FOCUS READING OVERVIEW
FOCUS Reading Comprehension is a series designed to provide both reinforcement in the key reading strategies for on-level readers, and targeted intervention for struggling readers and English-language learners (ELL). This reading-strategy series provides practice for students who are reading at reading levels from 1.0 to 8.9.
FOCUS Reading centres on brief instruction and concentrated practice with targeted reading strategies. The series focuses on the higher-order reading strategies with which struggling readers need extensive practice.
The selections in the series span curriculum content areas and each student module has 48 selections with which students can practise a specific reading strategy. These selections are followed by comprehension questions that require students to apply their focused reading strategy. FOCUS Reading is supported by current research regarding the reading instruction of English-language readers and struggling readers.
48 SELECTIONS OF RESEARCH-BASED SERIES COVER SIX STRATEGIES
Understanding Main Idea & Details
The Main Idea is the most important idea in a story or passage. The main idea tells what the story or passage is mostly about. Most stories or passages have a title.
The title can often reveal something about the main idea. Every paragraph also has its own main idea.
Understanding Sequence
Sequence is the order in which things happen in a story or passage. It is also the order in which things are done.
When you are reading, something always happens first. Then something happens next. Then something else happens, and so on. Understanding Sequence allows us to comprehend this order.
Recognising Cause & Effect
An event, something that happens, can be broken into two parts. One part makes the other happen. These two parts are called Cause and Effect.
These two parts, taken together, tell both what happens and why that thing happens. Why something happens is the cause. What happens is the effect.
Comparing & Contrasting
Comparing is finding how things are similar, or alike. Contrasting, on the other hand, is finding how they are different. You can compare or contrast two or more people, places, things or events.
Comparing and Contrasting allows us to see what things have in common and how different they are.
Making Predictions
You can make predictions when you read. Making Predictions involves making an informed guess about what might happen next or later as a result of the events you have read about and understood so far.
To make a prediction you use clues in the story and what you already know.
Drawing Conclusions & Making Inferences
Figuring out information that is not explicitly stated in a story or passage involves us Drawing Conclusions and Making Inferences.
To do this we use information that is given and what we know from our own lives to figure out what is not directly revealed in the story or passage.
FOR STUDENTS
Deepen understanding with proven effective practice.
FOCUS READING
FOCUS Reading module is perfect for students struggling with or needing more practice on one of the 6 core reading comprehension strategies. This series has eight levels (A–H, with A correlating to about a year 1 reading level), and each is linked directly to and reinforces the reading strategies explored in the CARS & STARS program. This module is designed for flexibility and can be used at any time to provide concentrated practice in the targeted strategies either to an entire class or individual students.
RECOMMENDED LESSONS NEW
If your students are using the CARS & STARS module, once they have finished five CARS Pretests up to three specific reading strategies will be automatically recommended for them in FOCUS Reading to remediate areas that need reinforcement.
LESSON BOOKMARK NEW
The handy new Lesson Bookmark feature allows students to instantly jump back to lessons they want to access quickly or repeatedly. By bookmarking a lesson they can easily return there by accessing all their bookmarked lessons from the personal My FOCUS Reading Bookmark section of their account, at any time and on any device.
COMPLETE ACCESS
Significant cost savings are just the first benefit to going digital. Each student subscription gets full access to eight levels (A–H). This is currently the equivalent of the content of 48 printed, research-based books! Students are presented with the same stories as in the printed workbook but in a full-colour, illustrated digital format. Those using the Focus Reading module don't need to purchase any printed FOCUS Reading books at all since CARS & STARS Online already covers all the content.
LEARN ABOUT
Before the lessons begin, there is the Learn About section. This sample lesson provides basic instruction and modelling in the understanding and application of the reading strategy, as well as sample problems similar to the ones in the practice lessons. Learn About gives concise direct instruction and introduces the strategy. It also includes a strategy summary of important ideas and a graphic organiser that represents the text structure specific to each reading strategy.
HIGHLIGHTING
Allow your students to type their thoughts and comments right into the interactive assessments and lessons. Use various colours to emphasise different ideas or to connect important ideas to review that information later.
LESSON PREVIEW
Following the Learn About section is a lesson preview. The Lesson Preview includes a sample reading passage and two selected-response questions with explanations of why each of the eight answer choices is correct or not. The Lesson Preview should be read, worked through and discussed to ensure students understand how to answer strategy-based questions.
TRACKING CHART
Students can monitor their progress by reviewing the Tracking Chart. The Tracking Chart is useful in helping students take responsibility for their learning and in setting goals for themselves.
SELF-ASSESSMENTS
After every five FOCUS lessons, students complete a self-assessment. These self-assessments allow students to focus on reading strategies and not simply on how many questions they answered correctly or incorrectly. Self-assessments further allow students to voice any concerns they might have about their work in private, make an excellent addition to portfolios and are a valuable resource for student–teacher conferencing.
INDEPENDENT PRACTICE LESSONS
Each FOCUS lesson contains one reading passage, four strategy-based selected-response questions and one strategy-based constructed-response writing question. Passage Genres are both fiction and nonfiction and include personal narrative; realistic fiction; folktale; fable; legend; article; letter; book report; journal entry; biography; textbook lesson; and instructions.
