Time is always at a premium for teachers. It often seems like there is never enough of it to fit in all the things one is expected to do – from preparing instruction that fits into designated class lengths, to getting through everything you have planned while juggling the needs of an entire class of totally different people, to being able to cover what you need in that allotted time before moving on and doing it all again. Teaching is hard. Doing it with a proverbial stopwatch hanging over you is even harder. It’s hard to plan to fit everything in, but it’s easier to get carried away and take more time than you budgeted for.
CARS & STARS Online is a digital reading comprehension program based around the repeated application of twelve core reading strategies to make students better readers who can analyse and interpret any text with a high level of understanding.
The multi-level program is designed to be entirely paper-free, with all student answers entered directly into the software, and results recorded and corrected automatically. This means CARS & STARS Online frees up teacher time because it requires no teacher marking. The program automatically generates a variety of reports based on the data from student work, giving teachers an unprecedented view of students’ progress and difficulties while they’re actually undertaking the program – not long after they’ve finished it. These reports are all easily accessible in the one place. Because the program generates reports automatically there’s no wait time for them to be compiled when a teacher first requests a report, as they are already there and ready to go when needed.
Reports provide useful overviews of individual, group, class and even whole-level or whole-school progress. They also help suggest steps for further instruction by allowing the targeting of areas of need and providing guidance for what might need to be focused on in future lessons.
The program is designed for flexibility in the classroom and can be used effectively in several ways to fulfil each teacher’s classroom needs. How they choose to allocate time for the strategy lessons, review lessons and the final review is up to teachers, depending on the needs of their students. During instruction, Suggested Pacing Charts offer helpful guidance to teachers on how best to cover content in class. They break each lesson down into its components and give suggestions for how long to spend on each item, but teachers can adjust the times as needed in the Suggested Pacing Chart to best accommodate their daily schedule of instruction. Flexibility is key.
Finally, teachers can now see how long individual students are spending on elements of the program, with reports now keeping track of just how long they are working on things. It’s all part of making the most of the time allotted for instruction, for everyone.
Whether you’re a student or a teacher, CARS & STARS Online wants to make the most of the time you have available.
If you are interested in learning more about the CARS & STARS Online subscriptions and how they can help children to achieve better results, then sign up for a free trial to be an integral part of your child’s reading success.
