www.starfall.com is an American website with a lot of different things to do. It has got 4 levels, ABCs, Learn to read, It´s fun to read and I´m reading. There are printed materials , online stories, games, drama, dialougs and songs. It is to be used from kindergarten to grade 2 but also for struggling readers. In Sweden I suppose it is meant for children in pre-school and grade 1-3. This website reminds me a bit of a of the Swedish programme called "Fem myror är fler än fyra elefanter" which made a lot of children learn to read during the 1970s.
The starfall reading programme seems to be funny and easy to use. The children can do the reading exercises on the computer on their own, together with other children or with the teacher. There are lessons and samples to use which are made for kindergarten but some of them could be useful in the lower grades in a Swedish school.
You get precise information of what grammar the task includes.
Most tasks are free but there are also more to do if you are a member but this will cost. I think there are enough tasks that are free, there´s no need to become a member. The pupils can listen to voices (other children) who give the information about the tasks and they can read short texts, write words, make drama, make finger dolls for the drama and much more.
There are also a printout function where you can get a lot of exercises to do. These printed materials are effective tools for learning and as I can see it, it can be used to check what the children have learnt. You can download and print out simple books to make. It´s the same books as you can read on the computer monitor.
There are also some tasks in maths too. You learn the numbers 1-100 for example and you learn to write the numbers in letters.
What the website do is to learn English to children as we learn young Swedish learners Swedish.
If you miss anything, you can buy things in the starfall-store but then you must be a member.
Titti Eriksson
The blogger´s way of beginning and describing the site makes me interested. The website seems to have a lot of different activities. Full of expectations I click on the first and second level. I find a woman, who teaches you how to pronounce the letters. There are also other songs and activities with the same aim. This can be good for children who understand the English language and are eager to learn the letters. I think a lot of the activities become meaningless if you have English as a second language. You do not understand the words. This is a formalized way of learning English. I believe children's interest is reduced if not the words are in context. The blogger reminds us of the famous TV program. The site has some similarities, but the fun stories, the crazy man and the jokes in the program are missing. All that is left are the letters and the way the letters sound when you pronounce them. I think the site is good for this purpose.
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