Mosdos Press Literature - Opal - 3rd Grade
A thoughtfully curated literature program that inspires deep thinking, builds real skills, and nurtures timeless values.
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2026 Third-Grade Curriculum Kit
Mosdos Press Literature - Opal - 3rd Grade
Looking for a literature program that develops strong reading skills without leaving you second-guessing the content? Mosdos Press Literature combines rich literary study, thoughtful vocabulary development, and meaningful character themes in a program designed to help your child grow into a capable, thoughtful reader.
Rather than relying on a random assortment of stories, Mosdos carefully curates fiction, nonfiction, biographies, poetry, essays, and dramatic literature that engage students while reinforcing qualities such as honesty, courage, compassion, responsibility, and perseverance. The result is a literature program that encourages both academic growth and meaningful conversations around the dinner table.
At the Opal level, designed for third grade, students encounter 22 short stories, 17 poems, 3 biographies, 2 essays, a play, a novella, and a narrative poem. The selections range from humorous and imaginative to inspiring and thought-provoking, exposing your child to a wide variety of writing styles and genres throughout the year.
The full-color Student Reader serves as the heart of the program. Vivid illustrations draw students into the selections, while vocabulary support appears directly on the page, eliminating the frustration of constant page-flipping. Before each reading, students are introduced to a literary concept such as theme, conflict, setting, characterization, or foreshadowing. These gentle introductions help children begin noticing the building blocks of good literature without making reading feel like work.
After each selection, students move beyond simple recall questions. Comprehension exercises, critical-thinking questions, and optional enrichment activities encourage them to think more deeply about what they have read and why it matters. Some families will choose to complete every activity, while others will select only those that best fit their schedule and goals.
The consumable Student Activity Workbook reinforces the concepts introduced in the Reader through vocabulary exercises, comprehension questions, writing activities, and literary analysis. In the elementary levels, puzzles and games keep lessons engaging while strengthening understanding. As students progress through the series, the assignments gradually become more writing-intensive, helping them transition naturally toward more advanced literary study.
The Teacher's Edition provides extensive support without overwhelming the parent. Every page of the Student Reader is reproduced alongside teaching notes, literary explanations, discussion guidance, and answer keys. Whether you're new to homeschooling or have guided multiple children through literature studies, you'll have the tools needed to lead meaningful discussions and deepen comprehension.
One of Mosdos Press Literature's greatest strengths is its thoughtful selection of reading material. The stories are engaging enough to hold a child's attention while remaining consistent with the values many families hope literature will reinforce. Instead of using controversial content to spark discussion, Mosdos trusts strong storytelling, relatable characters, and worthwhile ideas to do the heavy lifting.
For families seeking a literature program that combines literary analysis, vocabulary development, reading comprehension, and positive character themes, Mosdos Press Literature offers a balanced approach that is both academically rich and genuinely enjoyable to teach. Many children come away with stronger reading skills. Just as importantly, they come away seeing literature as something worth thinking about long after the last page is turned.
See some sample pages from Mosdos Opal and browse all that it has to offer.
How to Use Mosdos Press Literature
Mosdos naturally divides into six units, each with five weekly sections, creating a comfortable 30-week literature program. Use the remaining weeks in your school year for unit wrap-ups, independent reading, extra discussion, catch-up time, or simply a lighter schedule when life gets busy.- Begin each new section with the "Lesson in Literature." These short introductions teach literary concepts such as theme, characterization, conflict, setting, and foreshadowing before your child encounters them in the reading selection.
- Read the assigned selection together or independently, depending on your child's reading ability. Afterward, work through the "Studying the Selection" questions. Many families find these discussions are most effective when completed orally, allowing for richer conversations and deeper comprehension without adding unnecessary writing.
- Use the Student Activity Workbook after each reading selection. The workbook reinforces vocabulary, comprehension, and literary concepts while helping your child interact more deeply with the text.
- The Teacher's Edition is designed to make your job easier. Teaching notes, literary explanations, discussion guidance, and answers appear directly alongside the student pages, making preparation minimal and instruction straightforward.
