Journeys Reading Program

Read the Story

Written by Sharon Creech

Illustrated by Harry Bliss

Spelling Words and

Phonics Activities for the Week

Genre: Humorous Fiction

Target Skill: Story Structure

Target Strategy:Summarze

Spelling and Vocabulary Games

Vocabulary Strategy:

Multiple Meaning Words

Vocabulary Cards

Short vowels a, e, i, o, u with VCCV pattern

Spelling Cards

*Review: next, hug

*Challenge: hospital, fantastic

cursive spelling practice

Grammar

Social Studies Connection

Unit 1 Lesson 2 - The Trial of Cardigan Jones

Read the Story

Written and Illustrated by Tim Egan

Spelling Words and

Phonics Activities for the Week

Long Vowels a, e, i, o, u with the VCe pattern

Spelling Cards

Genre: Humorous fiction

Target Skill: Drawing Conclusions

Target Strategy: Infer / Predict

Spelling and Vocabulary Games

Vocabulary Strategy: Compound Words

Vocabulary Cards

*Review: these, those

*Challenge: surprise, decide

cursive spelling practice

Read Alouds

"Sequoyah"

Guided Reading Books

The Catnapper

The Case of the Missing Grass

Lauren the Otter

The Supreme Court

Grammar

Social Studies Connection

Unit 1 Lesson 3 - Destiny's Gift

Spelling Words and

Phonics Activities for the Week

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Target Skill: Understanding Characters

Target Strategy: Analyze / Evaluate

Spelling and Vocabulary Games

Vocabulary Strategy: antonyms

Vocabulary Cards

Spelling Cards

Long A spelled ai, ay and Long E spelled ee, ea

Review: Paint, please

Challenge: yesterday, explain

cursive spelling practice

Grammar

Sentence Fragments and Run-ons

Social Studies Connection

    • Unit 1 Lesson 4 - Pop's Bridge

Read the Story

Written by Eve Bunting

Illustrated by C.F. Payne

Spelling Words and

Phonics Activities for the Week

Long O spelled oa, ow

Spelling Cards

Genre: Historical fiction

Target Skill: Compare and Contrast

Target Strategy: Infer / Predict

Spelling and Vocabulary Games

Vocabulary Strategies: Base Words

and Suffixes with -s, -es, -ed, -ing

Vocabulary Cards

*Review:cold, most

*Challenge: tomorrow, sailboats

cursive spelling practice

Grammar

Common and Proper Nouns

Nouns Video

Social Studies Connection

Science Connection

Bridges Brain Pop Video

arch bridge

beam bridge

suspension bridge

Read Alouds

The Bixby Bridge

Guided Reading Books

The Tallest Tower (Empire State Building)

Champ of the Hoover Dam

Sky-High Dreams

Champ

    • Unit 1 Lesson 5 - Roberto Clemente,

Pride of the Pittsburgh Pirates

Spelling and Vocabulary Games

Vocabulary Strategy: Prefix mis-

Vocabulary Cards

*Review: find, night

*Challenge:silent, frightening

cursive spelling practice

Unit 2 Lesson 6 - Max's Words

Read the Story

Written by Kate Banks

Illustrated by Boris Kulikov

Spelling Words and

Phonics Activities for the Week

Genre: Humorous Fiction

Target Skill: Sequence of Events

Target Strategy: Question

Essential Question: What clues in a story help you figure out the sequence of events?

Big Idea: We communicate in many ways.

Spelling and VocabularyGames

Vocabulary Strategies: Suffixes -er, -or

Vocabulary Cards

Words with VCV pattern

Spelling Cards

*Review: each, both

*Challenge: comb, holiday

cursive spelling practice

Grammar

Verbs

Verb Video

Social Studies Connection

writing stories

Read Alouds

The Storytelling Stone

Connection to Poetry: Poems that Slither, Walk, and Fly

Guided Reading Books

Frankie's Facts

Seeing Sayings

Racecar Bob in Panama

Liddy's Sayings

Unit 2 Lesson 7 - What Do Illustrators Do?

