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Pros and Cons of Journeys Reading Program

Looking to enhance your reading program? Curious about the pros and cons of the Journeys Reading Program? Wondering if it's worth implementing in your classroom? Look no further!

In this article, we'll explore the benefits and challenges of the Journeys Reading Program, as well as effective instructional strategies and potential limitations.

Discover how this program can impact student engagement and motivation, and learn about its adaptability and customization options.

Uncover the long-term outcomes and effectiveness of the Journeys Reading Program.

Let's dive in!

Key Takeaways

  • Wide variety of engaging and age-appropriate literature
  • Incorporates interactive activities and multimedia resources
  • Provides a comprehensive approach to reading instruction
  • May not cater to individual needs and learning styles

Benefits of the Journeys Reading Program

You should take advantage of the benefits offered by the Journeys Reading Program. This program provides numerous advantages that can greatly enhance your reading skills and overall learning experience.

Firstly, Journeys offers a wide variety of engaging and age-appropriate literature that can captivate your interest and make reading enjoyable. The program includes a diverse range of genres, from fiction to non-fiction, ensuring that you're exposed to different types of texts.

Additionally, Journeys incorporates interactive activities and multimedia resources that can help you better understand and analyze the content. These resources include videos, online games, and interactive quizzes that can make learning more interactive and fun.

Moreover, the program provides a comprehensive approach to reading instruction, focusing on important skills such as phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. By utilizing the Journeys Reading Program, you can develop a solid foundation in these essential reading skills, which will benefit you not only in school but also in your everyday life.

Challenges of Implementing the Journeys Reading Program

Implementing the Journeys Reading Program can present several challenges. You may encounter difficulties in getting teachers trained on the program and fully understanding its components. However, with proper support and resources, you can overcome these challenges and ensure successful implementation of the program.

Implementation Difficulties

It's common to face challenges when implementing the Journeys Reading Program. Here are some difficulties you might encounter:

  • Lack of teacher training: Many educators struggle with implementing the program because they haven't received adequate training on how to effectively use it in the classroom. This can lead to confusion and frustration.
  • Limited resources: Some schools may not have the necessary resources, such as books or technology, to fully implement the program. This can hinder students' progress and limit their access to the materials they need.
  • Time constraints: Implementing a new program takes time, and teachers often feel overwhelmed with the additional workload. Finding time to plan and execute lessons can be a challenge, especially when balancing other responsibilities.
  • Student engagement: Keeping students engaged and motivated can be difficult, especially if they aren't accustomed to the program or find it uninteresting. Teachers may need to incorporate additional strategies to make the program more engaging for their students.

Despite these challenges, with proper support and resources, the Journeys Reading Program can be successfully implemented to benefit both teachers and students.

Overcoming Program Challenges

To overcome program challenges in implementing the Journeys Reading Program, you can collaborate with colleagues to share strategies and resources. By working together, you can find innovative ways to engage students and address any difficulties that may arise. Here are some strategies that you can discuss and implement:

Effective Instructional Strategies With the Journeys Reading Program

You can enhance student engagement with the Journeys Reading Program by incorporating interactive activities. Here are four ideas to get you started:

  • Learning Stations : Set up different stations around the classroom where students can explore different aspects of the reading program. For example, one station could focus on vocabulary development, while another could involve reading comprehension activities. This allows students to actively participate and interact with the material.
  • Group Projects : Assign students to work in small groups on projects related to the reading program. For instance, they could create a presentation on a book they read or act out a scene from a story. This encourages collaboration and provides an opportunity for students to apply what they've learned.
  • Online Discussions : Use online platforms to facilitate discussions about the reading material. Students can share their thoughts, ask questions, and respond to their classmates' comments. This not only promotes critical thinking but also allows for peer interaction.
  • Real-World Connections : Help students make connections between the reading material and the real world. For example, have them research a topic mentioned in a book or interview someone with expertise in a relevant field. This brings the reading program to life and makes it more meaningful to students.

Potential Limitations of the Journeys Reading Program

Although the Journeys Reading Program offers a comprehensive curriculum, it may have potential limitations that need to be addressed. While the program provides a structured and organized approach to teaching reading skills, it may not fully cater to the individual needs and learning styles of all students. Additionally, the program heavily relies on textbooks and workbooks, which may limit the use of diverse and interactive teaching materials. By incorporating a variety of instructional strategies and resources, educators can enhance the effectiveness of the Journeys Reading Program and promote a more engaging and inclusive learning environment.

To better understand the pros and cons of the Journeys Reading Program, let's take a look at a comparison table:

Impact on Student Engagement and Motivation

By incorporating a variety of instructional strategies and resources, you can enhance the effectiveness of the Journeys Reading Program and promote a more engaging and inclusive learning environment for your students. Here are four ways to achieve this:

  • Differentiated Instruction: Tailor your lessons to meet the diverse needs of your students. Provide options for different reading levels and offer a variety of activities that cater to different learning styles. This will ensure that all students are actively engaged and motivated to learn.
  • Technology Integration: Utilize technology tools and resources to supplement the Journeys Reading Program. This could include interactive online activities, educational apps, or multimedia resources that enhance the learning experience and make it more interactive and engaging for students.
  • Collaborative Learning: Encourage students to work together in pairs or small groups. This promotes collaboration, communication, and critical thinking skills. It also creates a sense of community and fosters a positive learning environment.
  • Real-World Connections: Make connections between the content of the Journeys Reading Program and real-life situations. Help students see the relevance and importance of what they're learning by discussing how it relates to their own lives or current events. This will increase their motivation and engagement in the program.

Adaptability and Customization Options

Utilize the adaptability and customization options available in the Journeys Reading Program to create a personalized learning experience for your students, ensuring their engagement and success. With Journeys, you have the flexibility to tailor the curriculum to meet the specific needs of your students. Whether you have advanced readers who need more challenging materials or struggling readers who require additional support, Journeys allows you to easily modify the content and pacing to suit each individual learner.

One of the key advantages of the Journeys Reading Program is its ability to adapt to different learning styles. By incorporating a variety of instructional strategies, such as visual aids, hands-on activities, and multimedia resources, you can cater to the unique preferences and strengths of your students. This not only helps to keep them engaged but also enhances their understanding and retention of the material.

In addition, Journeys offers a range of customization options that allow you to align the curriculum with your specific teaching goals and objectives. Whether you want to focus on particular skills or themes, or incorporate cross-curricular content, Journeys provides the tools and resources to make it happen. By tailoring the program to meet your students' interests and needs, you can create a more meaningful and relevant learning experience.

Long-Term Outcomes and Effectiveness of the Journeys Reading Program

You can evaluate the long-term outcomes and effectiveness of the Journeys Reading Program by analyzing student achievement data and conducting follow-up assessments. This will provide valuable insights into the program's impact on students' reading skills and overall academic performance.

Here are four key areas to consider when evaluating the program:

  • Reading Proficiency: Look at the improvement in students' reading proficiency over time. Analyze their performance on standardized reading assessments and compare it to their initial baseline data. This will help you determine if the program is effectively helping students develop their reading skills.
  • Engagement and Motivation: Assess whether the Journeys Reading Program is engaging students and keeping them motivated to learn. Look for indicators such as increased participation, active involvement in class activities, and positive attitudes towards reading.
  • Literacy Skills Development: Evaluate the program's impact on students' overall literacy skills, including vocabulary development, comprehension abilities, and fluency. Consider conducting periodic assessments to track their progress in these areas.
  • Long-Term Success: Examine the long-term outcomes of students who've completed the Journeys Reading Program. Follow up with them after a certain period to see if they continue to excel in reading and if the skills they gained from the program have had a lasting impact on their academic success.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does the journeys reading program compare to other reading programs on the market.

When comparing the Journeys Reading Program to other reading programs on the market, you'll find that it offers a comprehensive approach, engaging content, and effective teaching strategies to help improve literacy skills.

Are There Any Additional Costs Associated With Implementing the Journeys Reading Program?

Yes, there are additional costs associated with implementing the Journeys Reading Program. For example, you may need to purchase supplementary materials or pay for professional development for teachers.

How Does the Journeys Reading Program Accommodate Students With Special Needs or Learning Disabilities?

The Journeys Reading Program accommodates students with special needs or learning disabilities by providing targeted instruction, differentiated materials, and support from trained educators. It aims to meet the unique needs of every learner.

Can the Journeys Reading Program Be Used in Conjunction With Other Literacy Interventions or Programs?

Looking to enhance your literacy interventions? The Journeys Reading Program can be seamlessly integrated with other programs, providing a comprehensive approach to meet the diverse needs of your students.

Are There Any Specific Professional Development Opportunities for Teachers Using the Journeys Reading Program?

There are specific professional development opportunities for teachers using the Journeys Reading Program. These opportunities can help you enhance your teaching skills and effectively implement the program in your classroom.

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evaluating journeys reading program

Jordon Layne

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My Thoughts on the Journeys Basal Program

journeys reading curriculum reviews

5 comments :

journeys reading curriculum reviews

Thank you for your thoughts on this. I do not love basal programs either, but I work in a school with very high turnover. We are hoping getting a curriculum will give our new teachers at least guidelines to follow and a decent scope and sequence.

journeys reading curriculum reviews

Since you have high turnover (of students? Or just teachers?) another benefit of Journeys is that it does have some spiral review. Good luck with your decision!

journeys reading curriculum reviews

Great post! I'm not familiar with Journeys. I've used Harcourt Trophies for a long time. I like it, but I don't use all of it, so I think that's why I like it. I like being given different resources and being able to pull what works for my students and my teaching style. I think the biggest problem is when a school system adopts a terrible program and expects it to be the end all be all! And they won't budge and let the teacher do anything else. Then when scores aren't great they blame the teacher, when it is actually the program.

YES. Exactly. That's why I took the angle I did for this post; here's how I made Journeys work. Not, "Don't buy it because of this and that," because I think you can say that about any basal. So I agree, it's a different ball game if a district puts "fidelity" above differentiation. If that's the case I would say that I can't say if Journeys is a good purchase because I haven't compared it to anything else.

journeys reading curriculum reviews

We're still using Scotts Foresman basals that are 12 years old! I've been having to use the reading in the Science and Social Studies book to keep up with that material so I've only recently been using the basal again. Our Language book is so awful and old, I don't even use it. I'm happy to read about your experience just on the outside chance that we'll get new Reading books. It seems like basals are being used more these days.

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New Product Review: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Journeys

HMH's Journeys

Across grades, Journeys presents instruction using a consistent structure that incorporates predictable routines (e.g., think-pair-share). At grades K-2, content focuses on the needs of developing readers and emphasizes the development of phonemic awareness and phonics, reading, writing, and speaking skills. At grades 3-6, content builds systematically increasing students’ skills and introducing increasingly complex texts. Reading selections emphasize diverse cultures and perspectives, as well as themes that support inclusion.

