JOURNEYS 2

ND
GRADE
DAILY JOURNAL PROMPTS
HIGH-LEVEL THINKING QUESTIONS
UNIT 5
Developed by Mr. Rice, 2
nd
Grade Teacher,
Pittsburgh, PA
EXPLANATION
With the implementation of the rigorous Common
Core Standards, it is important that students learn
how to answer difficult questions in writing at an
early age. These daily journal prompt questions
correspond with the stories in the Houghton Mifflin
Harcourt Journeys series for 2
nd
grade. The
questions for each story are based on Blooms
Taxonomy, and are scaffolded by difficulty, starting
with a comprehension question on the first day of
the lesson, then moving to application, analyzing,
evaluating, and synthesizing. Enjoy!
RULES FOR DAILY WRITING
Always writing in paragraph form (indent).
Begin with a topic sentence that restates the question,
and end with a closing sentence.
Your journals should be at least 6 sentences long.
Be sure to proofread for spelling and punctuation, and
make sure it makes sense. You are not finished until you
correct any mistakes.
Use your neatest handwriting.
When sharing with the class, use a loud speaking voice.
When others are sharing, listen quietly.
PENGUIN CHICK
Day 1- Understanding
In a paragraph, tell two facts that you
already know about penguins, and two
opinions that you know about penguins.
PENGUIN CHICK
Day 2- Applying
What facts from Penguin Chick would
you use to support the fact that young
penguins rely on their parents to
survive?
PENGUIN CHICK
Day 3- Analyzing
In what ways is the story Penguin
Chick similar to Jellies?
PENGUIN CHICK
Day 4- Evaluating
Compare and contrast Penguin Chick with
Dex: Heart of a Hero. How are the ideas
in the story alike and different?
PENGUIN CHICK
Day 5- Synthesizing
Suppose you could design a habitat for
penguin chicks and their parents? What
would you need to include in the
habitat?
GLORIA WHO MIGHT BE MY BEST FRIEND
Day 1- Understanding
Gloria Who Might Be My Best Friend is
a story about two new friends. Take a
picture walk, and describe a time that you
made a new friend, like Julian did.
GLORIA WHO MIGHT BE MY BEST FRIEND
Day 2- Applying
How could you use the story Gloria
Who Might Be My Best Friend to help
you if a new kid moved across the
street from you?
GLORIA WHO MIGHT BE MY BEST FRIEND
Day 3- Analyzing
When was the turning point for Julian and
Glorias friendship? What happened in
the story that told the reader that they
were going to be good friends?
GLORIA WHO MIGHT BE MY BEST FRIEND
Day 4- Evaluating
What judgment can you make about
Gloria and about Julian? What type of
characters are they? How do you
know?
GLORIA WHO MIGHT BE MY BEST FRIEND
Day 5- Synthesizing
Look back to page 231, where Julian
writes his wishes for the kite. Create
your own list of wishes that you
would include on your kite.
THE GOAT IN THE RUG
Day 1- Understanding
The Goat in the Rug is a narrative
nonfiction story. Take a picture walk
through the story and tell why you
think the author chose the title The
Goat in the Rug. What do you think
the title means?
THE GOAT IN THE RUG
Day 2- Applying
What facts from the story would you
use to show that both Glenmae and
Geraldine play a key role in making
a Navajo rug?
THE GOAT IN THE RUG
Day 3- Analyzing
Read the first paragraph on page 261,
beginning with I was really worried
that she would be angry with me
What judgment can you make about
Glenmae based on this paragraph?
THE GOAT IN THE RUG
Day 4- Evaluating
Why do you think the author chose to
tell the story from Geraldines point of
view?
THE GOAT IN THE RUG
Day 5- Synthesizing
Use the information from the story to
create a list of instructions for making a
Navajo rug.
HALF-CHICKEN
Day 1- Understanding
Half-Chicken is a folktale that tells a
story about how one character helped
others when they need it, so they
helped him in return. When is a time
that you helped someone, and they
helped you later?
HALF-CHICKEN
Day 2- Application
Could the story Half-Chicken have
happened in real life? How do you
know?
HALF-CHICKEN
Day 3- Analyzing
What is the motive, or reason that
wind, fire, and water chose to help
Half-Chicken when the chef was going
to cook him for soup?
HALF CHICKEN
Day 4- Evaluating
Do you think it was a wise decision for
Half-Chicken to stop and help wind,
water, and fire, when he had to get to
the viceroy quickly? Tell why or why not.
HALF CHICKEN
Day 5- Synthesizing
Create your own short folktale
describing how a weather vane, or
another object was created.
HOW GROUNDHOGS GARDEN GREW
Day 1- Understanding
Describe an experience you have
had planting a flower or
vegetable. If you have never
planted something, describe how
you think a vegetable is planted.
HOW GROUNDHOGS GARDEN GREW
Day 2- Applying
Use the information from How
Groundhogs Garden Grew to
create a list of instructions for
planting potatoes.
HOW GROUNDHOGS GARDEN GREW
Day 3- Analyzing
If Squirrel had never taught
Groundhog how to grow his own
garden, how would the middle and
end of the story have changed?

HOW GROUNDHOGS GARDEN GREW
Day 4- Evaluating
What would you have done if
you were Squirrel and you
caught Groundhog stealing from
your garden?
HOW GROUNDHOGS GARDEN GREW
Day 5- Synthesizing
If you were the author, what
would you have done to
improve the story and make it
more interesting or informative
to read?