Journeys 2014: Materials Adaptation Project

The Materials Adaptation Project brought teams of educators together to design easy-to-implement changes to improve the standards alignment of Journeys 2014. These recommendations help Journeys users improve the effectiveness of their basal by setting aside less effective portions of the basal and devoting more attention to high-value texts and activities. These guidance documents are available for districts to use in planning and professional development settings as they work to align their instruction to college and career ready standards.

Student Achievement Partners worked with districts across the country who appreciate the promise and potential of the Journeys  comprehensive reading program from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and who sought to align Journeys more closely to the expectations of rigorous college and career-ready standards. Student Achievement Partners worked in a productive partnership with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and teams of teachers from these districts to create supplemental materials that leverage the program's strongest elements, which when used alongside Journeys, provides teachers the resources to deliver aligned instruction in order to drive student outcomes.

Journeys Decodable Reader Resources

Decodable Readers are a valuable resource connected to systematic phonics instruction. In Journeys, decodable readers connect directly to the scope and sequence for phonics sound and spelling patterns as well as the teaching of high frequency words.  Each week, students are given the opportunity to read texts that build on and use the newly taught sounds.  

Student Achievement Partners  has created a protocol designed to enhance the use of decodable readers.  By adding a sequence of multiple reads, comprehension questions, and foundational skills tasks and games, teachers are able to make better use of these resources.  

The Journeys Decodable Reader Resources for kindergarten and grade one are text specific versions of this protocol.  There is a template for two texts per week for five units of kindergarten and first grade.  Each template can be used for multiple reads, allowing teachers supportive guidance in enhancing this valuable resources.  Texts included with the program that do not have resources provided can be used for extra support, buddy reading, or student independent reading in order to build reading fluency.