Read the Story

Written and Illustrated by Eileen Christelow

Spelling Words and

Phonics Activities for the Week

Genre: Informational Text

Target Skill: Text and Graphic Features

Target Strategy: Analyze / Evaulate

Essential Question: How do pictures tell you a story?

Big Idea: We communicate in many ways.

Spelling and VocabularyGames

Vocabulary Strategy: Synonyms

Vocabulary Cards

*Review: think, they

*Challenge: straight, scramble

cursive spelling practice

Grammar

Social Studies Connection

Eric Carle

Read Alouds

Louis Braille: Boy Inventor

Jack Draws a Beanstalk

Guided Reading Books

Making Murals

Artists All Around You

Art in Caves

Artists Are Everywhere

Unit 2 Lesson 8 - The Harvest Birds

Read the Story

Written by Blanca Lopez de Mariscal

Illustrated by Linda Crane

Spelling Words and

Phonics Activities for the Week

Spelling Cards

Silent Letters kn, wr

Genre: Folktale

Target Skill: Conclusions

Target Strategy: Infer / Predict

Essential Question: How can readers figure out the message in a story?

Big Idea: We communicate in many ways.

Spelling and Vocabulary Games

Vocabulary Strategy: Multiple Meaning Words

Vocabulary Cards

*Review: know, catch

*Challenge: wrinkle, knuckle

cursive spelling practice

Grammar

Commas in a Series

Read Alouds

Sweet Berries

The Farmer and the Dream

Guided Reading Books

Dear Diary

The Great Storyteller

The Night Bird

The Storyteller

Science Connection

zanate birds

harvest

    • Unit 2 Lesson 9 - Kamisihibai Man
            • Spelling Words and Phonics Activities for the Week
            • Genre: Realistic Fiction
            • Target Skill: Cause and Effect
            • Target Strategy: Monitor / Clarify
            • Essential Question: How can a new invention
            • cause people's lives to change?
            • Big Idea: We communicate in many ways.
            • Spelling and Vocabulary Games
            • Vocabulary Strategy: Dictionary /
            • Glossary Entry
            • Vocabulary Cards
            • Social Studies Connection
            • history of Kamishibai

    • Unit 2 Lesson 10 - Young Thomas Edison

Read the Story

Written and Illustrated by Michael Dooling

Spelling Words and

Phonics Activities for the Week

Genre: Biography

Target Skill: Main Idea and Details

Target Strategy: Summarize

Essential Question: Why are details important in a biography?

Big Idea: We communicate in many ways.

Spelling and VocabularyGames

Vocabulary Strategy: Categorize and Classify

Vocabulary Cards

*Review: soft, small

*Challenge: often, strawberry

cursive spelling practice

Grammar

Subject and Object Pronouns

Unit 3

Unit 3 Lesson 11 - Jump

Read the Story

Written by: Floyd Cooper

Spelling Words and Phonics Activities for the Week

Genre: Biography

Target Skill: Fact and Opinion

Target Strategy: Question

Essential Question: How can you tell what an author thinks about a topic?

Big Idea: Facing a challenge helps us grow.

Spelling and Vocabulary Games

Vocabulary Strategy: Suffixes -y, -ful, -ous

Vocabulary Cards

Spelling Cards

Vowel Dipthongs oi, oy

*Review: come, are

*Challenge: poison, destroy

cursive spelling practice

Grammar

Science Connection

Michael Jordan Dunks

Unit 3 Lesson 12 - The Science Fair

Spelling Words

and Phonics Activities for the Week

Written by:Susan Wojcechowski

Illustrated by: Susanna Natti

Target Skill: Story Structure

Target Strategy: Visualize

Essential Question: How do characters

affect a plot of a story?

Big Idea: Facing a challenge helps us grow.