Each lesson includes two, age-appropriate anchor texts that reflect the unit’s theme. Anchor texts are a balance of literary and informational texts. Instruction focuses on close reading skills and includes teacher-led whole group and small group activities. Each unit includes grammar and writing practice activities and a “Compare Texts” feature that helps students connect what they have read to themselves, other texts, and the real-world. Units at each grade level end with a performance-based project that emphasizes communication skills.

About Houghton Mifflin Harcourt*

HMH creates engaging, dynamic and effective educational content and experiences from early childhood to K-12 and beyond the classroom, serving more than 50 million students in more than 150 countries. Available through multiple media, our content meets the needs of students, teachers, parents and lifelong learners, no matter where and how they learn.

HMH’s renowned and awarded children’s books, novels, nonfiction, and reference titles are enjoyed by readers throughout the world. Our distinguished author list, from Ralph Waldo Emerson to Philip Roth, and brands from Curious George to The Lord of the Rings, includes 10 Nobel Prize winners, 48 Pulitzer Prize winners, 15 National Book Award winners, and more than 100 Caldecott, Newbery, Printz and Sibert Medal and Honor recipients.

Information in this section is provided by or adapted from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt .

Subscribe to  Learning List  for access to the spec sheet, full editorial review and detailed alignment report for this material, and thousands of other widely used Pk-12 resources.

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  • Education Curriculum
  • Core Reading Programs

English Language Arts Program Grades K–6

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With Journeys © 2017, readers are empowered by skill mastery; inspired by authentic, award-winning text; and confident that they are building the skills needed for college and careers. Backed by proven results, it's no surprise that Journeys is used by over 6.7 million students nationwide.

Journeys works.

  • Journeys K–2 earns an ESSA  Strong Evidence rating from the Center for Research and Reform in Education at Johns Hopkins University .
  • Journeys instruction is based on the latest scientific research about what makes literacy instruction effective.
  • Journeys students consistently show positive academic gains. Explore the evidence .

Utmost Confidence with Proven Results!

Built upon a research-based instructional design and proven efficacy results , Journeys is the most widely used reading program across the country.

Empower Students to Read Rigorous Texts.

A realistically paced close reading routine and online tools empower students to read rigorous texts. Using authentic text to anchor the core instruction, Journeys weaves the skills of close reading into a practical routine that is designed to have students read and reread for a variety of purposes, giving students more time to dig deeper into the text. The Student eBook provides tools that promote close reading such as responding to questions at point-of-use, highlighting text, and taking notes online. Journeys Close Reader consumable resources feature the high-quality paired text from each Student Book lesson and instruction in reading, re-reading, note-taking, and text annotation—empowering students to read any rigorous text.

Flexible Literacy Instruction with Powerful Tools to Reach all Learners.

Journeys “your way” with an array of powerful, easy-to-use digital tools. From the Teacher Dashboard, use the versatile and fully searchable Journeys resources to customize lessons that engage and inspire students. All resources, from lessons to practice materials, are at teachers’ fingertips.

With Assessment, We Work in Progress.

Journeys assessment offerings allow teachers to inform instruction, monitor progress, and prepare students for academic challenges. The ability to assess and score assessments online supports these efforts by making it easier to track and report as needed. 

Leveled Readers Build Confident Readers.

Journeys Leveled Readers allow teachers to meet the needs of students through multiple titles in a variety of genres at each level. With precisely leveled texts and lesson plans designed by Irene Fountas— Journeys Special Consultant and leader in guided reading—you can be assured you are systematically building reading success as well as confident readers.

Explore More

Program overview.

Journeys is a K–6 comprehensive, research-based English Language Arts program built on the foundation of the proven Journeys instructional design that provides all students with a path to achieving rigorous standards with print and state-of-the-art digital components. Students are empowered by skill mastery, inspired by authentic, award-winning text, and are confident—confident in their problem-solving and critical-thinking skills, confident in their ability to analyze complex text, and confident that they are building the skills they need for college and careers.

Backed by Proven Results

Success builds confidence..

The research-based instructional design of Journeys , the most widely-used reading program in the country, is backed by the following efficacy studies that prove results were achieved.

National Research Base (3.61 MB)

HMH Journeys Research RCT Gold Standard Efficacy Study at Grades K–2

Students using the Journeys program showed significant growth on all six outcome measures and all subpopulations of students using Journeys showed significant learning gains. Comparisons between students using Journeys and students using other elementary language arts programs showed that Journeys students significantly outperformed control students.

Journeys Gold Standard Study (1.9 MB)

Field Study Efficacy Research

For this study a single unit was selected for the field study at Grades 2, 3, and 4. When comparing the pre- and post- test results, the average score increased by a statistically significant amount.

Journeys Field Study (442 KB)

Texas Journeys Multi-Year Quasi-Experimental Study

At Grades 3 and 5, Journeys students had significantly higher achievement than non- Journeys students. The percentage of students meeting/exceeding the state standards in reading was greater at Journeys schools than the comparison schools.

The Journeys advantage grew over the three-year interval, with the largest increase occurring in the third year.

Effectiveness of Journeys in Texas using existing data sources (5.7 MB)

Engaging, Complex Texts

Journeys uses multiple sources of engaging, complex text to develop a love of reading, teach strategies that result in close reading, and anchor all of the instruction throughout the lesson. 

Anchor Text

  • Authentic, award-winning texts from favorite authors
  • Worthy of reading and re-reading
  • Serves as a model text for grammar and writing lessons

Connected Text

  • Topically connected to the Anchor Text to develop content knowledge
  • Used as a second source to complete a performance-type task in Compare Text feature
  • Included in a consumable Close Reader for students to practice annotating and collecting text evidence

Trade Books

  • Allow students to apply what they are learning in an extended reading opportunity
  • Accompanied by two weeks of Project-based Learning in the Unit Teacher Editions that segments the text, teaching the same Close Reading Routine as used with the Anchor Text. 

Differentiation & Intervention

Whether through the print resources or eTeacher’s Guide with one click access, differentiation starts at point of use. Journeys provides a wealth of whole-class and small-group resources for flexibly meeting the needs of all learners every day right within the lesson. Daily Lesson Plans and a variety of resources provide tools to manage Small Group instruction.

Closely tying intervention back to the core program, the Write-in Reader, available in print or online, provides targeted Tier II intervention to help students develop the strategy of monitoring and clarifying. This re-reading for a purpose after each short passage supports analytic thinking and enables them to successfully access on-grade-level instruction. 

For Tier III intervention, HMH Decoding Power: Intensive Reading Instruction provides support in foundational skills, bringing struggling students up to grade level through a system of sequenced skills from entrance to exit.

Leveled Readers for Differentiated Instruction

Differentiated instruction in small groups helps focus instruction and provide immediate feedback. Journeys Leveled Readers, leveled by Irene Fountas, offer a wide range of readability levels at each grade allowing teachers to accelerate student progress towards reading more complex text. Journeys Leveled Readers are tied to the topic of the Anchor Text, include lesson vocabulary, and connect and extend comprehension skills and strategies from whole-class lessons. In addition to the small-group instructional support in the Teacher’s Edition, every Journeys Leveled Reader comes with an 8-page Teacher’s Guide designed by Irene Fountas that supports students at their instructional level. Each Teacher’s Guide includes Running Records along with opportunities to promote thinking within the text, thinking beyond the text, thinking about the text, and writing about reading.

Suite of Integrated Assessments

From daily touch points to more structured quarterly pull ups, HMH Assessments are strategically positioned within the academic year to help you accurately gauge your students’ progress. To help you understand how they work together, we’ve organized our individual assessment items around three key objectives:

  • Inform your instruction for each student
  • Monitor progress to optimize outcomes
  • Prepare students and teachers for the next academic challenge or diagnostic milestone

Developed by Literacy Experts

Teach with confidence. Journeys is a research-based comprehensive English Language Arts program developed by literacy experts including Special Consultant, Irene Fountas.

Shervaughnna Anderson - Program Consultant

Shervaughnna Anderson is the Director of the California Reading and Literature Project at UCLA. Ms. Anderson brings an extensive knowledge of coaching and has experience in establishing and nurturing professional learning communities. She is a former teacher, coach, and site and district-level administrator.

Before joining the UCLA Reading Program, Ms. Anderson was a K–12 English Language Arts Consultant at the Los Angeles County Office of Education. She has experience working with diverse student populations throughout the United States and abroad. In addition, she has served on state committees addressing English Language Arts instruction, English Learners, and instructional practices for African American students.

Martha Hougen - Program Consultant

Martha Hougen is a national consultant, presenter, researcher, and author. Areas of expertise include differentiating instruction for students with learning difficulties, including those with learning disabilities and dyslexia, and teacher and leader preparation improvement. Dr. Hougen received a BS in Education from University of Wisconsin at Madison, an MEd from American University, and a PhD in Educational Administration from University of Texas at Austin. She has taught at the middle school through graduate levels. Recently her focus has been on working with teacher educators to enhance teacher and leader preparation to better meet the needs of all students.

In addition to peer-reviewed articles, curricular documents, and presentations, Dr. Hougen has published two college textbooks: The Fundamentals of Literacy Assessment and Instruction Pre-K–6 (2012) and The Fundamentals of Literacy Assessment and Instruction 6–12 (2014).

Carol Jago - Program Consultant

Carol Jago is a teacher of English in middle and high school for 32 years, and director of the California Reading and Literature Project at UCLA. Past president of the National Council of Teachers of English, Ms. Jago served as AP* Literature content advisor for the College Board and now serves on its English Academic Advisory committee. She edits the journal of the California Association of Teachers of English, California English , and served on the planning committee for the 2009 NAEP Reading Framework and the 2011 NAEP Writing Framework.

She is the recipient of the IRA Thought Leader in Adolescent Literacy Award. Ms. Jago has published six books with Heinemann, including With Rigor for All and Papers, Papers, Papers . She has also published four books on contemporary multicultural authors for NCTE’s High School Literature Series.

Ms. Jago received her BA in English from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and MA Secondary Credential from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles.

Erik Palmer - Program Consultant

Erik Palmer is a veteran teacher and education consultant based in Denver, Colorado. Dr. Palmer’s areas of focus include improving oral communication, promoting technology in classroom presentations, and updating instruction through the use of digital tools. He has worked with school districts in the United States and Mexico in the area of teaching speaking skills to 21st-century learners. He has also worked with private and public schools as a consultant on two topics: teaching oral communication, and showing non-tech-savvy teachers practical ways to use technology in the classroom. He is a frequent presenter and keynote speaker at state, regional, and national conferences of education professionals.

Dr. Palmer holds a BA from Oberlin College and an MA in curriculum and instruction from the University of Colorado. He is the author of Well Spoken: Teaching Speaking to All Students and Digitally Speaking: How to Improve Student Presentations .

Shane Templeton - Program Consultant

Shane Templeton is the Foundation Professor Emeritus of Literacy Studies at the University of Nevada, Reno. A former classroom teacher at the primary and secondary levels, Dr. Templeton’s research has focused on developmental word knowledge in elementary, middle, and high school students. He is co-author of Words Their Way ; Vocabulary Their Way: Word Study for Middle and Secondary Students ; Words Their Way with Struggling Readers , Grades 4–12; and Words Their Way with English Learners . His other books include Teaching the Integrated Language Arts and Children’s Literacy: Contexts for Meaningful Learning.

