The McClanahan 7: Fitting Words Review #hsreviews #PictaDicta #RomanRoadsMedia #FittingWords #Classical #Rhetoric

Thursday, September 13, 2018

Fitting Words Review #hsreviews #PictaDicta #RomanRoadsMedia #FittingWords #Classical #Rhetoric

Delaney loves to write! She always has a few stories going on in writing and a lot more rumbling in her mind. When we were offered Fitting Words Classical Rhetoric (Complete Set) from Roman Roads Media I thought it would be great for her to use in order for her to choose her words correctly.

Rhetoric is the art of effective and persuasive speech and writing. Fitting Words is a high school rhetoric course written from a Christian perspective. The key concepts covered in the text are the five faculties of oratory including invention, arrangement, style, memory, and delivery. As well as the modes of persuasion; ethos, pathos, and logos. The goal of Fitting Words is to help Christian high school students learn to speak with elegance and persuasion.

We received the complete set of Fitting words and it includes the student textbook, workbook, answer key, an exam packet, and the video course on DVD. We also received a very durable tote to keep all the components in one place.

Student Textbook~ This is a 394-page non-consumable hardback book. The text is divided into 7 units with a total of 30 lessons for a complete high school course. The student should be completing one lesson per week for the one-year course. Each lesson has one or two exercises in the student workbook and the student will write and deliver five speeches for the course. Also included in every lesson are optional assignments. These additional assignments are Thinking Deeper, Developing Memory, and Reading Further. These assignments are easily identified because they are marked with their own icon and they further the study or discussion of the topic taught in that lesson. The appendix includes speeches from famous people.
Workbook ~ This workbook is spiral bound and is consumable. Most lessons have two exercises and there are speech judging sheets included that are identical to the ones that should be used to judge the speech.
Answer Key~ This is a softcover book with the answers for the workbook & the exams. It has the exact sheets found in the workbook but the answers are filled in. There are also two optional course schedules included to make Fitting Words a one-year course or a two-year.
Exam Packet ~ These exams are on looseleaf paper that are punched to fit in a 3-ring binder. It includes a review sheet for each test, the test answers, and speech judging sheets.
Video Course ~ This is available in streaming, DVD, and Blu Ray formatting. Each lesson is taught in two segments. The first one goes through the lesson and the second one talks about the student exercises. There are also exam prep segments.

Delaney is in the eleventh grade and she has been using Fitting Words. She has been completing one lesson per week. She watches each of the video segments and completes the student workbook. Delaney doesn't really like technology in school. She doesn't like to work on the computer unless she is writing and she doesn't like to use DVDs either. She balked at me for making her watch these video segments, but she did admit the lesson goes better if she watches them she thought the exam review video was very helpful before taking the text. She also started the Commonplace Book that was suggested in the text which is a notebook to write down quotes, or sayings that she comes across. She actually already does this on her own. Since she loves to write and take pictures she likes to watch for things to include in her writings so she has a Sayings Book she started years ago. In the sidebar of the textbook, she is introduced to Famous Orators. They include a picture of their bust as a statue and tells a little bit about them. Delaney really likes these and has actually skipped through the book to read them.

This course has been an excellent fit for Delaney. It is challenging her and she is enjoying it. I am letting her decide on the extra work and she has added that in for some of the lessons. I really like that this course looks at Biblical orations and uses Bible verses to look at moral character. I think this helps teens to be able to relate Biblical truths within their own lives instead of just living them because they know they should. We are both looking forward to completing this course to see how much her writing improves.