Drawing Helps Memory

Drawing Helps Memory

Studies have repeatedly shown that drawing a concept improves memory of it by promoting visual, kinaesthetic and semantic processing of information all at the same time. Drawing has been proven to boost memory, sometimes by nearly double normal retention.

All Killer, No Filler (Words)

All Killer, No Filler (Words)

“Filler words” are the “ums”, “ahhs”, “you knows”, “likes” and “kind ofs”, to name just a few, that we speakers of English pepper our speech with on a regular basis. Being prepared, at ease and comfortable is one of the best ways to reduce your reliance on filler words.

What to Do When Your Students Are Done

What to Do When Your Students Are Done

What do you do when your students have finished all their activities in CARS & STARS Online ahead of time, when you need extra things for them to do while other students continue working, or when you just want to give them extra practice?

Sparking New Ideas for Writers (and Readers)

Sparking New Ideas for Writers (and Readers)

Writer’s block is when, for no apparent reason, no words will come and even staying at the keyboard or desk feels like a challenge. It’s something that can crop up for writers at every level.

Fun English Activities for Every Classroom

Fun English Activities for Every Classroom

This post includes some tried and tested activities for English classrooms – or remote learning experiences, with some slight modifications.

Fake Words!

Fake Words!

Coining “fake words” is today regarded as a sign of intelligence, and a willingness to play with the rules to create something new with language. To find out more, and how CARS & STARS Online can also offer a new way of thinking about language and the meaning of words, click the link below.

Dealing with New and Unfamiliar Words

Dealing with New and Unfamiliar Words

Every student (and their teachers) has certain words that just refuse to lodge in their brain. It might be because they’re unusual or rarely encountered in regular life, or because they don’t conform to what they’ve been taught are basic spelling rules and conventions.

Copywriting is Important – But Reading It Well is Even More So

Copywriting is Important – But Reading It Well is Even More So

Copywriting is an important skill for today’s writers and their audiences. Students who can think about texts in the way taught by CARS & STARS Online show a developed reading comprehension ability as well as a readiness to critically evaluate what they read that goes beyond simply what a text is about on the surface.

Reading for the Brain

Reading for the Brain

Regular young readers are likely to be better at dealing with the thoughts and feelings of others than their peers, because in some ways they have the most practice with the concept of other people having their own inner worlds as well, and they’ve been introduced to this idea in a way that is both safe and fundamentally non-threatening.

Brainstorming for Comprehension

Brainstorming for Comprehension

Brainstorming can help with reading comprehension in several ways. There are no wrong answers in brainstorming, and all participants should be encouraged to contribute without a fear of criticism. Open-ended questions elicit responses from everybody, giving all present a well-rounded and open insight into often very different ways of looking at a text.

The Best Readers Read Poems

The Best Readers Read Poems

Poetry is often hard to read, and less welcoming to the reader than text that uses a more literal, straightforward way of describing the world. This is largely because poetry relies on the reader’s ability to understand figurative language, which is more abstract and indirect. An ability to comprehend figurative language only comes from a mastery of more direct, concrete lower-order thinking and processing skills.

Tips for Improving Literacy Skills

Tips for Improving Literacy Skills

A reader who has progressed through CARS & STARS Online won’t just be able to read a text, they’ll be able to determine why they think it was written and what the person who wrote it was trying to get them to think when they read it.

Reading Can Improve Social Skills, Too

Reading Can Improve Social Skills, Too

Learning social skills is a vital part of a child’s growth and development, perhaps more so today than ever before. But did you know that reading can be beneficial to a child’s social development, as well as to their academic success?

If Students Want to be Writers, the Key is Reading Comprehension

If Students Want to be Writers, the Key is Reading Comprehension

Reading comprehension is central to journalism, and it informs every skill required by a good journalist today just as it always has. The ability to undertake extensive research is pivotal to every form of journalism. A journalist works best when they can understand the needs of the reader and what they want, taking on information accordingly

Back-to-School Planning Guide for Principals and Administrators 2022–2023

Back-to-School Planning Guide for Principals and Administrators 2022–2023

As you begin to plan for the next academic year, you'll want to incorporate the best practices and lessons from the previous school year that promote and prioritise student reading comprehension success. To assist you during this planning process, we’ve compiled a list of our best resources and recommended solutions.

Behaviour Problems Can Impact Reading Skills

Behaviour Problems Can Impact Reading Skills

A child having serious difficulty in reading comprehension can easily get frustrated and start to behave in ways that don’t help anybody, least of all themselves. The negative effect of poor reading skills only increases over time, and because reading is so important these negative behaviours feed into other subject areas as well.

Review Lessons in the STARS Module of CARS & STARS Online

Review Lessons in the STARS Module of CARS & STARS Online

A review lesson follows every three strategy lessons in the STARS module of CARS & STARS Online, and a final review covering all the strategies occurs once students have completed all twelve strategy lessons.

Pacing with CARS & STARS Online

Pacing with CARS & STARS Online

CARS & STARS Online is designed to be flexible, but also offers teachers guidance when it comes to fitting in with class scheduling and planning. 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.

Tips for Using STARS in the Classroom

Tips for Using STARS in the Classroom

Here are three of our top tips for using the STARS module of CARS & STARS Online effectively in the classroom. These tips are all designed to harness the power of explicit teaching and can also be utilised – with a bit of rearrangement – via distance learning as well.

The CARS & STARS Online Approach Improves Reading Comprehension

The CARS & STARS Online Approach Improves Reading Comprehension

Recent studies and research projects have shown the effectiveness of the approach featured in CARS & STARS Online in improving student outcomes and allowing students to achieve advanced levels of reading comprehension. Further studies have also found the approach used in CARS & STARS Online is especially beneficial for disadvantaged students.