Since 1987, Dr. Templeton has been a member of the Usage Panel of The American Heritage ® Dictionary. He is an educational consultant on The American Heritage Children’s Dictionary and wrote the foreword to the recently published Curious George’s Dictionary . He is also a senior author of Houghton Mifflin Reading ; Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Spelling and Vocabulary ; coauthor of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt English ; and co-author of Earobics ® REACH .

Sheila W. Valencia - Program Consultant

Sheila Valencia is a professor of Language, Literacy, and Culture at the University of Washington, where she teaches and conducts research in the areas of literacy assessment, instruction, policy, and teacher development. Dr. Valencia began her career as a 6th-grade teacher in an urban district in New York City, followed by several years as a teacher in a rural district, and then as director of a reading clinic for students with reading difficulties. She went back into public education for six years before returning to academia as a teacher educator and researcher.

Dr. Valencia’s work has appeared in numerous journals, including Reading Research Quarterly , The Reading Teacher , Elementary School Journal , Journal of Literacy Research , and Journal of Teacher Education . She is also a co-author of Houghton Mifflin Reading . Dr. Valencia has served on national, state, and local assessment committees to improve reading assessment systems and policies, and was the 2009–2010 chair of the IRA Assessment Committee. In 2008, she was inducted into the International Reading Association Reading Hall of Fame. Dr. Valencia received her MEd from SUNY Buffalo and a PhD from the University of Colorado.

MaryEllen Vogt - Program Consultant

MaryEllen Vogt is a Distinguished Professor Emerita of Education at California State University, Long Beach. Dr. Vogt has been a classroom teacher, reading specialist, special education specialist, curriculum coordinator, and university teacher educator, and served as president of the International Reading Association. Her research interests include improving comprehension in the content areas, teacher change and development, and content literacy and language acquisition for English learners.

Dr. Vogt has provided professional development in all fifty US states, and in nine other countries. She was inducted into the California Reading Hall of Fame, and received her university’s Distinguished Faculty Teaching Award. With a doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley, Dr. Vogt is a co-author of 15 publications, including Houghton Mifflin Reading ; 99 MORE Ideas and Activities for Teaching English Learners with the SIOP Model ; and Reading Specialist and Literacy Coaches in the Real World, Third Edition .

Irene Fountas - Special Consultant

Irene Fountas is a former classroom teacher, language arts specialist, and consultant in school districts across the nation and abroad. Ms. Fountas works extensively in the literacy education field and directs the Literacy Collaborative in the School of Education at Lesley University. She spends her time providing training to literacy coaches and key administrators who play roles in teacher development and school improvement. Along with her co-author, Gay Su Pinnell, she has developed the country’s most widely used standard for leveling text for small group instruction. They have authored many books, including Guided Reading , Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency , and When Readers Struggle . Their latest publication is The Continuum of Literacy Learning, Grades Pre-K–8: A Guide to Teaching .

Dr. Fountas is the recipient of the Greater Boston Council of the International Reading Association’s Celebrate Literacy Award. She is a consulting author for Lessons in Literacy from Great Source, Houghton Mifflin Leveled Readers , Houghton Mifflin Vocabulary Readers , and Houghton Mifflin Science Leveled Readers .

*AP is a registered trademark of the College Entrance Examination Board, which was not involved in the production of, and does not endorse, these products. American Heritage® is a registered trademark of American Heritage, Inc. Earobics Reach © 2011 Altis Avante Corp. All rights reserved. Distributed by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt under license. Earobics® is a registered trademark of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. CURIOUS GEORGE, created by Margret and H.A. Rey, is copyrighted and trademarked by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.

K–12 Solution

The goal of English Language Arts educators is to build a continuum of standards instruction, student achievement, assessment readiness, and preparedness for college and careers. As the leading provider of ELA content, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt offers a continuity of learning experiences that span K–12. With Journeys © 2017 at Grades K–6 and Collections © 2017 at Grades 6–12, the progression from grade to grade and from elementary to secondary is connected by Shared Program Consultants, literacy experts, and familiar instructional design, features, and resources to ensure a continuum of achievement for students. 

Common Resources and Components

  • Close Reader: Develops analysis skills by guiding students to read/reread, annotate the text, and cite evidence to support inferences and conclusions.
  • my WriteSmart: A collaborative interactive writing and performance assessment tool
  • Stream to Start™ Videos: Engaging format to introduce the unit topic
  • Channel One News ® : Award-winning daily news program to spark conversations
  • FYI site: Provides contemporary informational texts and media to engage students with real-world connections
  • Interactive Lessons for Writing, Speaking, and Listening: Provide engaging digital lessons to extend and enrich instruction
  • my Notebook: Digital tool allows students to collect and organize their notes in preparation for writing
  • Language Workshop: Additional daily instruction for English language development that accelerates student acquisition of academic language skills
  • Continuum Assessments™: Measures student growth over time with technology-enhanced item formats that adapt to each student
  • Performance Assessment: Guided instruction and practice for successfully completing performance tasks

Common Instructional Features

  • Text X-Ray: Breaks down the key ideas in the text and provides a way to make challenging concepts comprehensible to all students
  • Text Complexity Rubrics: Quantitative and qualitative text complexity at a glance
  • Annotate It! : Guides the use of technology into the instruction for seamless integration. 

Stream to Start™, Continuum Assessments™, and Channel One News® are trademarks or registered trademarks of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Spanish and Biliteracy Resources

Because HMH is committed to providing teachers and students with access to quality resources in both English and Spanish, a wide range of Senderos resources are available through the Journeys Teacher and Student Dashboards on ThinkCentral, including:

Leveled Readers

  • Family Connections: Letters Home
  • Decodable Readers

Scope and Sequence

Journeys is a comprehensive English Language Arts program that provides systematic instruction for Reading Literature and Informational Text, Foundational Skills, Speaking and Listening, Language, Writing, and English Language Development. To see the complete scope and sequence of instruction, click on the link.

Grade K  (409k)

Grade 1  (298k)

Grade 2  (829k)

Grade 3  (770k)

Grade 4  (776k)

Grade 5  (261k)

Grade 6  (228k)

Virtual Sampling

Journeys © 2017 is a comprehensive, research-based English Language Arts program built on the foundation of the proven Journeys instructional design, providing all students with a path to achieving rigorous standards with print and state-of-the-art digital components. Students are empowered by skills mastery and inspired by authentic, award-winning text that builds confidence with:

  • Developing problem-solving and critical-thinking skills.
  • Strengthening the ability to analyze complex text.
  • Building the necessary skills for college and careers.

Sample Journeys Now

  • National © 2017
  • National © 2014
  • National © 2012

Sample Senderos Now

Journeys is a research-based English Language Arts program with proven results. Focused, comprehensive instruction helps to engage and meet the needs of all learners, ensuring that every reader is empowered, inspired and confident.

Close Reading Routine

A practical three-step routine paces students, allowing them more time to dig deeper analyzing the text which, in turn, empowers them to read more complex text.

All instruction is tied together by an anchor text—authentic, complex text that anchors all instruction. These are the texts that teachers love to teach and inspire students to love to read.

Journeys Leveled Readers offer multiple titles in a variety of genres at each level. Precisely leveled texts and lesson plans build reading success while also building confident readers.

Student Resources

The Journeys Student Book is a comprehensive resource that provides instruction and practice for all strands of ELA instruction: close reading of authentic, complex text; writing to sources; process writing; speaking and listening activities; academic vocabulary development; and grammar lessons. Journeys offers rich and engaging reading experiences through a wealth of authentic award-winning texts for all learners. The Table of Contents identifies the literary and informational selections, many of them exemplar and award-winning texts—the texts students love to read.

Beginning in Kindergarten with read alouds, all instruction is tied together by an anchor text—a core piece of authentic, complex text that does exactly what the name implies . . . it anchors all instruction. These are the texts that teachers love to teach and inspire students to love to read. Why does HMH ® anchor instruction to authentic, complex text? Because only authentic, complex text is worthy of reading and rereading and only authentic, complex text mirrors what students will encounter on next generation assessments. This means seamless, daily practice and preparation for high stakes assessments.

To develop the habit of close reading, students need practice analyzing complex texts. The Close Readers at grades 1-6 feature the high-quality paired text from each Student Book lesson in an interactive, read/reread format. To facilitate active analysis, students are guided to annotate and mark up complete texts. To strengthen student's understanding of the lesson topic, each close reading culminates in a written response tied to the lesson's Essential Question.

The Reader’s Notebook provides prompts and questions for text analysis as well as practice with reading comprehension, writing, and language skills.

Digital Resources

The Student eBook provides tools that promote close reading of complex texts. Students can respond to questions at point-of-use, record spoken responses, highlight text, and take notes online.

Create a learning environment that inspires all learners with digital resources that launch from the Student eBook unit openers. Much like movie trailers, Stream to Start™ Videos pique student interest, introduce the topic, and create a framework for thinking about the unit texts as a whole. For encouraging students to talk and write about today's issues and events, the FYI site provides fresh, curated informational texts related to the unit, while Channel One News ® provides award-winning daily news to spark conversation.

Providing instruction and guidance for purposefully rereading specific parts of the complex Anchor Text, Be a Reading Detective inspires students to read closely and to analyze the use of language.

The Student Dashboard gives learners access to a wealth of resources, including the Student eBook, my WriteSmart, interactive digital lessons, and up-to-date informational articles related to unit topics.

my Notebook allows students to collect and organize their notes in preparation for writing and discussions.

Extend and enrich learning through engaging, student-directed Interactive Lessons in writing and listening and speaking.

Stream to Start™ and Channel One News® are trademarks or registered trademarks of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Help students build their vocabulary knowledge through weekly lessons on academic and domain-specific vocabulary tied to the Anchor Texts.

Vocabulary in Context Cards help students deepen their vocabulary knowledge by engaging with the photograph, context sentence, and definition for each Target Vocabulary word. In the Student eBook, students can click on a highlighted vocabulary word to see and hear the definition in English and Spanish, providing student-directed point-of-use scaffolds for vocabulary development.

Vocabulary Strategy lessons give students the morphological and contextual tools they need to determine and confirm the meaning of unfamiliar words and to generate new vocabulary.

An informational Vocabulary Reader for each lesson provides additional practice with the vocabulary introduced in the Anchor Text.

Foundational Skills

Building confidence in young readers begins with strong foundational skills. Journeys provides all the resources needed for Foundational Skills instruction, appropriate pacing, and a sequence of skills to help empower even the youngest learners. Fluency skills are taught explicitly once each week and are practiced and applied daily. In every lesson, students practice recognizing decoding elements and applying them to reading fluency. Decoding skills tie directly to spelling patterns and principles to ensure word knowledge growth across students’ reading and writing tasks.

