Michael Clay Thompson’s writing series begins with the lavishly illustrated Sentence Island. Ideally, Thompson would like children to use Grammar Island first and then proceed to Sentence Island while working concurrently with Building Language and The Music of the Hemispheres.
The entire book is devoted to the sentence. A child who cannot write a sentence cannot write and will never be able to write, so it is essential that children master sentence writing. Most programs do not devote enough time and attention to the sentence, and hence many children do not master writing sentences at a level that provides an adequate foundation for more advanced writing.
Sentence Island teaches advanced concepts in a lively way. Understanding these concepts enables the child to write sentences that make sense, communicate ideas, and impart information. The book's approach and the wonderful illustrations demonstrate that it can be fun to write well. Although the presentation is simple, the information is sophisticated, and by the end of the book, the child is getting information not usually taught until high school or college—if at all.
This volume features an array of quirky animals, birds, insects, a talking tree, and an amazing fish whose name is Mud. From each character, Mud learns a different aspect of sentence structure. Mud and his friends proved so popular with children that Thompson was impelled to write a series of novels about them. They make enjoyable learning the rules and concepts that are the essential foundation for formal writing.
The Sentence Island teacher manual includes the full text of the student book plus special boxes that contain tips and further questions for the instructor, activities for further study, suggestions for implementing the student book, and answers to questions and exercises.
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