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What Are Geodes?
by General
Geodes are accessible, knowledge-building books created to engage emerging and developing readers. Books in the collection are designed to enable students to apply their growing phonetic knowledge while learning about important ideas in science, history, and the arts. This approach empowers young students as they build foundational reading skills, reading confidence, and intellectual curiosity.
Developed by Great Minds and Wilson Language Training, Geodes combine carefully selected letter sounds and words with highly engaging content. Kindergarten students begin the school year by exploring two book types: one designed to cultivate students’ sense of story, and the other focused on fostering phonemic awareness and phonics skills. Later in the year, phonetic concepts and high-frequency words are gradually incorporated into the text, in line with the progression of concepts taught in Fundations®. Students develop decoding skills as they read alongside an adult, or more advanced, reader. All books are grouped into knowledge-building sets that explore subtopics inspired by the module topics of Wit & Wisdom.
Rooted in the belief that children are capable of reading to learn while learning to read, Geodes are accessible books that are worth reading, even at the earliest stages of literacy development. They are crafted with three foundational principles in mind.
ACCESSIBILITY
Geodes are designed to be highly readable for emerging and developing readers. Students are presented with books aligned to their phonetic development; they are not asked to attempt decoding words until they are equipped with the necessary tools.
The first half of Level K includes four story-focused books and twelve letter-sound based books. Coupled with instructional support, the story-focused books, or Wordless Picture Books, build students’ understanding of basic narrative sequence. In subsequent explorations, students may engage more independently with a Wordless Picture Book as they closely examine the illustrations and add more detail to their retellings. The letter-sound based books, or Sound Search Books, provide numerous opportunities for students to boost their letter-sound awareness within and across books.
The second half of Level K includes 32 books with child- and adult-read text. These books, called Duet Books, each include child-read text that is at least 90 percent decodable, as aligned with the scope and sequence of Fundations® Units. With the support of an adult, students practice taught phonetic elements and Fundations® Trick Words in connected text. This design, along with explicit instruction in vocabulary and content knowledge, makes these texts accessible, empowers young students, and promotes reading independence.
KNOWLEDGE
Geodes build depth of knowledge by exploring connected topics across multiple books. Grounded in the content of Wit & Wisdom, each module is built around a compelling subject. Through varied genres, Geodes offer a range of perspectives on each topic. Adult-read text features—such as labels, maps, and captions—foster students’ content knowledge and vocabulary development. Each book type builds students’ knowledge of the world.
ENGAGEMENT
The language and images in Geodes invite continued study. Written and illustrated by a wide array of authors and illustrators, these books are each unique. Beautiful illustrations and photographs enrich and expand on the text. Varied book types align with students’ growing phonetic knowledge, giving them the tools to grow into confident readers.
