Illustrated Story Worlds & Domain Studio
Language is how the story moves.
Practice listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Take five minutes, play a discourse game, or enter a story where your words move what happens next.
Support pathways are classroom choices. They are not WIDA scores. Instructions can switch to Spanish. The English task stays in English, because that is the language you are practicing.
The Mystery Files · Harbor City Archive
The Lantern in the Stacks
A light moved after the archive closed. Describe what was observed before you decide who moved it.
Nia Calder, Detective Voss & Jun Park
2 branching story forks · 3 support pathways · Grades 3–5 & 6–8
Four Language Domains · Balanced Practice
Practice one domain in five minutes, or all four inside a story
Listening
Comprensión auditiva
Hear spoken discourse first; reveal the transcript only when you choose support.
Receptive oral comprehension · audio-first processing
Start Listening (Grades 3-5)Speaking
Expresión oral
Plan key moves, record on your device, listen back, and verify what you said.
Productive oral discourse · metacognitive self-monitoring
Start Speaking (Grades 3-5)Reading
Lectura académica
Inspect primary story documents, pinpoint evidence sentences, and explain why they matter.
Receptive text analysis · close reading & citation
Start Reading (Grades 3-5)Writing
Escritura académica
Draft for a real story audience, inspect criterion feedback, and revise on purpose.
Productive written discourse · deliberate revision cycle
Start Writing (Grades 3-5)Curriculum Architecture · 9 Worlds × 8 Cases
Nine Illustrated Worlds
Every world anchors a distinct academic language function—from separating observation and inference in Harbor City to synthesizing multi-world arguments in the Language Nexus.
ELD-LA · Inform & Argue
The Mystery Files
Describe what you notice, ask a sharper question, and defend a conclusion with evidence.
Nia Calder apprentices with Detective Omar Voss in the Harbor City archive. Eight cases teach the difference between what was seen and what it might mean.
ELD-SI / ELD-SS · Explain
The Explorers' Guild
Follow spoken directions, compare routes, and explain how to get somewhere.
Apprentice Samira Haddad, Captain Lila Okonkwo, and mapmaker Teo Alvarez reopen the way to the Salt Lantern Coast.
ELD-SC · Explain & Argue
Science City
Explain cause and effect when a river garden begins to fail.
Amina Yusuf works with Dr. Priya Raman and engineer Mateo Cruz to find out why the river garden is failing, and what a filter can and cannot fix.
ELD-SS · Narrate & Explain
The History Portal
Recount established history, compare perspectives, and keep fact separate from the portal story.
Guide Imani Brooks, historian Rafael Ortega, and scribe Ellis Ward use a fictional portal to study real places and events. The frame is invented. The history is not.
ELD-LA · Inform & Explain
The Word Forge
Use word parts, precise vocabulary, and sentence expansion to rebuild a city made of language.
Forgekeeper Anika Shah, printer Bodhi Nguyen, and apprentice Leo Martins repair gates, bridges, and aqueducts by making words and sentences hold.
ELD-SI / ELD-SS · Argue
The Diplomacy Chronicles
Listen to more than one view, disagree respectfully, and negotiate a solution.
Envoy Hana Sato and mediator Caleb Brooks help gardener Rosa Delgado and her neighbors decide how to share water, a gate, and a festival.
ELD-LA / ELD-MA · Argue
The Media Detectives
Separate a claim from its evidence and correct a rumor without inventing a new one.
Editor Noor El-Sayed, producer Jordan Hale, and fact-checker Aya Mensah investigate a fictional feed called Sparkline.
ELD-LA / ELD-SC · Explain & Argue
The Communication Lab
Plan, speak, draft, and revise an explanation for a real audience.
Coach Elena Vasquez, sound designer Kwame Diallo, and presenter Riley Chen prepare a public explanation for the city.
All 5 WIDA Standards · Integrated Transfer
The Language Nexus
Carry language from every world into one coordinated response.
Keeper Soren Abebe calls the crews together. Each adventure asks students to transfer a language move they have already practiced.
Four Discourse & Logic Games
Play with how clauses, claims, spoken sequence cues, and reference chains hold together. Includes Connector Bridge Architect, Observation vs. Rumor Courtroom, Acoustic Sequence Stage, and Reference Chain Detective.
Deep-Craft Studios for Class & Home
Explore 12 specialized studios including the Academic Word Matrix, Register & Precision Polisher, Data & Visual Evidence Bench, Reference & Cohesion X-Ray, and Counterpoint & Rebuttal Sparring.
Three support pathways. One shared intellectual goal.
Students never get watered-down mysteries. Whether a learner chooses Guided, Developing, or Independent support, they investigate the same case, examine the same evidence, and write to the same story audience.
Guided
High-support entry with visible sentence frames, focused reading excerpt, and core word bank.
- Focused 1-paragraph reading
- Visible sentence frames
- Curated word bank
Developing
Balanced challenge with complete story texts and on-demand starters when needed.
- Complete 2-paragraph source
- On-demand sentence starters
- Core vocabulary bank
Independent
Extended academic synthesis with a second corroborating source and unprompted drafting.
- Primary + secondary source
- Unscaffolded drafting
- Extended synthesis stretch prompt