Alphafriend Cards and activities provide letter-sound practice through research-based characters and songs.

Sound/Spelling Cards are used for modeling and explicit instruction in sound-spelling correspondences.

Decodable Readers and Blend-It Books provide opportunities to apply every sound-spelling correspondence in multiple contexts, building mastery.

Leveled Readers and Vocabulary Readers

Build confident readers. Differentiated instruction in small groups helps teachers focus instruction and provide immediate feedback. Journeys Leveled Readers allow teachers to confidently meet the needs of students through multiple titles in a variety of genres at each level. With precisely leveled texts and lesson plans designed by Irene Fountas, Journeys Special Consultant and leader in Guided Reading, teachers can be assured they are systematically building reading success.

In every lesson, Journeys includes a Vocabulary Reader, an additional leveled text that provides more contextualized practice with the vocabulary introduced in the Anchor Text. To build students' domain knowledge, each Vocabulary Reader is an informational text. And like the other Leveled Readers in Journeys , the Vocabulary Readers are supported by an eight-page lesson plan designed by Irene Fountas.

Extend Reading

Engage and extend reading to inspire students to want to read more. Students in Grades 1–6 have opportunities three times per year to immerse themselves in a full-length trade book, drawing on their close reading experiences with selections in the Student Book. Each trade book has a title-specific lesson plan that contains the 3-part close reading routine that students are familiar using to analyze the Student Book Anchor Texts. To support 21st century learning, each trade book is available digitally with audio and each lesson features two weeks of project-based learning tied to the topic of the trade book.

Reading Adventures Magazines for students in Grades 3–6 include texts and activities on a variety of engaging topics that motivate students to finish the school year strong.

Lesson Plans

The Journeys weekly lesson plan for both whole-class and small-group instruction provides a clean overview and realistic pacing of instruction.

my SmartPlanner, a powerful planning tool, and a few clicks allow you to spend less time planning and more time teaching the art of reading.

Journeys fully searchable Dashboard resources are right at teachers’ fingertips to customize lessons to meet the instructional needs of all students.

With HMH Player™, teachers can pull favorite lessons from their own collections along with open-source content and videos to customize Journeys ’ lessons. HMH Player provides anytime/anywhere access to Journeys – work offline then sync work when online. It’s that easy.

HMH Player™ is a trademark of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Support Close Reading

Journeys empowers teachers with the support needed for preparing for close reading of complex text including “Why This Text?” — an explanation of what makes a specific text complex. A Text Complexity Rubric provides more than a level range; it also assists teachers in understanding the Qualitative measures as well as Reader and Task considerations. The Text X-Ray feature illuminates the key ideas and academic language features in the text and provides scaffolding recommendations so that teachers are prepared to support students where they are most likely to struggle.

To provide flexible close reading instruction, the Close Readers are built into the instructional plan of the core Teacher's Edition and supported by Close Reader Teacher's Editions.

3-Step Close Reading Routine

Journeys weaves the skills of close reading into a practical 3-step routine that is realistically paced to give students more time to dig deeper analyzing the text.

Through this 3-step close reading routine, students are taken back into the same text for different purposes and further engage with that text using online tools to organize their thinking. Time and support to read closely empowers students to read rigorous text.

The Journeys 3-step routine to build close reading habits includes the following sequence:

During the first read on day 1 of the lesson plan, students read the complete text and teachers provide the modeling and instruction to gain an understanding of the author’s big ideas.

During the second read, students apply the close reading “Dig Deeper” skills they were taught as they analyze short sections of the same text, citing evidence and responding at high depth of knowledge levels.

The close reading routine culminates with an independent close reading of the anchor text, providing a gradual release that builds independence and empowers readers.

Interactive Whiteboard Lessons

Engage students in the learning process through hands-on lessons in phonics, vocabulary strategies, grammar, text analysis, and writing and research skills.

Support for Intervention

To enable students to successfully access on-grade level instruction, intervention is closely tied back to the core program. The print Write-in Reader or online Interactive Worktext provide targeted Tier II intervention to help students develop close reading habits that support analytic thinking. The text in the Write-in Reader is related in topic to the grade level Anchor Text and provides scaffolded support. Following the related text, the Reading Detective feature always connects back to the complex Anchor Text with step-by-step scaffolding to ensure all students have a path to access on-grade level text.

For Tier III intervention, HMH Decoding Power: Intensive Reading Instruction provides support in foundational skills to bring struggling students up to grade level through explicit, sequential, and systematic instruction of skills from entry to exit.

Writing and Grammar

Writing instruction in Journeys empowers students and teachers. my WriteSmart—a dynamic, award-winning writing tool—offers an intuitive online writing environment linked to reading that guides students through the process of collecting compelling text evidence to write skilled analyses of two or more texts according to specific prompts, just like they’ll encounter on next generation assessments. The Journeys online writing program seamlessly connects all learning tasks, including process writing in all genres, writing to sources, analytic writing, and performance tasks. my WriteSmart enables teachers to effectively evaluate students’ writing with eRater, as well as provides a way to communicate with students on their writing from start to finish. Thus creating a truly collaborative environment that empowers students and teachers to be successful.

Writing Traits Scoring Rubric for each mode of writing guides teachers in accurately scoring students’ work each week.

Performance Tasks in each unit of the Student Book provide step-by-step guidance in analyzing and synthesizing complex texts before writing a critical response.

Research and Media Performance Tasks at the start of each unit in the Teacher’s Edition provide students with multiple opportunities to develop and publish collaborative research projects of varying lengths.

The Common Core Writing Handbook complements the writing instruction in Journeys . It provides students with a model for each writing form, scaffolded practice, and a handbook resource. The Teacher’s Guide provides mini-lessons for every handbook topic.

Core Grammar instruction connected to writing develops students’ abilities to convey meaning effectively using conventional grammatical structures. GrammarSnap Videos demonstrate grammar concepts through short, high-energy videos.

Speaking And Listening

Journeys instruction helps students develop speaking and listening skills—key 21 st Century competencies. Classroom Conversation features prompt rich, collaborative peer exchanges. Speaking and Listening lessons in the Teacher’s Edition provide detailed guidelines for effective classroom discussions designed for all learners. Think/Pair/Share activities are ideal for engaging all students in academic conversations. Think/Pair/Share activities provide a variation in which students write their ideas before collaborating with a partner.

English Learner Support

Journeys provides research-based support to meet the needs of today's diverse classrooms. Support for learners at all stages of English proficiency ensures that every student receives a world-class 21st-century education. Support for English learners' linguistic and academic progress is integrated into the core instruction. Throughout each lesson, the Student Book and Teacher's Edition provide instructional support that English learners need to read complex texts and meet high standards.

Language Support Cards preteach concepts in each lesson, build background, promote oral language, and develop high-utility vocabulary and academic language that enable students to contribute more fully to core activities.

Language Workshop is designed to provide additional instructional time for English learners to develop the English language knowledge and abilities needed to successfully engage with core content. Language Workshop lessons and materials support students in developing collaborative, interpretive, and productive skills, as well as in understanding how English works. Vocabulary Network lessons aid students in quickly expanding their bank of vocabulary by mapping the relationships among related words.

The ELL Teacher’s Handbook is a comprehensive guide to EL instruction including Professional Development, Best Practices guidelines, and classroom resources.

The ELL Newcomer Teacher’s Guide offers twelve focused, efficient lessons plus corresponding posters and videos that emphasize survival vocabulary and high-utility language functions for students needing the basics of English.

Assessment System

The comprehensive assessment system in Journeys provides the data needed to make informed instructional decisions.

Entry-level assessments include: Universal Screening and the Language Workshop Assessment Handbook, which measures the progress of English learners across proficiency levels.

Formative and Progress Monitoring assessments include: Benchmark Assessments, Unit Tests, and the Common Core Reading Practice and Assessment App. The Standards-Based Assessment Resource includes rigorous tasks and questions, complex text passages, and tech-enhanced item formats (online only) for valuable student practice. Intervention Assessments measure progress of students receiving intervention instruction. Performance Assessment provides performance tasks with guided instruction and practice.

Weekly Tests

The Weekly Tests, available at Grades 1-6, help teachers monitor and report student progress on key skills and vocabulary. To provide students with ongoing practice with rigorous assessment items, the online Standards-Based Weekly Tests in Journeys assess lesson-level mastery of standards with new passages and technology-enhanced items that mirror SBAC* and PARCC ™* .

Running Records

Also available for each Leveled Reader, record students’ key reading behaviors and understanding.

The passages in Cold Reads increase gradually in Lexile ® measures throughout the year, from below grade level to above grade level. Each passage is accompanied by selected-response questions and constructed-response prompts, requiring students to read closely, answer questions at substantial depth of knowledge levels, and cite text evidence. Perfect for practice in reading increasingly complex texts, Cold Reads support fluent reading and assessing students' progress.

* This product is not endorsed by nor affiliated with PARCC or Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium.

PARCC ™ is a trademark of PARCC, Inc.

Previous Editions

The Scope and Sequence provides an overview of the concepts to be covered in a given period of time, as well as how those concepts are addressed over the series as whole. Download a PDF to see the progression and order of topic introduction.

Journeys Common Core © 2014 Scope and Sequence

Journeys © 2011/2012 scope and sequence, correlations.

Correlation guides indicate how the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts are addressed in the Journeys program. Download a PDF to see specifics at a particular level.

Journeys Common Core © 2014

Journeys © 2011/2012, hmh professional services, our mission is to advance yours.

HMH Professional Services forges student-centered partnerships with schools and districts in the belief that all learners deserve a quality education and the opportunity for lifelong success.

HMH Professional Services includes teachers, leaders, and technologists. Our Professional Learning Consultants become part of your team, working right beside you to build and implement professional learning plans that respect the unique needs and culture of your school or district community. Through program, practice, and technical services, we work collaboratively to unlock the full potential of every student, teacher, and leader.

Comprehensive Services for K–12 Educators

We offer teachers and instructional leaders a full suite of learning and support to deepen their mastery and hone their teaching skills throughout the school year.

Visit us at hmhco.com/professionalservices  to learn more.

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Related programs, science and engineering leveled readers, escalate english ®, collections, go math ® k–8, rigby® pm books.

K – 2

Program Description

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Journeys is a comprehensive reading and language arts program designed for kindergarten to 6th grade, but it has only been evaluated in grades K-2. The program provides teachers with materials and guidelines that emphasize whole group and small group activities. Whole group activities involve a “big idea” and “essential question” for the day, a teacher read-aloud, and vocabulary, phonics, comprehension, and fluency activities. Small group activities follow up these same skills in small, homogeneous groups. Professional development consists of a 5-6 hour training at the beginning of the year, followed by a half-day follow-up.

Program Outcomes

One study evaluated Journeys in grades K-2. The study found statistically significant positive effects on ITBS scales averaging an effect size of +0.14, compared to control groups. This qualified Journeys for the ESSA “Strong” category.

