, softcover. Grade 6.

This set of instructional DVDs is part of the Classical Composition series from Memoria Press, and is designed to be used with the Classical Composition III: Chreia/Maxim Stage curriculum (sold-separately). Lessons are divided into the sections given in the book for easy menu navigation. Teacher Brett Varden teaches the lesson in front of a background, with cuts to typed exercises (e.g. an outline being filled out) shown as necessary.

Continue to use the classical approach in all of your subjects- - including writing! Memoria Press' Classical Composition program has updated the teacher's manuals that go along with their updated versions of author James Selby's classic homeschool curriculum.

This series is designed for students as young as 6th grade, and teaches students the fourteen composition skills known as the progymnasmata. This Refut ation-Confirmation stage level is the fourth level in the program and provides 18 lessons that comprise the 4th of 14 stages.

Students will work through both a refutation and a confirmation exercise based upon the same 9 excerpts, which will help them learn to quickly and accurately invent arguments. Students learn how to structure their thoughts whether they're arguing for or against something; as students invent arguments that focus on specific elements, teachers are able to guide their thinking to either affirm a successful invention or correct a wayward invention. The categories of development that make up these exercises are essential to the rhetorical process.

Students begin by reading the excerpt upon which they'll base their argument. This is followed by a series of worksheets where they work through each paragraph in their essay. For the refutation exercises, these para graph-worksheets include: discredit, exposition, unclarity, implausibility, impossibility, inconsistency, impropriety, and inexpediency. The reverse categories apply for the confirmation exercises. Students then write a concluding epilogue paragraph, and combine them in a final draft.

7th Grade is the recommended grade for this set of books; however it may be used by older students. 229 pages, softcover. Non-reproducible, consumable worktext, spiralbound. Classical Composition Book IV / Book 4.

This teacher's guide accompanies the sold-separately Classical Composition IV: Refutation-Confirmation Stage Student Book.

A section of teaching guidelines outlines the goals and basic steps for each type of exercise at the outset of the book. Lesson plans include reduced-size student pages with the correct answers overlaid. The margins contain detailed lessons including scripted questions with answers. A grading sheet and a level introduction is also included. 29 pages, softcover spiralbound. Grade 7+.

This set of lesson plans is designed to be used with the Memoria Press Classical Composition "Refutation/Confirmation Stage" curriculum. It provides a week-by-week schedule with assignments given for each day Monday-Friday. Covers 34 weeks. 9-page booklet; comb binding paperback.

Continue to use the classical approach in all of your subjects- - including writing! Memoria Press' Classical Composition program has updated the teacher's manuals that go along with their updated versions of author James Selby's classic homeschool curriculum.

This series is designed for students as young as 6th grade, and teaches students the fourteen composition skills known as the progymnasmata. This Common Topic stage level V provides 10 lessons that comprise the 5th of 14 stages.

Students read a passage, and then complete a set of paragraph-writing exercises that are repeated from lesson to lesson; these paragraphs are then combined into a final essay. Paragraphs call for a prologue with thesis statement, contrary paragraph, exposition, comparison, intention, digression, rejection of pity, heads of purpose, and then the final draft. Questions guide students through each section to help them move in the right direction.

8th Grade is the recommended grade for this set of books; however it may be used by older students. 108 pages, softcover. Non-reproducible, consumable worktext. Classical Composition Book V / Book 5.

This teacher's guide accompanies the sold-separately Classical Composition Book V, Common Topic Student Book.

A grading sheet, introduction, and definition of terms section is provided for the teacher. Lesson plans include reduced-size student pages with the correct answers overlaid. The margins around the student pages are filled with step-by-step lessons with scripted questions, teacher tips, assignment instructions, and notes on how to prepare for the next class. Softcover. 2nd Edition. Grade 8+.

What if you could teach your child using the same writing program that produced such masters of the language as John Milton, William Shakespeare, and Benjamin Franklin? What if you could have the same composition curriculum used by Quintilian, the greatest teacher of ancient rhetoric, and Cicero, the greatest persuasive speaker of all time?

Jim Selby has blown the dust off the writing curriculum that was used in schools for over 1,500 years and put it in an easy-to-teach format that will revolutionize your home or private school curriculum. Presented clearly and systematically in a structured curriculum, Classical Composition will give you a clear road map to writing excellence.

Ancient writers invented a way of teaching writing known as the progymnasmata, which provided a method of teaching composition that not only taught budding writers a disciplined way to approach communication, but also helped them appeal to the heads of their audience. The progymnasmata gave them the stylistic tools to appeal to their hearts as well.

The greatest communicators of ancient times, Quintilian and Cicero among them, employed the progymnasmata to teach their students the art of communication. The 14 exercises, organized from the simplest and most basic to the most complex and sophisticated, were the core education of a classical speaker, designed to produce what Quintilian once called "the good man, speaking well."

Continue to use the classical approach in all of your subjects- - including writing! Memoria Press' Classical Composition program has updated the teacher's manuals that go along with their updated versions of author James Selby's classic homeschool curriculum.

This series is designed for students as young as 6th grade, and teaches students the fourteen composition skills known as the progymnasmata. This Encomium/Incvective/Comparison level VI stage provides 18 lessons that comprise the 6th of 14 stages.

Students read a passage, and then complete a set of paragraph-writing exercises that are repeated from lesson to lesson; these paragraphs are then combined into a final essay for each lesson. Students will begin with a thesis statement in a prologue paragraph before moving on to paragraphs covering the subject's source (or birth or origin), education (the purpose of the subject in question and what results from that purpose), achievements (describes the results of the subject, including traits), comparison (a way to enhance arguments for or against the subject via comparison), and an epilogue that concludes the essay. Questions guide students through each section to help them move in the right direction. Students will hopefully gain the skills necessary to effectively communicate through both written and oral composition while mastering memory and delivery skills and developing vocabulary, diction, spelling, grammar, style, word variation, sentence structure, and more.