READ ALOUD COMING SOON
Read Aloud can be switched on for students who prefer to listen to content instead of reading, as well as those with dyslexia or other learning differences. The Read Aloud feature increases word exposure and improves vocabulary. This exposure helps build background knowledge, an essential component of an evolving student. It also helps develop higher-order thinking skills.
FOR TEACHERS
Instant visibility to student pacing and progress.
INTERACTIVE TEACHER GUIDE
The Interactive Teacher Guide provides all the information needed to use FOCUS effectively. Each Teacher Guide includes an introduction to the series and its features and provides an explanation of the self-assessments. Each Teacher Guide also includes a research summary with a full bibliography that highlights the current educational research the series is based on. Teacher Guides further provide answer keys, with answers to selected-response questions and sample answers for the constructed-response items.
TEACHER REPORTING
Managing assessable data into relevant reports that can be stored, accessed and compared within the program itself, teachers can access reports on individual students, as well as find correlations in a group of students or the entire class. Providing multiple enhancements for teachers and based on extensive customer feedback, teachers are able to closely monitor and track their students’ progress throughout, allowing ready, instant access to student’s assessment data from anywhere with an internet connection.
LOCK SETTINGS
CARS & STARS Online is not only about the freedom a learner should have to be the architect of their own learning experience. It’s also about the teacher having the full control to lock or unlock tests or lessons for students to ensure they are on the correct tasks and not rushing ahead or getting bored staying behind.
MAKE DATA-DRIVEN ADJUSTMENTS
Each student brings different skills, backgrounds and motivations to the act of reading, which means how they grow as a reader will also be different to others. Personally monitoring and changing their reading level can be a hassle. With CARS & STARS Online, you can easily reassign or reset a student's reading level with three simple clicks, and colour-coding helps keep track of where they are assigned.
DRAG & DROP REPORTING
Save your favourite reports using drag and drop. Easily get insights early and often, allowing you to prepare lessons and activities that target your students' actual needs. Quickly convert data into useful and actionable information.
REPORTING HISTORY
All your previous reports produced will be saved in Reporting History. The Reporting History acts as a set of dynamically created bookmarks that can be easily retrieved by a single click.
FOR PARENTS
Connect With Your Child Through Learning.
IMPROVEMENT FROM HOME
At Hawker Brownlow Digital, we believe that learning doesn’t only happen in the classroom but continues when they arrive home. That’s why we’ve formulated our program to be accessible anywhere, anytime.
PARENT ENGAGEMENT IN CHILDREN’S LEARNING
CARS & STARS Online allows you to keep up to date with day-to-day progress, while reducing strain on teachers, all from the comfort of your own home. The software ensures that you share a constant connection with your child's progress throughout the program.
FOCUS RESEARCH
FOCUS Reading is grounded in well-researched teaching and learning strategies ensuring that teachers engage students with an educationally sound reading-practice program. The program solidifies comprehension with review and practice in the six key reading strategies. With repeated practice and exposure, students become automatic in their ability to use reading strategies.
FOCUS Reading Supporting Research
by Hawker Brownlow Publishing
PICK A PLAN NOW
At Hawker Brownlow Digital, we understand that everyone's needs are different, so we've created short-term 3-month, mid-term 6-month and full-term 12-month subscription plans tailored to your needs to help you to achieve your goals.
WHAT PRINCIPALS, TEACHERS AND PARENTS ARE SAYING
This differentiated program allows students to read texts which are at a level suitable for their current ability and leads to students being more engaged in reading lessons. As a result, they can experience success and improve their reading and comprehension abilities. CARS & STARS Online is an important part of the English program and we are seeing fantastic improvement across all years in students' reading and comprehension abilities.
Linda Samardali
Head of Department from Kinross College
I've found CARS & STARS Online has really helped in improving my children's reading skills. The skills were all clearly presented with a lot of samples and practice opportunities. The student report also gives the parents a clear guide as to which areas need reinforcement and which areas each child is strong in.
Shannon Zhao
Parent from Sydney
I have found CARS & STARS Online very beneficial, especially during our time teaching and learning remotely. The ability to track live what the students are doing was helpful to ensure that they were remaining on task and to provide feedback.
Brent Ritchie
Teacher from Haileybury
Now that I understand how to use the online program and utilise the tools correctly, I am enjoying using CARS & STARS Online. The ability to locate and download the different reports is phenomenal!
Amber Rains
Teacher from Kambala
I am a bit of a technophobe but using CARS & STARS Online has certainly made life easier and the kids have found it easy to navigate.
Jo Oram
Teacher from Prescott College Southern
CARS & STARS Online has become a very useful tool for my staff to implement effective teaching and learning programs. Having a tool that gives timely assessment results, meets students at their level of need and allows them to see exactly what students are working on in real-time is time effective and impacts on future goals.
The detailed assessment data generated by CARS & STARS Online informs the specific direction of their reading and comprehension teaching. Students report they enjoy the tasks and feel a real sense of accomplishment as they work through the lessons and assessments at their own pace.
Craig Brown
Principal from Toongabbie Public School
REFER YOUR SCHOOL TO CARS & STARS ONLINE
Do you like what you’ve seen and want to share it with your teachers and principals? Use the Refer Now button to send them an information pack containing the benefits of CARS & STARS Online (which include Australian Curriculum 9.0 teaching resources), supporting research, professional development information, pricing and available plans with just one click.
