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What Are Geodes?
by General
Geodes are accessible, knowledge-building books created to engage emerging and developing readers. Each book in the collection is designed as an authentic reading experience, enabling students to apply decoding skills while building knowledge about important ideas in science, history, and the arts. This approach empowers young students as they develop foundational reading skills, reading confidence, and intellectual curiosity.
Developed by Great Minds and Wilson Language Training, Geodes combine carefully selected words with highly engaging content. Phonetic concepts and sight words are gradually incorporated into the text, in line with the progression of concepts taught in Fundations®. Books grouped into knowledge-building sets explore subtopics that emerge from 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. They are crafted with three foundational principles in mind.
ACCESSIBILITY
Geodes are designed to be highly readable for emerging and developing readers. The text in each book is at least 80 percent decodable, as aligned with the scope and sequence of Fundations® units. Practicing taught phonetic elements and sight words in authentic text 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 of 16 books is built around a compelling subject. Through varied genres, Geodes offer a range of entry points into each topic. Content-based words are strategically included to support vocabulary development.
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. Students engage with varied text structures and design formats. Beautiful illustrations and photographs enrich and expand on the text. Newly learned phonetic concepts are gradually integrated, allowing sentences to retain a natural flow.