9th Grade is the recommended grade for this set of books; however it may be used by older students. 148 pages, softcover. Non-reproducible, consumable worktext. Classical Composition Book VI / Book 6.

This teacher's guide accompanies the sold-separately Classical Composition IV: Encomium, Invective, & Comparison Stages.

A section of teaching guidelines outlines the goals and basic steps for each type of exercise at the outset of the book. Lesson plans include reduced-size student pages with the correct answers overlaid. Step-by-step lesson instructions, including scripted questions with answers, are included in the margins. A grading sheet and a level introduction is also included. 149 pages, softcover. Grade 9+.

Continue to use the classical approach in all of your subjects- - including writing! Memoria Press' Classical Composition program has updated the teacher's manuals that go along with their updated versions of author James Selby's classic homeschool curriculum.

This series is designed for students as young as 6th grade, and teaches students the fourteen composition skills known as the progymnasmata. This Characterization level VII stage provides 15 lessons that comprise the 7th of 14 stages.

This stage focuses on stylistic skills, as well as furthering skills of Invention and Arrangement. These exercises also hone sequencing abilities through narrative-based soliloquy exercises. Students work on mastering paraphrasing as they characterize readings sentence-by-sentence in the present, past, and future tenses---and with each sentence limited by a word count.

Successful students will gain the skills necessary to effectively communicate through both written and oral composition while mastering memory and delivery skills and developing vocabulary, diction, spelling, grammar, style, word variation, sentence structure, and more.

10th Grade is the recommended grade for this set of books; however it may be used by older students. 61 pages, softcover. Non-reproducible, consumable worktext. Classical Composition Book VII / Book 7.

This teacher's guide accompanies the sold-separately Classical Composition VII: Characterization Student Book.

A grading sheet, introduction, and definition of terms section is provided for the teacher. Lesson plans include reduced-size student pages with the correct answers overlaid. The margins around the student pages are filled with step-by-step lessons with scripted questions, teacher tips, and assignment instructions. Softcover. Grade 10+.

Continue to use the classical approach in all of your subjects- - including writing! Memoria Press' Classical Composition program has updated the teacher's manuals that go along with their updated versions of author James Selby's classic homeschool curriculum.

This series is designed for students as young as 6th grade, and teaches students the fourteen composition skills known as the progymnasmata. This Characterization level VII stage provides 15 lessons that comprise the 7th of 14 stages.

This stage focuses on stylistic skills, as well as furthering skills of Invention and Arrangement. These exercises also hone sequencing abilities through narrative-based soliloquy exercises. Students work on mastering paraphrasing as they characterize readings sentence-by-sentence in the present, past, and future tenses---and with each sentence limited by a word count.

Successful students will gain the skills necessary to effectively communicate through both written and oral composition while mastering memory and delivery skills and developing vocabulary, diction, spelling, grammar, style, word variation, sentence structure, and more.

10th Grade is the recommended grade for this set of books; however it may be used by older students. 61 pages, softcover. Non-reproducible, consumable worktext. Classical Composition Book VII / Book 7.

Continue to use the classical approach in all of your subjects- - including writing! Memoria Press' Classical Composition program has updated the teacher's manuals that go along with their updated versions of author James Selby's classic homeschool curriculum.

This series is designed for students as young as 6th grade, and teaches students the fourteen composition skills known as the progymnasmata. This Description level VIII stage provides 9 lessons that comprise the 8th of 14 stages.

This stage focuses on the development of a fast-paced, free, relaxed descriptive style. Students will learn how to hold a reader's attention through a lengthy description as they describe places, times, a person, a thing, and time and place together. Each section is given (e.g. introduction, what surrounds the subject, what the subject contains, final draft etc.) with a word count for each, guiding students step-by-step through how to develop a description.

Successful students will gain the skills necessary to effectively communicate through both written and oral composition while mastering memory and delivery skills and developing vocabulary, diction, spelling, grammar, style, word variation, sentence structure, and more.

11th Grade is the recommended grade for this set of books; however it may be used by older students. 72 pages, softcover. Non-reproducible, consumable worktext. Classical Composition Book VIII / Book 8.

Continue to use the classical approach in all of your subjects- - including writing! Memoria Press' Classical Composition program has updated the teacher's manuals that go along with their updated versions of author James Selby's classic homeschool curriculum.

This series is designed for students to begin as early as in 6th grade, and teaches students the fourteen composition skills known as the progymnasmata. This Thesis and Law level IX stage provides 13 lessons that comprise the 9th of 14 stages.

This stage helps students hone reasoning skills through the introduction of counterpoint and resolution, and provides students with many opportunities to create arguments (Invention) through using "Heads of purpose" which are then demonstrated using "heads of development." Students are given a topic (e.g. "When Should One Learn Logic and Rhetoric" or "Approval/Disapproval for a Law that Suspends Dress Code Violators" ); they are then given an outline to fill in paragraph-by-paragraph, and which is then re-written into a final draft. This book will prepare students for advanced rhetoric courses, improve their skills of argumentation, and help give them the ability to write essays for college entrance exams.

Successful students will gain the skills necessary to effectively communicate through both written and oral composition while mastering memory and delivery skills and developing vocabulary, diction, spelling, grammar, style, word variation, sentence structure, and more.

12th Grade is recommended for this set of books. 120 pages, softcover. Non-reproducible, consumable worktext. Classical Composition Book IX / Book 9.