- Creative writing activities, Focus assignments, and Unit Wrap-Ups provide additional opportunities for enrichment but can be adjusted to fit your family's schedule and goals. If your child is already completing a separate writing program, feel free to be selective.
- The final unit, A Toad for Tuesday, follows a slightly different format and is designed to be completed over approximately three weeks. Enjoy it as a change of pace and an opportunity for deeper literary discussion.
Mosdos Press Literature works best when literature becomes a conversation rather than an assignment. The goal is not simply to finish the stories, but to help your child notice ideas, understand characters, appreciate good writing, and think more deeply about what he reads.
Extra Student Pack Includes:
Student Readers Only Includes:
Publisher's Information
Publisher: Mosdos Press Literature
Age Recommendation: 8
Grade Recommendation: 3rd
Faith-Based: No
Consumable: No (student & teacher texts), Yes (student workbook)
Lessons: 30 units (47+ pieces of literature)
ISBN: 9780985807832 (Student Edition), 9780985807894 (Teacher's Edition), 9780985807870 (Student Activity Workbook)
Format: Hardcover (Student Edition), Spiral bound softcover (Teacher's Edition), Softcover (Student Activity Workbook)
Copyright: 2013
”If you are looking for a quality literature book that will last for years to come, Mosdos Literature is for you! We loved the stories, assignments, and the teacher’s guide provided invaluable resources.” Read the Review
Mom's Quest to Teach
”I would recommend Mosdos Press Literature Opal to families who are homeschooling third graders. I feel it has been a perfect fit so far for our son.” Read the Review
Melissa Wilhelmina Official
Farmhouse on Third:
Find answers to the most frequently asked questions about this product below:
Either can be a great option. All About Reading Level 4 teaches students how to decode words that use less-common English spellings and pronunciations. For example, some of the words covered are juice, gnat, beige, daughter, comb, journey, rough, and rhyme. Level 4 also teaches how to decode words with various suffixes and those influenced by other languages. If your student would benefit from clear instruction on how to decode unusual or complicated words, then Level 4 is an ideal option.
On the other hand, many students who have mastered Level 3 are already picking up these words in the context of everyday reading. A better next step for these students can be to diversify their reading through a literature program. For that reason, Mosdos Opal is our typical recommendation for the next step after Level 3.
Customers earn Doodle Dollars for reviewing products they've purchased, and some promotions add an entry in a prize drawing. Rewards never depend on the rating given.
Customer photos
- September 24, 2026
Adrianne N.
The stories and poems are interesting and teach a lesson, the student activity book ensures that the kids learn vocabulary and understand what they have read. Very high quality!
- September 23, 2026
ScotFlower
I simply love the Mosdos Literature curriculum. It's focused on literature only and it's better for us to have literature separate from writing, spelling, etc. The stories all teach morals or have positive messages. It's focused on character education rather than politics or religion. It can be very hard to select literature that won't offend someone, but I feel this is the best we have found. Various cultures and backgrounds are depicted which fits well with the socal communities we have lived. In the workbook, I loved the vocabulary review pages because they are short and effective as my son actually learns those words by the time I quiz him at the end of each unit. Other curriculum has not successfully had my son learn the new words at all. Overall Mosdos Literature provides far more info than you need so you can pick and choose the right options for your child's level. As for our family, we did the intro to lit concept, short story, and vocab pages on day 1, the did the longer story and comprehension questions day 2, and lastly did the literature workbook pages and read the poem on day 3. Occasionally there was an extra for day 4, but not often. We skipped the creative writing pages as we did not need them. We had a separate writing program.
- April 15, 2025
Every story has a lesson or moral.
ScotFlower
Every story has a lesson or moral to it without be religious. I am simply blown away by the curriculum due to its quality stories, value added, ease of use, and clarity in teaching the main concepts of literature. Now, we skip the writing workbook page (in the middle of the 5 for each story) since we have another writing program and my son does not need to burn out on writing essay length anything. You also DO NOT have to go over all the info in the teachers manual - so pick what to focus on given your child's talents or needs. For us, we stick to the reading, reading comprehension, plus the deeper questions, the main concept in literature being taught, new vocabulary, and do 4/5 pages in the workbook. Overall, I would recommend this series to everyone.
