Polaris Learning Inc. is committed to teaching students how to become outstanding readers, writers and thinkers. To accomplish this we are working in two areas of curriculum development.

Click here for the Stellar Reading – Star Power Writing PHILOSOPHY Click here for the Stellar Reading – Star Power Writing PROGRAM FEATURES PDF format [361K]		Click here for the Stellar Phonics to Reading philosophy. Stellar Phonics to Reading is a phonics program for PreK through 1st grade students.

Stellar Reading – Star Power Writing is an integrated language arts program for 1st through 6th grade students designed by teachers to meet California State Standards.
Imagine a gifted piano student — one who loves to listen to music — is told by his instructor to sit at the piano and express himself freely; not to worry about how he plays, or the mistakes he makes, but just to let his feelings flow. "After all," the instructor says, "music is a process not a product — it's not the results that count, but the voyage of discovery as you explore the infinite variety of notes.”

Honestly, would you want to be in an audience that had to listen to the resulting cacophony? And yet students of writing are given this kind of direction on a daily basis. Is it any wonder they respond with that deer-in-the-headlights look on their faces, and incomprehensible results on their papers?

The Star System, with and , is a language arts program that systematically develops students' reading and writing skills.Much as the piano student needs to develop a series of abilities in order to play a piece of music with all the components that make it a work of art, so the writing student needs to develop his writing abilities in a similar manner.

But what are the components necessary to become good readers and writers? We, at Polaris, have based our curriculum on the California State Framework, which we believe develops the necessary components in sound progression. All of our assignment books are written to fit the state standards prescribed by grade level in an integrated format. Since the state testing is based on the standards, test preparation is no longer separate from the curriculum, but the tests become a measurement of the standards mastered, as they were initially intended to be.

The best writers are good readers. They have a sense of the way language sounds, and how words work together to create memorable images and lasting impressions. Stellar Reading begins with an oral reading of the text. In the words of Maya Angelou, "Words mean more than what isset down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with the shades of deeper meaning." After the initial reading, students participate in a discussion, during which they are required to go back to the text to answer questions of analysis and interpretation. Other components of Stellar Reading include reading comprehension questions, vocabulary assignments based on the reading, and grammar and mechanics assignments also based on the reading. Students are rarely asked to analyze how a professional writer uses the basic elements of grammar and mechanics, and yet they are necessities of clear communication.

The momentum of the discussion should naturally lead into the writing assignment. Star Power Writing uses a unique and memorable graphic organizer for each style of writing. Students use the organizer to analyze text,so they can see how professional writers use the same format, and then they write their own essays using the same pattern of organization. Afterwards, they can check their writing on the Star Points Rubric to see their strengths and weaknesses. Star Power Writing stresses prewriting and planning rather than revising. Realistically, students will spend most of their academic and professional careers writing on a deadline, and they need to learn to be their own best editors as they write. Too many writing programs stress infinite revisions, which encourage mediocrity in initial drafts. Students need to learn to write their first draft as close to a final draft as they can come. Star Power Writing shows students what to write, so they can concentrate on how to write.

A great disservice of modern education is that we have separated subjects into individual classes that eliminate key and vital relationships between subjects. This produces linear thinkers. All of Polaris ’s books have at least one cross-curricular link — cross-training — that shows how subjects connect to form a broader picture. For example, in The Visual Story, a packet written for fourth grade, the progression of art and language is explored.Could men have developed the spoken word before they began to draw pictures? Can words exist without pictures, or pictures without words? This type of critical thinking develops global thinkers. Students who can readily see connections become sophisticated problem solvers.

A successful writing program should fuel students' sense of wonder and natural curiosity. Reading beyond the text is a major component of Stellar Reading. Students are encouraged to pursue the reading in greater depth by exploring listed web sites and reading from the additional reading selections included at the end of each packet.

The Star System has been developed by a team of veteran teachers — cockeyed optimists — who believe that competent reading and writing skills are the right of every student and the responsibility of every teacher.