How was the Starfall Curriculum developed? Since opening our website in September of 2002, teachers have been writing us about how they captured the excitement of Starfall in their classrooms by developing lesson plans based on our online activities. "All of my kindergarten students are reading," wrote a teacher in Texas. Some teachers used small groups; others taught as a whole class. Both styles were apparently successful. That’s why in May of 2004 we decided to form a task force of volunteers to help us develop a full kindergarten curriculum. Our group expanded each year until finally in 2008 the team expanded to over 150 teachers in 50 schools with over 5000 students. It may be one of the biggest volunteer efforts of its kind in the world. The curriculum was designed to help children learn to read by creating an atmosphere of fun and enthusiasm. Our games and lesson plans employ visual, auditory, and kinesthetic interaction that are especially successful with special education and ELD (ELL; ESL) students. |