Mosdos Press Literature

Mosdos Press Literature

Coral 5th Grade

Mosdos Press Literature, Coral 5th Grade  is part of Timberdoodle's 2018, 5th Grade Curriculum Kit. The literature bundle includes a hardcover Student Reader, a softcover Student Activity Workbook, and a two-set spiral-bound Teacher's Edition. The Student Reader is 682 pages in length. The spiral-bound Teacher's Edition set is 682+ pages in length. The Student Activity Workbook is 201 pages in length and has perforated pages so that they can be easily taken out if desired. The 5th grade literature year covers prose, poetry, nonfiction narratives/essays, plays, biographies, short stories, and a complete novel. 

My 5th grade daughter has been working her way through the pages of the Coral level over the past couple of months. Along her journey she met 14-year-old Samuel a slave in Brooklyn, New York during the American Revolution and his quest for freedom. She got to ask lots of What If's in the poem by Shel Silverstein in learning his poem entitled, "Whatif?" She loved reading the story, "From The Black Stallion" by Walter Farley and was entranced by the wild stallion -- unbroken, and full of spirit. As she read,” OneDay In The Desert" she got a nature lesson on desert life. It follows different animals throughout their day in the desert. Here is an excerpt from the text:

"A kangaroo rat was in her labyrinth under the leafless, pencillike ocotillo plants.

She awakened when the temperature reached 119 F. (47.3 C). Her bedroom near the

surface of the desert floor had become uncomfortably hot. Her body was drying

out She scurried along a tunnel, turned a corner and ran down a slope toward a

room under a giant saguaro cactus. She paused at her pantry to eat seeds of the 

mesquite tree before retiring to the cool, deep chamber."

In the Teacher's Edition you can find an easy to follow Scope and Sequence that will take you through each of the Six Units in the 5th Grade Literature Level. The literature Selection is listed, followed by the Genre ~ Unit Theme, Literary Element focus, Eyes on..., and finally the Workbook pages to be completed. 

The Teacher's Edition has a copy of the Student Reader surrounded by helpful guided text for the teacher. Some of the components to the Teacher's Edition are: Summing Up The Plot, Literary Components, Guiding The Reading, Eyes On...Sequence, Eyes On...Conflict, Quick Review, Creating & Writing, First Impressions, and Background Bytes.

The student textbook is full of stories, poems, and tales that will captivate your child. The variety of genre is diverse in content. Some stories are taken from books such as Laura Ingalls Wilder's, By the Shores of Silver Lake, while other selections first appeared in the magazine Cricket. The poem Whatif, by Shel Silverstein is from his book A Light In The Attic. Several selections are taken from Boys' Life Magazine. The stories have beautifully illustrated pictures in color. One aspect of the Student Textbook that I really found 

helpful for my daughter was that at the beginning of all stories there is a brief introduction

to the story as well as an interesting fact relating to literature, e.g. Eyes On...Historical Fiction. The literary component is then developed in the stories. Vocabulary words that may

be unfamiliar to the student will be written and defined at the bottom of the story 

pages. Mosdos also implements footnotes to explain terms, people, or events in the text that 

many be unfamiliar to the student. Selections end with First Impressions, Quick Reviews, Focus, and Creating & Writing, Think About It, About The Author.

Each literary selection has corresponding workbook pages to go along with it. For example, the first story in the Student Textbook entitled, Samuel's Choice, has six pages of workbook pages that go along with the story. The first page is a fill-in-the-blank vocabulary. Page two students are asked to use the vocabulary works from the first page and divide them into three groups based on their meaning. The third and fourth pages are In-Depth Thinking and Drawing Conclusions short answer questions as well as taking it One Step Further where the students are asked to think about a difficult choice and consider the pro's and cons of each choice.  The last two pages require the student to look back into the story and find information and analyze and clarify and organize. 

As an educator I would definitely recommend Mosdos Press Literature to others. The 

curriculum was easy to use, and my daughter enjoyed the story selections. The workbook

activities were age appropriate and requires the student to think. It is not just busywork. If you are looking for unique and innovative curriculum look no further. Timberdoodle has been supplying families with hands-on, thinking-skills products since 1985. Check out their full line of products.