My Journey with Journeys

This year I am piloting a Language Arts program called "Journeys" by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. My school district is looking at a few programs, mainly Journeys and Open Court for the younger grades K-4, that are common core based.  I am a workshop style teacher and I loved using novels in my classroom with a combination of Read Alouds and skill work. so I was nervous about adjusting my style to suit the needs of a program.  (We had a Spelling Program for the Spelling curriculum called "Spellography" that some of the other 4th grade classroom continue to use during the piloting phase).

I spent the first few weeks of September aligning all the skill and strategy work that is in the program because I needed to see the visual piece of the year, by literally making charts for each lesson.  I also wanted to secure my homework routine and align that part of it with my Greek and Latin root word study, incorporating the vocabulary words from each week's lesson.  And....I also wanted to be able to keep a picture book Read Aloud a week that encompassed the big ideas from the BASAL reader and continue making meaningful anchor charts for each story/skill/strategy.  So far, so good.  I am truly likely this program.

Here's what I love (so far)...

1.  The structure of a program.
2.  The strategies and skill work.
3.  The online pieces (such as a listening center!)
4.  The stories in the BASAL are good!
5.  Some of the workbook pieces.  But not all...I try to steer away from daily worksheets, but I have to try all the pieces.
6.  The companion story that goes along with the anchor text ties it all in together.
7.  The home letters to the parents are informative.
8.  A great focus wall poster that you hang each week.
9.  The context vocabulary cards.
10.  The spelling words/spelling program.
11.  The ability to choose between a workshop model and a traditional model.  In the workshop model, the focus is clearly written so you can post it in your classroom or on the anchor chart.

I will be updating this post/or writing an updated post later in the year.