Spelling and Vocabulary Games

Vocabulary Strategy: Idioms

Vocabulary Cards

Grammar

Homophones

Spelling Cards

*Review: road, rode

*Challenge: peace, piece

cursive spelling practice

Read Alouds

Guided Reading Books

Bettina and the Talent Show

Walter and the Food Fair

Unit 3 Lesson 13 - Yonder Mountain: A Cherokee Legend

Read the Story

Written by: Robert H. Bushyhead

Illustrated by: Bristina Rodanas

Spelling Words and Phonics Activities for the Week

Genre: Legend

Target Skill: Compare and Contrast

Target Strategy: Analyze / Evaluate

Essential Question: How might people change after facing a challenge?

Big Idea: Facing a challenge helps us grow.

*Review: can't, isn't

*Challenge: we're, weren't

cursive spelling practice

Spelling and Vocabulary Games

Vocabulary Strategy: Homophones / Homographs

Vocabulary Cards

Unit 3 Lesson 14 - Aero and Officer Mike

Read the Story

Written by: Joan Plummer Russell

Photos by: Kris Turner Sinnenberg

Spelling Words

and Phonics Activities for the Week

Genre: Informational text

Target Skill: Author's Purpose

Target Strategy: Summarize

Essential Question: Why do authors write different kinds of texts?

Big Idea: Facing a challenge helps us grow.

*Review: dark, story

*Challenge: partner, fortune

cursive spelling practice

Spelling and Vocabulary Games

Vocabulary Strategy: Prefixes im- and in-

Vocabulary Cards

Grammar

Pronouns & Verbs

Pronouns Video

Social Studies Connection

Unit 3 Lesson 15 - The Extra-Good Sunday

Spelling Words and Phonics Activities for the Week

Written by: Beverly Cleary

Illustrated by: Tracy Dockray

Genre: Humorous fiction

Target Skill: Understanding Characters

Target Strategy: Infer / Predict

Essential Question: What clues in a story help you understand its characters?

Big Idea: Facing a challenge helps us grow.

Spelling and Vocabulary Games

Vocabulary Strategy: Using a Thesaurus

Vowel +r sound as in nurse

Spelling Cards

*Review: girl, her

*Challenge: perfect, hamburger

cursive spelling practice

Grammar

Verb Tenses

Unit 4

Unit 4 Lesson 16 - A Mr. Rubbish Mood

Spelling Words and

Phonics Activities for the Week

Genre: Humorous fiction

Target Skill: Author's Purpose

Target Strategy: Monitor/Clarify

Essential Question: Why do some authors

write funny stories?

Big Idea: Our world is an amazing place!

Spelling and Vocabulary Games

Vocabulary Strategy: Context Clues

Vocabulary Cards

*Review: buy, year

*Challenge: earring, compare

cursive spelling practice

Grammar

Adjectives and Adverbs

Video

Read Alouds

Science Connection

    • recycling
    • rainforest

Social Studies Connection

Unit 4 Lesson 17 - The Albertosaurus Mystery

Spelling Words

and Phonics Activities for the Week

Genre: Informational Text

Target Skill: Conclusions

Target Strategy: Visualize

Essential Question: How can you

figure out ideas the author

doesn't state directly?

Big Idea: Our world is an amazing place!

Spelling and Vocabulary Games

Vocabulary Strategy: Suffix -ly

Vocabulary Cards

Spelling Cards

Words with /j/ and /s/

*Review: nice, place

*Challenge: excited, gigantic

cursive spelling practice

Grammar

Adjectives and Articles

Science Connection

Unit 4 Lesson 18 - A Tree is Growing

Read the Story

Written by: Arthur Dorros

Illustrated by: S.D. Schindler

Spelling Words

and Phonics Activities for the Week

Spelling Cards

the sounds /k/ and /kw/

Genre: Informational Text

Target Skill: Text and Graphic Features

Target Strategy: Question

Essential Question: How can pictures and

labels give you more information?

Big Idea: Our world is an amazing place!