Staffing Requirements

Journeys is delivered in a combination of whole-group, small-group, and independent classroom sessions with approximately 90 minutes daily of reading instruction and 30 minutes for language arts, all guided by a grade-level classroom teacher.

Professional Development/Training

A “Getting Started” course a focused on the vision of the program, use of the materials and implementation of the key components, and how the program can be used to help students learn reading and language arts.  Ongoing support with follow-up courses and coaching is available to extend professional learning and equip teachers and leaders in evaluating and improving their instructional practices.

Journeys can be implemented using only print resources or a combination of print and digital resources. Student and teacher digital materials can be accessed on desktop computers, laptops, or tablets with an Internet connection.

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Popular ‘Wonders’ Curriculum Shows Gaps in Alignment to Reading Research

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A new review of one of the top 10 most popular reading programs claims that the curriculum has gaps in its alignment to reading research, and doesn’t offer enough supports for teachers.

The analysis comes from Student Achievement Partners, a nonprofit educational consulting group that started tapping teams of researchers to evaluate popular reading programs last year.

The organization made waves with its first review, published in January 2020 , of the Units of Study for Teaching Reading in grades K-5—perhaps the most well-known workshop-style reading program. The researchers said it was “unlikely to lead to literacy success for all of America’s public schoolchildren.”

This latest review is more mixed. The curriculum in question is Wonders, a basal reading program published by McGraw Hill. It’s one of the top 10 most popular reading programs, according to a recent Education Week Research Center survey : 15 percent of early reading teachers surveyed used Wonders in their classrooms.

Because Student Achievement Partners conducted its review before they could access the 2020 version of Wonders, the group evaluated the 2017 California edition. Reviewers found many positives: foundational skills components, lots of English-language learner support, complex texts, and some evidence of knowledge building.

But the reviewers also said the program was “overwhelming” and bulky, “a significant issue that dilutes its many strengths.” There’s more content than teachers could reasonably get through, they wrote, allowing for teacher choice in designing units—but the reviewers cautioned that this design puts a lot of onus on teachers.

“Teachers could easily shortchange research-based elements,” the report reads. “The ‘make-your-own-adventure-because-one-cannot-possibly-teach-all-that-is-offered’ design of Wonders left reviewers skeptical that crucial aspects of reading acquisition would get the time and attention required to enable all students to become secure in their reading ability.”

In an email, Tyler Reed, the senior director of communications for McGraw Hill, wrote that Wonders—and other basals—"include many resources by design.” The programs are meant to be comprehensive and address all state standards.

“While we recognize the SAP concerns over the amount of material in California Wonders ©2017, it is also true that the wealth of additional activities, texts, and choices provide an effective way to meet a wider range of students’ instructional needs,” Reed wrote. He also noted that the company works with district leaders on implementation and training plans.

Review seeks to evaluate alignment to research

These findings don’t entirely line up with the Wonders evaluation from the well-known curriculum reviewer EdReports, a nonprofit that enlists teams of teacher reviewers to examine math, English/language arts, and science materials for alignment to the Common Core State Standards. (Most states still use these standards, or similar state variations.)

According to EdReports , the Wonders 2020 edition meets expectations across all domains—the highest rating that the organization gives. The 2017 edition met expectations for text quality, but only partially met expectations for building knowledge.

But the authors of the Student Achievement Partners report claim that their review and EdReports’ review don’t necessarily contradict each other—they’re just measuring different things.

EdReports measures alignment to standards—what the SAP review calls the “what” of curriculum. But SAP says it’s evaluating the “how” of curriculum: whether the methods outlined in these materials are evidence-based. “Standards are an outcome. They’re not what you do to hit the target,” said SAP reviewer David Paige, a professor of literacy and the director of the Jerry L. Johns Literacy Clinic at Northern Illinois University-DeKalb.

Student Achievement Partners’ review looked at Wonders in five areas, each evaluated by a different reading researcher:

  • Foundational reading skills
  • Text complexity
  • Knowledge building
  • Support for English-language learners
  • Historically and culturally responsive instruction and representation

The group also consulted five educators who had worked with the curriculum in the Long Beach Unified school district for their opinion on ease of use and reflections on the five above categories.

The program’s positives, according to SAP: It has a coherent scope and sequence for letter-feature instruction, includes direct and explicit instruction, and focuses on reading prosody—reading out loud with appropriate expression. Text selections are varied and complex, and there is a full range of English-learner supports throughout the program. There’s also racial and ethnic diversity among the characters in the passages that children read.

Still, the reviewers identified what they felt were shortcomings, including pacing that was too slow or too fast in some foundational skills instruction, not enough time spent on each text, and little guidance on which ELL supports and supplements to use in different situations.

The section on equity and cultural responsiveness found that representations of characters of color were “often myopic, shallow, and stereotypical,” and that the program included few selections from authors of color.

In his email to Education Week, Reed of McGraw Hill said that changes have been made in some of these areas in the 2020 edition of Wonders, giving students in grades 2-5 more time with individual text sets, increasing some practice opportunities for foundational skills, updating ELL supports, and developing supplemental culturally responsive lessons.

The review also looked at how well the curriculum built student knowledge about social studies and science topics through literacy lessons. It does partially, said Sonia Cabell, an assistant professor of reading education at Florida State University, who reviewed knowledge building for the SAP report. Social studies and science content is covered every week, but the curriculum itself is not organized around these topics, nor designed to systematically build students’ knowledge—rather, the curriculum is organized around themes.

What should teachers and schools take away from this analysis?

It’s not as simple as a recommendation for—or a warning against—using Wonders, the researchers said.

Schools need to decide what they want their ELA program to do, Cabell said. Wonders may not systematically build knowledge in social studies and science. But, she said, “I think that is a judgment call on whether you want a curriculum that does that.”

If a school has strong elementary social studies and science programs, teachers and instructional leaders could look at Wonders, figure out where lessons could reinforce these programs, and then think about where they might want to bring in supplemental resources. But if a content-rich ELA curriculum is a priority, then maybe a school might want to compare Wonders against some of the programs that are specifically designed to meet this goal.

“I don’t think any one English/language arts curriculum is the key to building knowledge,” Cabell said.

When it comes to teacher support, the review argues that Wonders doesn’t provide enough direction. On the one hand, “I’m not sure if it’s fair to expect any reading program to be able to do all that,” said Paige. A curriculum is “kind of like a set of tools in the hands of a carpenter,” and relies on teacher knowledge, too.

On the other hand, Paige said, it can take a lot of time and effort to figure out how to use those tools effectively.

One of the teachers interviewed for the review said that it took her two years to become comfortable with the program.

And survey results from the Education Week Research Center have found that, in general, only about 1 in 10 teachers feel that their preservice training “completely prepared” them to teach reading.

A school or district using Wonders should be providing a lot of support, especially around pacing, Paige said.

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Reading Sage

"The Dyslexic Reading Teacher Sean Taylor" Literacy for me was almost an unrealized unattainable dream! As a dyslexic learner I was unable to read, write, or decode words as a child, p,d,b and q were all the same letter. Many classroom teachers assumed I would never read or write due to the severity of my dyslexia and this made me feel worthless. I am a dyslexic reading teacher that has built a reputation for finding innovative ways "FREE" to teach reading to all students!

Sunday, February 2, 2014

Journeys common core reading program reviews.

  • Do they measure and meet the highest levels of Blooms Taxonomy and Webb's DOK?
  • Is the curriculum spiral in design, meaning concepts are introduced and repeated to maximize learning and memory?
  • Are lesson plans designed to maximize declarative knowledge and retention of key ELA concepts?
  • Are the students provided with higher order thinking question stems to create a erudite dialogue during reading instruction.
  • Are the goals explicit and easily known to students and teachers before the lesson?
  • What is the quantity of tier 2 and tier 3 vocabulary concepts in the curriculum.
  • Are kids inspired and excited to read the literature provide in the readers.
  • Can a "harried" teacher with an oversize class really use the materials and resources?
  • Are lessons designed to be taught in a cooperative learning structure?
  • Is the publisher delivering real Common Core materials or are they selling you a one size fist all repacked old program?

Journeys Common Core is overwhelming in the amount of materials and resources like most of the newly published (revised) Common Core series! The test will be if the stories inspire students to read more than the basal readers.

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Coalition says ‘science of reading-aligned’ core curricula barely used in California

journeys reading curriculum reviews

Ali Tadayon

October 11, 2022.

journeys reading curriculum reviews

At a time of rising interest nationwide in phonics-focused reading instruction, few California districts are using so-called “science of reading” curricula as their basis for teaching elementary reading, according to a new report .

The California Reading Coalition, which advocates for phonics-based reading instruction, analyzed the 2020-21 English language arts curriculum for 331 of the largest districts in the state to find that 81% of them used the same three core reading programs from the State Board of Education’s 2015 list of pre-approved ELA curricula, and only five districts adopted core curricula that the coalition deemed to be aligned with the “science of reading” movement.

The most-used curricula still incorporate “science of reading” practices and research, but are jampacked with lessons and material in order to serve a wide range of schools. Schools and teachers can benefit from having the freedom to customize their own program, but less experienced teachers or under-resourced schools risk having a less cohesive program, according to the coalition.

The report is the first of its kind to document the reading programs used throughout most of the state. The California Department of Education doesn’t track or report which curricula districts use, or judge their effectiveness, which California Reading Coalition founder Todd Collins said is a key step toward improving students’ literacy rates.

“All over the country and the world people are examining how they teach reading, and realizing that a lot of reading instruction isn’t nearly as effective as we need it to be,” Collins said in an interview. “Getting the curriculum piece right is one of the pillars of any successful reading program, and if we don’t understand the landscape, it’s really hard to say if we’re doing a good job or not.”

Districts aren’t required to pick from the list of pre-approved curricula, but any other curriculum they choose must be aligned to state standards and undergo a teacher-involved review process. The survey shows that despite having the option, few districts have veered from the list. 

The curricula that the coalition deems to be aligned with “science of reading” aren’t on the list because several weren’t around when it was adopted in 2015, and most are from smaller publishers that couldn’t meet the requirements for California state adoption, the report said.

The report also found “no strong relationship” between the top programs and student achievement, since the same programs are used about equally by both districts that scored high on standardized reading tests and districts that scored low.

“California has created a de-facto statewide standard for teaching reading, without the benefit of formal discussion or policymaking,” the report said.

The coalition calls on the California Department of Education to collect and publicly release information on core curriculum, as well as supplemental curriculum, reading intervention programs and assessment usage from all districts and present that information to the Legislature and the State Board of Education. Collins said this would give districts a better perspective on whether they are using the best curriculum.

The report also calls on the California Department of Education and State Board of Education to issue guidance to districts to use federal Covid relief funds to update their core and supplementary English language arts materials.

“California districts are awash in once-in-a-generation funding, during a time of rapid change across the world in how reading is taught,” the report said.

California’s top three reading curricula

The 331 districts analyzed in the report include every elementary and unified school district with either 5,000 or more students or with 100 or more low-income Latino third graders. The sample districts enroll 72% of all California K-12 students, according to the report.

