Focus on Learning 

Introducing...

STARS Word Reading Program

In our first Focus on Learning article for the year, I made mention of just some of the strategic practices we are implementing in the name of literacy growth and achievement. One of these practices was the establishment of our Literacy Learning Hubs, where our students from Kindergarten to Year 4 take part in a 40 minute explicit reading and spelling session four times a week. We are now into our fifth week of Literacy Learning Hubs and from all accounts these sessions are going very well, with both students and teachers alike enjoying having this time targeted to their literacy needs. 

I also briefly mentioned a new initiative to our school - the ‘STARS Word Reading Program’, and this week the staff at St. Joey’s are very excited to formally introduce this program to our school community. 

The STARS Word Reading Program is a new initiative designed to support our students as they learn to read, with a focus on learning the many high frequency words that students are exposed to in their readers, and during their Literacy Learning Hub lessons. This program has also been designed to further build on the home-school partnership, encouraging families to participate in, and support the learning of our students. 

In a nutshell, the STARS Word Reading Program (an acronym for Supporting Students to Achieve Reading Success) is a list of 200 high frequency words that have been strategically categorised into sets of animal words. As students master each set of words, they progress to the next animal, which increases in size to represent the growing abilities of our students. 

As students reach milestones in their word retention (50 words, 100 words, 150 words and finally, 200 words), their dedication and achievement will be celebrated with the school community. Families are encouraged to continue word practice at home and students will receive their very own ‘Star Words’ folder that will contain the current set of animal words for your child. 

Over the coming weeks, we will release a series of short videos that contain ideas and demonstrations of the many ways our families can use the Star Words at home. In the meantime, the video below provides a more indepth introduction to the STARS Word Reading Program and the Star Words folder that will be coming home next week. 

We look forward to working together to support our students' learning, helping them to shine bright in their reading!