By Mary Jane McKinney
Grammardog.com
www.grammardog.com
PO Box 299
Christoval, TX 76935
325-896-2479
The Grammardog Guide to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is a CD-ROM with exercises covering a variety of topics, including parts of speech, proofreading, sentence structure, complements, phrases, verbals, clauses, figurative language, poetic devices, sensory imagery, allusions, and literary analysis. The CD-ROM is in PDF format. The product also comes with an answer key and glossary. The text of the story, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, is not included. This will need to be bought separately.
This product is used as a supplement to learning the different rules of grammar in connection with a great book. The product does not specify an age or grade level, but it appears to be on a 4th or 5th grade level. The pages can be viewed from a computer or printed for each exercise. This teaching technique can be used for a visual and a kinesthetic learner in mind. It can be used as part of a unit study, or it can stand alone during any structured teaching time. The website provides links to other books and resources. There is also an interactive portion of the site (available for a fee) that allows you to access the exercises in an interactive format. The fee is quite expensive and would be more feasible in a larger school setting. However, if you are interested in this portion the program, you may call the company and discuss your personal circumstances. You might be able to negotiate access at a lower fee.
I enjoyed reviewing this program. It offers a variety of exercises and covers a wide range of grammar rules. Although the interactivity portion of the program can be helpful for a visual learner, the CD-ROM alone has a great amount of information that can be used by a variety of learners. I would like to see this program expanded into an actual software program that is more interactive in nature but also affordable to the user. I would definitely recommend this product to anyone who wants to supplement their child's reading with exercises that will expand knowledge of grammar rules. It is helpful, covers a wide variety and is easily read and navigated. The author is also adding titles to this series. This will give your child a variety of great books to choose from and will give you more teachable options for literature.
Product review by Christy Sensenig, The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, LLC, August 2007
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