About 40% of the districts, 132, used McGraw Hill Education’s Wonders program for elementary English language arts, which the publisher describes as “designed to foster a love of reading in all children through exploration of text and daily development of their skills as readers, writers, speakers and active listeners.”

EdReports, an independent organization that publishes expert reviews on instructional materials that are often considered by districts and committees in decisions regarding textbooks and curriculum, considered Wonders to have met expectations in all its review categories in 2020.

About 32%, 107 districts, used Benchmark Education’s Benchmark Advance program, which the company says “provides a cohesive structure for the development of literacy skills and content knowledge.”

About 9%, 31 districts, used the Journeys program by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, which the company says uses “the latest research on what makes literacy instruction effective” to turn students into “confident readers and writers.”

The three programs were evaluated by volunteer language arts and literacy experts, classroom teachers, administrators, parents and university professors before being approved by the State Board of Education for the 2015-16 school year. Each was found to align with California Common Core State Standards , include assessments for measuring what students know and to guide instruction, provide access to all students, and include a road map for teachers to follow when planning instruction.

Science of reading versus balanced literacy

The benefit to EL Education and other curriculum that the coalition deemed to be aligned with the “science of reading” is that the lessons are more scripted, Collins said, which reduces the amount of extra work the teacher has to do. While EL Education doesn’t consider its curriculum a script, standardized lesson plans in general have long been criticized by teachers for stifling creativity.

The “science of reading” is a loosely defined term that generally refers to literacy instruction that heavily emphasizes phonics, based on growing research showing that learning to read is not a natural process for children, unlike learning how to talk. Science of reading supporters often butt heads with supporters of the “balanced literacy” approach to reading instruction, which also prioritizes phonics instruction but limits the amount of time spent on it in order to allow students to explore literature and grow their interest in reading.

Whether a curriculum is balanced literacy or science of reading, however, depends on who is being asked. The California Reading Coalition report says the top three reading curricula are “primarily used as balanced literacy programs, the dominant approach to reading instruction in California;” but McGraw Hill lists Wonders as being “ grounded in the Science of Reading ,” and Benchmark Education lists Benchmark Advance as “ aligned with Science of Reading research .”

McGraw Hill’s webpage on the science of reading says that the body of research is ever-changing and “does not exist in any one program or book.” Science of Reading research focuses on practices, not specific curricula, McGraw Hill said, though some organizations have their own rubrics for which curricula are best supported by the research. States including Florida, North Carolina, Tennessee, Mississippi and Colorado have passed laws requiring science of reading practices to be used in elementary literacy instruction and also have their own rubrics for which programs are more aligned with the research. States and districts elsewhere are also committing to use federal Covid relief funds to implement science of reading practices.

“A certain program may be better aligned to the Science of Reading based on the practices that it employs to teach the key areas of reading, but no program is a ‘Science of Reading’ program,” McGraw Hill said.

Even Lucy Calkins’ quintessential balanced literacy curriculum Teachers College Reading, Writing and Phonics Units of Study was rewritten this year in response to science of reading research. Units of Study was used in 24 of the districts, and also isn’t on the state’s list of pre-approved reading curricula.

Why more popular elsewhere?

The coalition’s report considers EL Education, Core Knowledge Language Arts and Wit & Wisdom to be the only science of reading core curricula used in California, since they are among the six curricula identified by nonprofit consulting firm StandardsWork’s Knowledge Matters Campaign as “knowledge-building curricula.”

EL Education has been steadily growing in popularity throughout the country, in part due to it being a nonprofit and offering districts its curriculum for free. Districts still have to purchase textbooks and other instructional materials, though.

Oakland Unified was the first California district to have adopted EL Education as its core curriculum for elementary English language arts. Amy Bailey, EL Education’s chief content and growth officer, said Mount Pleasant Elementary School District in San Jose also just partnered with the organization. Bailey said El Education “has a lot of traction in the (California) market now.” The organization had a 32% increase in inquiries this year from California districts, she said.

Collins said similar programs are just beginning to “snowball.” But being smaller publishers, they struggle to compete against larger companies, and California districts may be hesitant to switch their English/Language arts curriculum to one that’s relatively obscure.

“It’s very hard to be the first district on the block to buy a curriculum that nobody else is using,” Collins said. “It’s different and uncomfortable from what most people do. They want to talk to references of districts that look like theirs, but there are only so few.”

Supplements, interventions and assessments

After analyzing which reading curriculums the 331 largest school districts were using, the California Reading Coalition sent the districts a survey on what additional tools they use for elementary literacy instruction. Of the 144 districts that responded, nearly half reported that they did not have district-wide reading supplements – materials designed to offer extra focus on specific skills or practices. The supplements that the districts did use were focused on foundational skills and phonics, according to the report.

The survey also found that districts use a wide variety of assessments to gauge how students are doing, including iReady, Fountas and Pinell Benchmark Assessment System, DIBELS and STAR.

The coalition suggests a narrower set of assessments might serve students better since other states require districts to choose from a limited number of assessment tools and publish their results.

“As focus increases on early literacy, California will need to grapple with how to track student achievement, particularly for the earliest grades, and provide more transparency and comparability to districts and communities,” the report said.

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Susan Brinchman 2 weeks ago 2 weeks ago

I am a highly effective special and general education teacher and owner of San Diego Tutors, an online tutoring service. I hold 4 current, lifetime CA teaching credentials covering learning disabilities and all areas of special education, elementary education, and social sciences. I teach kids to read using the following methods, formerly used in my classrooms and special ed settings, and now individually, online: explicit instruction in phonemic awareness, systematic phonics instruction, various methods to … Read More

I am a highly effective special and general education teacher and owner of San Diego Tutors, an online tutoring service. I hold 4 current, lifetime CA teaching credentials covering learning disabilities and all areas of special education, elementary education, and social sciences. I teach kids to read using the following methods, formerly used in my classrooms and special ed settings, and now individually, online: explicit instruction in phonemic awareness, systematic phonics instruction, various methods to improve fluency, and activities to enhance comprehension. These have never failed to be successful with any student, over the past 45 years. At times, the state of CA and school districts I worked for discouraged using these methods but I never let up on them.

The state of CA adopted a “whole language” (sight-based) approach to reading in about 1990. That started the downhill spiral in CA with our kids not learning to read. It is not simply a local problem. The state actively encouraged use of “leveled books” that were trade books, without controlled vocabularies and which did not tie into any phonics instruction. Phonics was eliminated or confined just to K-1, taught in a flawed manner that did not work. We must be careful not to let this continue for our children deserve better. http://www.sandiegotutors.biz for more info.

Dr. Bill Conrad 1 year ago 1 year ago

The reading landscape in California is very fractal in nature. We see a lot of self-similarity. Just as we see the state giving lots of freedom and choice to reading curricula, we see school districts and schools giving lots of discretion to teachers whether to use valid and reliable early literacy assessments with their students. When I worked with the Redwood City School District back in the day, the administration focused on the systematic implementation and … Read More

The reading landscape in California is very fractal in nature. We see a lot of self-similarity. Just as we see the state giving lots of freedom and choice to reading curricula, we see school districts and schools giving lots of discretion to teachers whether to use valid and reliable early literacy assessments with their students.

When I worked with the Redwood City School District back in the day, the administration focused on the systematic implementation and reporting of the DIBELS assessment system.

We ran into a buzz saw of teacher and principal opposition who used the trope of “I know my kids and they all have their early literacy skills!”

In response, we sent a team of reading specialists and administrators to the University of Oregon to be able to administer DIBELS.

We then systematically administered this valid and reliable early reading monitoring assessment to every K-3 student in the District.

We found that over 1/2 of students were not on track to read by third grade!

It appeared that relegating the decision of administering early literacy assessments to teacher judgment is a recipe for failure.

Teacher judgment is not a substitute for the administration, use, and reporting of valid and reliable early reading assessments.

But the expectation to fidelity of systematic early literacy assessment is not conducive to the failed free-wheeling reading zeitgeist in California.

We have a long way to go to insure that all of our students are literate by third grade. Accepting a wink and a nod support of the science of reading through the failed Balanced Reading system will only maintain our current level of student illiteracy!

Educational leadership in California must give up the idea of trying to satisfy everyone and succumbing to a failed “I know my children” tropes. We need to commit to a transformation of teaching reading in California that mandates science-based approaches to curricula, pedagogy, and assessments.

It is time to meet the reading needs of our children. Not the bruised egos of educators!

Dr. Bill Conrad 2 years ago 2 years ago

By placing quotation marks around the science of reading and not around balanced reading the author implies skepticism about the validity of the science of reading. The science of reading system is based on a wealth of research that began with the National Reading Panel in the early 2000s. It also uses a theory of action that reading must be explicitly taught to most students using a systematic approach to teaching and monitoring phonemic awareness, … Read More

By placing quotation marks around the science of reading and not around balanced reading the author implies skepticism about the validity of the science of reading.

The science of reading system is based on a wealth of research that began with the National Reading Panel in the early 2000s. It also uses a theory of action that reading must be explicitly taught to most students using a systematic approach to teaching and monitoring phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, comprehension, and vocabulary. Balanced Reading uses a failed theory of action that learning to read can be achieved through exposure to increasingly complex text. It fails to recognize that reading is not acquired in the same way that oral language is acquired through exposure. Reading is not hard-wired innthe brain as is the acquisition of oral language.

And the abysmal student achievement results corroborate over 20 years of following the failed balanced reading approach. NAEP data demonstrates that almost 50 million 4th grade students are illiterate over a 20 year period in the United States.

The longer that we make the science of reading optional, the lmore we will continue to see these abysmal reading results. No matter though as there is no accountability in the self over service K-12 organized crime network.

Children and families must continue to wait!

Read The Fog of Education!

Frances O'Neill Zimmerman 2 years ago 2 years ago

Thanks to Ed Source for its public service to the legions of California children who have not been taught to read fluently. You persist in exploring the proven efficacy of science of reading programs and concomitant testing to gauge progress. It is not a surprise, but deeply concerning, to learn just how hands-off California public education leaders have been, starting with incumbent State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond who has resisted … Read More

Thanks to Ed Source for its public service to the legions of California children who have not been taught to read fluently. You persist in exploring the proven efficacy of science of reading programs and concomitant testing to gauge progress. It is not a surprise, but deeply concerning, to learn just how hands-off California public education leaders have been, starting with incumbent State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond who has resisted revealing the truth of kids’ reading deficits and refusing to implement timely remedies. It is astounding that Thurmond is slated to win re-election to his high office in November.

Pamela Nevills 2 years ago 2 years ago

There are many misconceptions about the Science of Reading. It is based on the National Reading Panel's extensive review (2000) of over 300 research studies that looked at what young and older children need to be successful as readers. The results of the study calls for instruction in alphabetics, phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, comprehension and vocabulary. They form the pillars of teaching reading. Some include the neurology of what is happening in the child's … Read More

There are many misconceptions about the Science of Reading. It is based on the National Reading Panel’s extensive review (2000) of over 300 research studies that looked at what young and older children need to be successful as readers. The results of the study calls for instruction in alphabetics, phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, comprehension and vocabulary. They form the pillars of teaching reading.