- February 25, 2025
Mosdos Press Literature - Opal - 3rd Grade
Anonymous
As a citizen of a Federally Recognized Tribal Nation I wasn't too thrilled to see some of these stories. I felt like I went back in time to the 1950's. There is an obvious slant to one side. There was really no point in wasting my money with the teacher's manuals because the information was way above my son's grade level. I liked how Timberdoodle did break up the reading in the handbook. Had I known that was how it was recommended to use this curriculum, again, I would not have bought all the teacher and activity books.
- December 18, 2024
Supplementing
Lirpa
While immersing in Spanish, we didn't want our son to lose all his English progress and so we purchased this as a supplement and are thoroughly enjoying it!
- December 4, 2024
Not a complete LA curriculum
Ashley
Bottom line: at the core this is a fine way to read literature & poems with some guidance & vocab building. There are outdated stories/themes that need addressed or taken out. The teacher manual is 95% useless. I wish they'd pair it down to the basics of what this program really is and reduce the cost. Instead they've bulked it up with busywork & a lot you don't need making it seem confusing/ overwhelming. The long opinion... I used this a few years ago and found t merely OK. I'm using it again with a younger kid (with whom it's a better fit) and using a higher level but in a new way. First, this is a literature program, NOT a complete language arts course. As such, the teachers books are inappropriate. They are massive, overcomplicated & cover things at a depth far above what is developmentally appropriate. They're also the most expensive part. I'd love to see a much scaled back version that answers any questions posed in the text, and the workbook + a BRIEF overview of each lesson along with a bit of suggested pacing. As it is the teacher book is almost useless, cumbersome, intimidating and unrealistic. And it makes me grumpy paying for all that. What I do like is the literature; exposure to the various stories, the vocabulary building, the critical thinking questions, reading comprehension, the inclusion of poetry, and discussion of literature themes (what is plot, or internal conflict, etc). Again, more is offered than is needed or developmentally appropriate. There are big projects, big writing assignments with little direction, no grammar and no spelling. We use IEW for both grammar and writing, therefore any writing outside of fill in the blank in Mosdos we completely skip. We also use All About Spelling. Because Mosdos is strictly, for us, about reading a selection and then having some discussion and answering some questions, it seems a bit expensive and bulky. It's good how we use it, but for someone unfamiliar it is very intimidating and overwhelming. I wish there was something similar that fixed these issues! My final complaint is that while not "religious" there are definitely some outdated themes covering topics like Native Americans, gender, etc. that are biased in a conservative and Caucasian lense, if not outright outdated. Just because something has been considered a classic for a long time doesn't mean it's good. When we know better we do better?! It has led to some discussion in our house about who is left out of different narratives, how someone is stereotyped, etc. But this more a conservative white person's version of morals, so be prepared for that and to maybe do some better education of topics covered at times.
- April 26, 2024
Great stories
Brittany O.
My daughter loves the stories and actually remembers them because she enjoys them so much. It normally takes us about 2 hours to get through one lesson but it's worth it.
- March 6, 2024
What we were missing
Lauren R.
This literature curriculum has been just what we were looking for. It gives you a variety of things to do with each reading and you can pick what makes most sense for your family. I like having the variety of options to choose from. My kids truly enjoy the stories!
- February 1, 2024
It's like a Buffet!
Lindsay G.
We love Mosdos! Think of it as a buffet, there are so many options for using this curriculum, but you couldn't possibly do all of it and that's okay! My daughter and I take turns reading the story, she works on the vocabulary page each week and usually 1 other page in the Student Workbook. We verbally answer questions (using the Teachers Guide) about the story. She typically does some kind of writing or creative project about the story towards the end of the week. I love that it is structred, the readings are all very moral and encourage thinking beyond ourselves. My daughter loves that she can be creative.
- September 11, 2023
Great teaching tool
Rebecca G.
Great way to teach literature to your third grader with more options for activities than you will probably use!
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