Spelling and Vocabulary Games

Vocabulary Strategy: Categorize and Classify

Vocabulary Cards

*Review: black, thank

*Challenge: correct, question

cursive spelling practice

Grammar

Using the Verb Be and Helping Verbs

Science Connection

  • trees

Unit 4 Lesson 19 - Dogzilla

Read the Story

Written and Illustrated by: Dav Pilkey

Spelling Words

and Phonics Activities for the Week

Genre: Humorous fiction

Target Skill: Cause and Effect

Target Strategy: Summarize

Essential Question: How can one event lead to a series of adventures?

Big Idea: Our world is an amazing place!

Spelling and Vocabulary Games

Vocabulary Strategy: Prefixes pre-, re-, bi-

Vocabulary Cards

*Review: blew, foot

*Challenge: loose, jewel

cursive spelling practice

Grammar

Irregular Past Tense Verbs

Social Studies Connection

Habitats

Read Alouds

Guided Reading Books

The Stinky Skunk

PT's Terrible Problem

Unit 4 Lesson 20 - Life on the Ice

Spelling Words and

Phonics Activities for the Week

Written by: Susan E. Goodman

Illustrated by: Michael J. Doolittle

Genre: Informational Text

Target Skill: Main Idea and Details

Target Strategy: Infer / Predict

Essential Question: Where are main ideas often found in non-fiction text?

Big Idea: Our world is an amazing place.

Spelling Cards

Compound Words

*Review: someone, cannot

*Challenge: scorekeeper, everybody

Spelling and Vocabulary Games

Grammar

Vocabulary Strategy:

Vocabulary Cards

Social Studies Connection

Read Alouds

The Raven: An Inuit Myth

Science Connection

  • global warming
  • Arctic
  • Antarctic

Unit 5

Unit 5 Lesson 21 - Two Bad Ants

Read the Story

Written and illustrated by:

Chris Van Allsburg

Spelling Words and

Phonics Activities for the Week

*Review making, stopped

*Challenge: freezing, scared

Genre: fantasy

Target Skill: Story Structure

Target Strategy: Monitor / Clarify

Essential Question: What might the problem be in a story about ants?

Big Idea: There are many reasons to

take a journey.

Spelling and Vocabulary Games

Vocabulary Strategy: Base Words

Science Connection

BUGS

Read Alouds

Unit 5 Lesson 22 - The Journey:

Stories of Migration

Read the Story

Written by: Cynthia Rylant

Illustrated by: Lambert Davis

Spelling Words and

Phonics Activities for the Week

Spelling Tic Tac Toe

*Review: pretty, very

*Challenge: countries, libraries

Genre: informational text

Target Skill: Compare and Contrast

Target Strategy: Visualize

Essential Question: How are different animals' lives

alike and different?

Big Idea: There are many reasons to take a journey.

Spelling and Vocabulary Games

Vocabulary Strategy: Prefixes in-, im-

Cursive Spelling Practice

Grammar

Using Proper Nouns

Social Studies Connection

Fables

Unit 5 Lesson 23 - The Journey of Oliver K. Woodman

Read the Story

Written by: Darcy Pattison

Illustrated by: Joe Cepeda

Spelling Words and

Phonics Activities for the Week

Genre: fantasy

Target Skill: Sequence of Events

Target Strategy: Analyze / Evaluate

Essential Question: What happens if you tell story events out of order?

Big Idea: There are many reasons to take a journey.

Spelling and Vocabulary Games

Vocabulary Strategy: Dictionary skills

Spelling games

Spelling tic tac toe

*Review: hopeful, safely

*Challenge: listener, calmly

Cursive Spelling Practice

Grammar

The verb - be -

Action Verbs

Read Alouds

Guided Reading Books

Binxie Gets Lost

Hopping Henry

Social Studies Connection

Write a friendly letter

Unit 5 Lesson 24 - Dog-of-the-Sea-Waves

Read the Story

Written and illustrated by: James Rumsford

Spelling Words and

Phonics Activities for the Week

Spelling tic tac toe

*Review reread, unsafe

*Challenge unbuckle, unknown

Genre: realistic fiction

Target Skill: Author's Purpose

Target Strategy: Question

Essential Question: Why might a writer tell a

story about a faraway place?

Big Idea: There are many reasons to take a journey.

