Starfall.com

What the resource is, how it works and what you need do make it work

By reading Maria Estling Vannestål’s book “Lära engelska på internet” I got many ideas of how to use Internet in my teaching, particularly in my English lessons. You will get very inspired when you read the book and if you check some of the websites she is referring to. I did spend a long time looking around on Internet after reading the book.

The most important for me is that the ICT resource will be funny and easy to use, both for me as a teacher and for my students. It is also important that the children gets motivated and find it exciting. When I was looking around I founded a lot of interesting websites, the one I have chosen to write about is www.starfall.com.

Starfall is a website where the children can learn English in a fun way. There are different exercises in English, for example different word-games, memory, stories, short movies with different facts etc.

The website is inviting and there are many colors and funny figures. The stories are good and you can click on the pictures for animations. Through this the pupils will participate actively when they use the website. The website has a good design and there are both sounds and nice pictures.

You can also download different exercises from the website, and then you can work with them in the whole class. These exercises are most about learning the alphabet and new words etc.

The minimum system requirements needed to use Starfall: Windows 95, Macintosh OS8, or Linux, Internet connection, 64 MB Ram, 200 MHz processor, Internet Explorer 4 or Netscape and Flash Player 4. You will also need to have Adobe Reader if you want to download something from the website.

How the resource can be used by teachers and pupils

The website is for pupils who are in the beginning of their English learning. The website can be used often and it is good for younger children.

Starfall is a “learn to read” site and you can find many different exercises for English learning there. It is four stages for the user: ABCs, Learn to Read, It’s fun to read and I’m reading. For example there are word-exercises where the pupils can build short words and then listen on them. They can play word-memory and match a word with the right picture or match the same word together. There are different stories and then you can click on every word and hear it. There are also other fun games and different things to do to practice the English. For the very beginners there is a chance to learn the alphabet as well.

I think the pupils will be motivated to learn English by using this website and teachers will be inspired. The website will help the children with: motivation, phonemic awareness, systematic phonics, vocabulary, fluency and comprehension.

Teachers can use the website to get some inspiration and some of the exercises can be used in class without a computer. There are also different documents with many exercises for downloading. As a teacher you can make connections between the website and your English lessons, you can for example make themes based on the website or have lessons with links to what the children are doing on the website.

Other considerations when using this resource

It is easy to use Starfall and it is also fun to use it. There are no disturbing advertising so the children will not be distracted by other things. I will use this website because it is funny and easy to understand.

Starfall is also good with the different stages that allow the pupils to work on their own level. You can let very young children work with for example the alphabet on this page; they will find it funny and interesting. I will not use this with older children because I think they would find it to childish.

You can also let the children who have a little problem with the English use Starfall; it will be motivating and fun for them.