Some include the neurology of what is happening in the child’s brain during reading as the science of reading. But they are mixing the “what” of reading instruction with the “how” reading is developed in the child’s brain. They are two different approaches to teaching reading, but when understood support each other.

Linda Diamond 2 years ago 2 years ago

There is so much inaccurate about this report it is hard to know where to start. First, the original CA adoptions were not focused on SoR. Second edreports is more aligned to the Common Core than to SoR, especially for grades k and 1. Third, ask Oakland how challenging it is to implement EL Education.

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Literacy Curriculum

Build Confident Readers and Writers

Proven Literacy Solutions 
for Every Learner in Grades K-12

Best-in-Class Core Instruction

Grounded in evidence-based research and guided by learning sciences, HMH makes it easy to deliver K–12 literacy instruction that drives student achievement. New for 2024: NWEA ® MAP ® Growth ™ customers can see key MAP Growth data on HMH Ed —the same place as their HMH ELA curriculum.

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Diverse Voices in Literature

Students benefit from high interest, culturally relevant texts and characters that have undergone a rigorous review for quality.

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Personalized Supplemental Practice and Intervention

Our literacy programs offer a range of instructional approaches to ensure every student succeeds.

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The Power of Connected Teaching and Learning

Get your reading curriculum, supplemental practice, intervention, and professional learning in one place. That's the power of Connected Teaching and Learning from HMH. Select your grade level to get started.

  • Grades 9-12

Standards-Aligned Instruction with HMH Into Reading ®

Into Reading K 2

HMH Into Reading (Grades K–6) addresses all areas of early literacy with an evidence-based scope and sequence to develop fluent, automatic readers. ¡Arriba la Lectura! (Grades K–6) is an equitable Spanish program for dual language classrooms.

1:1 Reading Tutoring and Assessment with Amira ®

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Amira connects oral reading fluency assessment results with relevant HMH Into Reading content and resources. Students are automatically placed into 1:1 reading tutoring powered by dozens of precise micro-interventions.

Personalized Skill Practice and Instruction with Waggle ®

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Waggle aligns with HMH Into Reading 's scope and sequence to easily reinforce core instruction, foster social and emotional learning, and establish foundational reading skills in phonics, phonemic awareness, and fluency.

Standards-Aligned Instruction with HMH Into Reading

Into Reading 3 6

1:1 Reading Tutoring and Assessment with Amira

Personalized skill practice and instruction with waggle, scaffolded writing practice with writable ®.

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Writable gives students the level of writing support that’s exactly right for them. Developed from rigorous foundational research, Writable is the only solution that tracks and improves student writing growth.

Standards-Aligned Instruction with HMH Into Literature®

Into Literature 6 8

HMH Into Literature (Grades 6–12) equips students with the reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills required for success in tomorrow's world.

Waggle aligns with HMH Into Literature , making it easier to reinforce core instruction with embedded lessons and practice assignments that target a range of skills.

Scaffolded Writing Practice with Writable

Writable ® gives students the level of writing support that’s exactly right for them. Developed from rigorous foundational research, Writable is the only solution that tracks and improves student writing growth.

Standards-Aligned Instruction with HMH Into Literature

Into Literature 9 12

A Teacher’s Experience

Alexandra’s Story:  Third-grade teacher Alexandra Gray shares how our Into Reading program puts a range of resources at her fingertips, saving her time and helping her engage all learners.

Awards & Accolades

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2023 SIIA CODiE Winner

HMH ELA K–12 Connected Curriculum, Amira , Writable , Waggle

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2023 Tech & Learning Awards of Excellence Winner

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2021 EdTech Breakthrough Awards Winner

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"All-Green" by EdReports: HMH Into Reading

Read the full review at EdReports.org.

Ed Reports 2019 Awards 1x1

"All-Green" by EdReports: HMH Into Literature

Explore Our Literacy Programs

From comprehensive instruction and adaptive assessments to technology-driven interventions, our solutions are designed to propel reading and writing success.

All Products

Core instruction, supplemental, intervention, hmh into reading ®, hmh ¡arriba la lectura, hmh into literature ®, a chance in the world integrated sel curriculum, amira learning ®, collections, english 3d ®, rigby jille literacy ®.

HMH Into Reading for Grades K–6 addresses all areas of early literacy with an evidence-based scope and sequence to develop fluent, automatic readers.

HMH ¡Arriba la Lectura! is a comprehensive K–6 Spanish literacy program. When paired with HMH Into Reading , the programs provide a complete Spanish-English solution for biliteracy and dual-language classrooms.

HMH Into Literature for Grades 6–12 equips students with the reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills required for success in tomorrow's world.

A Chance in the World Integrated SEL Curriculum for Grades 8–12 builds SEL skills by helping students understand the life-changing power of hope, empathy, resilience, and acts of kindness.

Amira Learning for Grades K–6 provides effective 1:1 reading tutoring that doubles student reading growth, a reading fluency assessment, and dyslexia risk screening in English and Spanish—from anywhere.

Collections for Grades 6–12 provides diverse materials to help students analyze complex texts, reason critically, and communicate more effectively.

English 3D for Grades K–12 accelerates English language acquisition for multilingual learners of all proficiency levels—from newcomers to long-term English learners.

Journeys for Grades K–6 provides an instructional system for reading literature and informational texts, acquiring foundational skills, and developing speaking, listening, and writing mastery.

Read 180 for Grades 3–12 helps striving readers gain the foundational and comprehension skills they need for fluent reading within a dedicated intervention class or a core classroom.

Customers can use NWEA MAP Growth— included with the Read 180 subscription—to place students into the student application and as beginning-of-year, middle-of-year, and end-of-year benchmarking.

Waggle , a digital gamified learning solution (available in English or Spanish) for Grades K–8, goes beyond adaptive learning. It provides dynamic personalized practice and instruction for students at all proficiency levels with automatic placement based on grade level.​ For customers with active licenses to MAP ® Growth ™ by NWEA ® , teachers have the additional option to automatically place students into Waggle at their appropriate grade equivalency level.

Writable for Grades 3–12 guides students through the writing process with scaffolded daily practice and personalized feedback for unparalleled writing growth.

Rigby JillE Literacy (Grades K–3) seamlessly complements HMH Into Reading ® instruction by building robust reading skills through engaging stories and poems, well-organized teaching methods, and focused whole-class and small-group activities. The program improves decoding, language comprehension, and nurtures social and emotional learning skills, propelling early reading proficiency for every student.

Personalized Professional Learning

Partner with HMH for guided program implementation and ongoing professional learning for teachers and leaders that is tailored to the needs of your school. We offer live and asynchronous learning opportunities to fit your schedule and provide support when you need it the most.

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Insights & Resources

Differenciated Reading Strategies Hero

5 Strategies for Differentiated Reading Instruction

Check out the latest differentiated reading strategies to help you meet your students' diverse needs.

Ellen Ullman

January 5, 2022

Notice note signposts

7 Tips for Introducing Notice & Note Signposts in Your Classroom

Incorporate Notice & Note Signposts into your reading or ELA curriculum with these strategies and tips for teachers.

Zoe Zolbrod

May 6, 2021

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Structuring the Literacy Block

The most productive literacy block schedules include various reading and writing activities and instruction to help build foundational skills.

Francie Alexander

October 4, 2021

HMH Into Reading: Implementation Research Study Results 2019–2020

  • Report Type: Efficacy Study, Study Conducted by Third Party
  • Grade Level: Elementary
  • Region: West
  • District Urbanicity: Suburban
  • District Size: Medium

Read 180: Charles Armstrong School Longitudinal Research Study 2019–2022

  • Report Type: Efficacy Study
  • Grade Level: Elementary, Middle
  • Population: Students with Disabilities, Students with Specific Learning Disabilities, Students with Dyslexia
  • District Size: Small
  • Implementation Model: 40-59 Minutes
  • Promising Evidence

Professional Services Impact Study: Troup County School System

  • Grade Level: Elementary, Middle, High
  • Region: Southeast
  • District Urbanicity: Urban, Suburban
  • District Size: Large
  • Demonstrates a Rationale

Discover the transformative power of literacy.

A Connected Solution

We invite you to learn more about our adaptive supplemental and intervention solutions, powered and informed by your students' assessment data.

Contact Us about Literacy

Please note: If you have a question about billing, an order, an invoice, or just need technical support, please contact support .

Thank You for contacting us about Literacy ! Please check your email for next steps.

Into Reading

Downloadable Resources

  • Into Reading Publisher Background K‑6 1.29.20 Into Reading Publisher Background K‑6 1.29.20
  • Publisher Response Grades 3‑6 1.29.20 Publisher Response Grades 3‑6 1.29.20
  • Publisher Response Grades K‑2 1.29.20 Publisher Response Grades K‑2 1.29.20
  • Technology Information HMH Into Reading 3‑6 Technology Information HMH Into Reading 3‑6
  • Technology Information HMH Into Reading K‑2 Technology Information HMH Into Reading K‑2

Into Reading

Houghton mifflin harcourt, report release, {{ report.published }}, review tool version, {{ report.version }}, alignment (gateway 1 & 2), usability (gateway 3), key areas of interest.

Foundational skills are the beginning processes of reading for students in grades K–5. This score represents an average across grade levels reviewed for: print concepts, phonological awareness, phonics and word recognition, and fluency.

This score represents an average across grade levels reviewed for: integrated reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language, and promotion of mastery of grade-level standards by the end of the year.

Learn more about EdReports’ educator-led review process

Additional Publication Details

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  • Overview Overview
  • Kindergarten Kindergarten
  • 1st Grade 1st Grade
  • 2nd Grade 2nd Grade
  • 3rd Grade 3rd Grade
  • 4th Grade 4th Grade
  • 5th Grade 5th Grade
  • 6th Grade 6th Grade

Report Overview

Summary of alignment & usability: into reading | ela, ela k-2, ela 3-5, ela 6-8.

The instructional materials Into Reading,  Grades K through 2, meet the expectations of alignment and usability. Texts included in the program are high quality and engaging, as well as appropriately rigorous and organized to support knowledge building. The materials include questions, tasks, lessons, and practice that support students' development of reading, writing, speaking and listening, and beginning to think critically. Materials include foundations for students to study topics and develop research habits, as well as practice different types of speaking and writing about different topics.  Implementation and usability supports for teachers to assure students meet grade level goals meet the criteria of Gateway 3.

Kindergarten

Text Quality

Building Knowledge

The instructional materials Into Reading,  Grades 3 through 6,  meet the expectations of alignment and usability. Texts included in the program are high quality and engaging, as well as appropriately rigorous and organized to support knowledge building. The materials include questions, tasks, lessons, and practice that support students' development of reading, writing, speaking and listening, and beginning to think critically. Materials include foundations for students to study topics and develop research habits, as well as practice different types of speaking and writing about different topics.  Implementation and usability supports for teachers to assure students meet grade level goals meet the criteria of Gateway 3.