Spelling and Vocabulary Games

Vocabulary Strategy: Dictionary

Vocabulary

cursive spelling practice

Grammar

What is an ADVERB?

Read Alouds

Guided Reading Books

The Great Bay

Friends with WIngs

Science Connection

Volcanoes

Unit 5 Lesson 25 - Mountains:

Surviving Mt. Everest

Read the Story

Written by:Michael Sandler

Spelling Words and

Phonics Activities for the Week

Spelling games

*Review useful, weakly

*Challenge: breathless, eagerness

Genre: informational text

Target Skill: Text and Graphic Features

Target Strategy: Infer / Predict

Essential Question: How are headings, maps,

and diagrams helpful to readers?

Big Idea: There are many reasons to take a journey.

Spelling and Vocabulary Games

Vocabulary Strategy: Analogies

Vocabulary

Read Alouds

Guided Reading Books

Rushing for Gold

Up, Up, and Away!

Science Connection

Mount Everest

Unit 6

Unit 6 Lesson 26

Long Article:

Spelling Words and

Phonics Activities for the Week

The Foot Race Across America

(narrative nonfiction)

Target Skill: Main Idea and Details

Target Strategy: Analyze / Evaluate

Essential Question: How can you figure out the main ideas in a text?

Big Idea: To reach a goal takes hard work.

Vocabulary Strategy: Suffix - ion

Vocabulary Cards

Spelling Practice

*Review - after, under

*Challenge - expect, wisdom

Spelling and Vocabulary Games

Vocabulary Strategy: Analogies

Grammar

Writing Quotations

Unit 6 Lesson 27

Long Article:

The Power of Magnets

Essential Question: How can an invention cause peoples' lives to change?

Big Idea: To reach a goal takes hard work

Target Skill: Cause and Effect

Target Strategy: Summarize

Spelling Words and

Phonics Activities for the Week

Spelling Practice

*Review: funny, better

*Challenge: stubborn, mirror

Double consonants

cursive writing

Vocabulary Strategy: Homographs/Homophones

Vocabulary Cards

Unit 6 Lesson 28

Long Article:

Becoming ANYTHING He Wants to Be

Erik Weihenmayer-Blind Climber

Spelling Words and

Phonics Activities for the Week

Target Skill: Fact and Opionion

Target Strategy: Visualize

Essential Question: How do facts help shape our opinions of people

Big Idea: To reach a goal takes hard work

Spelling Practice

*Review: was, draw

*Challenge: sought, naughty

Cursive Writing Practice

Grammar

Commas in sentences

Spelling and Vocabulary Games

Vocabulary Strategy: Word Roots

Vocabulary

Science Connection

Short article: My Blue Belt Day

Unit 6 Lesson 29

Long Article: A New Team of Heros

US Youth Soccer - ODP

Spelling Words and

Phonics Activities for the Week

Target Skill: Understanding Characters

Target Strategy:

Spelling Practice

*Review: flower, people

*Challenge: whistle, character

Cursive Writing Practice

Grammar

Posessive Pronouns

Monitor/Clarify

Essential Question:

How do facts help shape our opinions of people

Big Idea: To reach a goal takes hard work

Spelling and Vocabulary Games

Vocabulary Strategy: prefixes un- and dis-

Vocabulary

Social Studies Connection

Short article: C-H-A-M-P-I-O-N

Unit 6 Lesson 30

Long Article: Saving Buster

Service Dogs

Target Skill: Conclusions/Generalizations

Target Strategy: Question

Spelling Words and

Phonics Activities for the Week

Essential Question: What helps you make decisions about a character?

Big Idea: To reach a goal takes hard work.

Spelling Practice

*Review: away, want

*Challenge: awhile, beyond

Cursive Writing Practice

Grammar

Correct Pronouns

Video

Spelling and Vocabulary Games

Vocabulary Strategy:

Compound words

Social Studies Connection

Community Contributions

Courtesy of: https://sites.google.com/site/3rdgradejourneys/unit-2

Reader's Notebook