Text Complexity and Quality

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Gateway {{ report.gateways[2].number }}

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  • Gateway {{ gateway.number }} Gateway {{ gateway.number }}

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Copyright 2024. EdReports.org, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

journeys reading curriculum reviews

Journeys (Houghton Mifflin Reading) › Customer reviews

Customer reviews.

Journeys (Houghton Mifflin Reading)

Journeys (Houghton Mifflin Reading)

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  • Shop By Curriculum

HMH Journeys

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With  Journeys , readers are empowered by skill mastery; inspired by authentic, award-winning text; and confident that they are building the skills needed for college and careers. Backed by proven results, it's no surprise that  Journeys  is used by over 6.7 million students nationwide.

Grade 1 Journeys Close Reader (2017)

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Grade 1 Journeys Close Reader (2017)

Learning to read is an excursion into the unknown. It's about meeting challenges head-on and gaining confidence with each victory. Preparing students for this voyage requires a program that lets teachers introduce the right discoveries at the right time...

Grade 1 Journeys Reader's Notebook Teacher's Guide (2017)

Grade 1 Journeys Reader's Notebook Teacher's Guide (2017)

Reader&rsquo;s Notebook features practice pages for the various skill strands in a lesson and a Reader&rsquo;s Guide spread for each Anchor Text in the SE (supporting students&rsquo; third read) and for each Trade Book. The practice includes phonics,...

Grade 1 Journeys Reader's Notebook Volume 1 (2017)

Grade 1 Journeys Reader's Notebook Volume 1 (2017)

Grade 1 Journeys Reader's Notebook Volume 2 (2017)

Grade 1 Journeys Reader's Notebook Volume 2 (2017)

Grade 2 Journeys Close Reader (2017)

Grade 2 Journeys Close Reader (2017)

Grade 2 Journeys Reader's Notebook Teacher's Guide (2017)

Grade 2 Journeys Reader's Notebook Teacher's Guide (2017)

Grade 2 Journeys Reader's Notebook Volume 1 (2017)

Grade 2 Journeys Reader's Notebook Volume 1 (2017)

Grade 2 Journeys Reader's Notebook Volume 2 (2017)

Grade 2 Journeys Reader's Notebook Volume 2 (2017)

Grade 3 Journeys Close Reader (2017)

Grade 3 Journeys Close Reader (2017)

Grade 3 Journeys Reader's Notebook Teacher's Guide (2017)

Grade 3 Journeys Reader's Notebook Teacher's Guide (2017)

Grade 3 Journeys Reader's Notebook Volume 1 (2017)

Grade 3 Journeys Reader's Notebook Volume 1 (2017)

Grade 3 Journeys Reader's Notebook Volume 2 (2017)

Grade 3 Journeys Reader's Notebook Volume 2 (2017)

Grade 4 Journeys Close Reader (2017)

Grade 4 Journeys Close Reader (2017)

Grade 4 Journeys Reader's Notebook (2017)

Grade 4 Journeys Reader's Notebook (2017)

Grade 4 Journeys Reader's Notebook Teacher's Guide (2017)

Grade 4 Journeys Reader's Notebook Teacher's Guide (2017)

Grade 5 Journeys Close Reader (2017)

Grade 5 Journeys Close Reader (2017)

Delivery updates.

Due to COVID-19 and the time of the year, some in-stock items will take 10-15 business days to receive THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE.

journeys reading curriculum reviews

IMAGES

  1. 3 Ways to Engage Students in the Journeys Reading Curriculum

    journeys reading curriculum reviews

  2. Journeys is a Balanced Literacy Curriculum Journeys Reading, Houghton

    journeys reading curriculum reviews

  3. Journeys Reading Program

    journeys reading curriculum reviews

  4. 3 Ways to Engage Students in the Journeys Reading Curriculum

    journeys reading curriculum reviews

  5. Journeys Reading Series

    journeys reading curriculum reviews

  6. Don't forget to look at your Journeys online curriculum for interactive

    journeys reading curriculum reviews

VIDEO

  1. Journeys Grade 1 Lesson 28 Readers Notebook 193, 194, 195 12

  2. Why reading curriculum content builds better readers

  3. 2023 Reading Journal Flip through

  4. Kindergarten Read aloud Jonathan and His Mommy by Irene Smalls

  5. The Importance of Financial Education in High School

  6. Journeys Grade 1 Readers Notebook Lesson 3 Day 1 7min

COMMENTS

  1. New Curriculum Review Gives Failing Marks to Two Popular Reading Programs

    Fountas and Pinnell Classroom and Units of Study are two of the three K-2 reading programs to have gone through EdReports' updated review tools for English/language arts, which "dig deeper ...

  2. Pros and Cons of Journeys Reading Program

    The Journeys Reading Program accommodates students with special needs or learning disabilities by providing targeted instruction, differentiated materials, and support from trained educators. It aims to meet the unique needs of every learner. ... Our team of writers strives to provide accurate and genuine reviews and articles, and all views and ...

  3. A Kindergarten Teacher's Review of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt's Journeys

    Houghton Mifflin Harcourt's Journeys 2014 was released last year. Read my review on the series and how it implements the Common Core Standards. Blessings, Miss Megan :) Rating. I will rate each of my categories with numerals 0-5. With 0 being unusable and 5 being a strong component to our reading curriculum and learning experience.

  4. Journeys (2017)

    ELA K-2. Journeys materials for Kindergarten, Grade 1, and Grade 2 do not meet expectations for alignment. Materials partially meet the expectations for Gateway 1. Materials provide support for foundational skills development, directly teaching skills to build reading, although systematic and explicit instruction in practice is inconsistent.

  5. Journeys Reading Program

    When things begin to line up, you can see confidence start to shine in students' eyes. Journeys is a comprehensive K-6 English language arts program. It provides an instructional system for reading both literature and informational texts, for acquiring foundational reading skills, and for developing mastery of speaking, listening and writing.

  6. Journeys: Research Evidence Base

    Houghton Mifflin Harcourt ®Journeys is a core reading program for Grades K-6. In the program, students develop reading comprehension skills as well as skills with critical thinking, writing, speaking, listening, and research. Journeys uses digital tools and results-driven instruction to build better readers, and to scaffold and differentiate ...

  7. My Thoughts on the Journeys Basal Program

    The texts also have a good balance of fiction and non-fiction as long as you use the second selection with each lesson. The vocabulary is probably the best thing about this program. The words selected are tier 2 words, (for more information, see Beck, Isabel L., McKeown, Margaret G., and Kucan, Linda, Bringing Words to Life) and they are ...

  8. New Product Review: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Journeys

    March 16, 2017. Learning List has reviewed ...

  9. Journeys Reading Program and Curriculum

    Journeys is a K-6 comprehensive, research-based English Language Arts program built on the foundation of the proven Journeys instructional design that provides all students with a path to achieving rigorous standards with print and state-of-the-art digital components. Students are empowered by skill mastery, inspired by authentic, award-winning text, and are confident—confident in their ...

  10. Effects of Journeys Reading Intervention on Reading Achievement of

    study to determine whether an alternative reading program, Journeys, increased reading achievement test scores of students with disabilities compared to a traditional reading program. The Journeys reading intervention is a program for struggling readers in Grades K-5. Journeys focuses on phonics, decoding, comprehension, and fluency. Journeys

  11. Journeys

    Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Journeys is a comprehensive reading and language arts program designed for kindergarten to 6th grade, but it has only been evaluated in grades K-2. The program provides teachers with materials and guidelines that emphasize whole group and small group activities. Whole group activities involve a "big idea" and ...

  12. Teacher Perspectives of the Implementation of the Journeys Early

    Sunddip Aguilar explores the impact of a professional development program on elementary teachers' self-efficacy and beliefs about teaching reading in this doctoral study. She uses a mixed-methods approach to collect and analyze data from surveys, interviews, and classroom observations. The study contributes to the literature on effective literacy instruction and teacher education.

  13. Popular 'Wonders' Curriculum Shows Gaps in Alignment to Reading Research

    A new review of one of the top 10 most popular reading programs claims that the curriculum has gaps in its alignment to reading research, and doesn't offer enough supports for teachers. The ...

  14. Journeys Common Core Reading Program Reviews

    CONS: Programs can marginalize teachers by not allowing them to make decisions about how to teach (Garan, 2004). PROS: Programs ensure teaching consistency. Programs can "de-skill" teachers, placing them in the role of middle managers (Coles, 2001; Rice, 2006). CONS Teachers can become alienated from their reading instruction and begin ...

  15. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Journeys, Grade 1, Level 1.1

    Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Journeys, Grade 1, Level 1.1 at Amazon.com. Read honest and unbiased product reviews from ... It was a good idea because with the school closed due to COVID19 I have a backup of a school curriculum at home. Book is divided into units which covered Grammar, Reading ...

  16. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Journeys Curriculum Series Longitudinal

    post-NWEA assessment percentile rankings by 10.54%. The Journeys reading series was also less effective at creating student reading growth when compared to the school's prior reading curriculum. This study demonstrates that school curriculum influences and decisions are far-

  17. Coalition says 'science of reading-aligned' core ...

    At a time of rising interest nationwide in phonics-focused reading instruction, few California districts are using so-called "science of reading" curricula as their basis for teaching elementary reading, according to a new report.. The California Reading Coalition, which advocates for phonics-based reading instruction, analyzed the 2020-21 English language arts curriculum for 331 of the ...

  18. Journeys 2000

    Journeys is a comprehensive reading/language arts program that contains the highly effective reading instruction found in Horizons.Using Journeys, you will provide a strong foundation in five key areas of learning - phonemic awareness, explicit and systematic phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and text comprehension.Recommended when instructional time does not permit the use of separate reading ...

  19. K-12 ELA & Reading Curriculum

    Best-in-Class Core Instruction. Grounded in evidence-based research and guided by learning sciences, HMH makes it easy to deliver K-12 literacy instruction that drives student achievement. New for 2024: NWEA ®MAP®Growth ™ customers can see key MAP Growth data on HMH Ed —the same place as their HMH ELA curriculum.

  20. Into Reading (2020)

    ELA K-2. The instructional materials Into Reading, Grades K through 2, meet the expectations of alignment and usability. Texts included in the program are high quality and engaging, as well as appropriately rigorous and organized to support knowledge building. The materials include questions, tasks, lessons, and practice that support students ...

  21. Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Journeys (Houghton Mifflin Reading)

    This is reading level J which is the end of 1st grade or the beginning of 2nd grade. The book is in very good condition. There were no writing on the pages, no bending in the cover or binding. There are activities and questions at the end of each story. It's a great comprehensive reading tool for my 1st grader.

  22. HMH Journeys

    HMH Journeys. With Journeys, readers are empowered by skill mastery; inspired by authentic, award-winning text; and confident that they are building the skills needed for college and careers. Backed by proven results, it's no surprise that Journeys is used by over 6.7 million students nationwide. View as: