Review by Mieke VanderBorght, Common Sense Education | Updated April 2019
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Starfall

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Early literacy site shines best when using its support materials

Subjects & skills
Subjects
  • English Language Arts
  • Math
Skills
  • Critical Thinking
Grades This grade range is based on learning appropriateness and doesn't take into account privacy. It's determined by Common Sense Education, not the product's publisher.
Pre-K–2
Common Sense says (See details)
Teachers say (76 Reviews)
Price:  Free Limited content available for free. Subscription levels range from $70 to $270.
Platforms:  Website

Take a look inside

7 images
Kids are free to click where they want and explore all the available activities.
Beginner activities are organized by letter with an extra set of vowels to introduce "long" and "short" ones.
Kids learn about phonemes and rhyming by matching sounds to make words.
Construct stories out of simple sentences.
At the end, kids put it all together to read short animated stories.
Teachers can find supplemental materials in the separate Parent-Teacher Center.
The extras are extensive, including full curricular plans with worksheets and supporting materials.

Pros: Between the interactives and offline extras, this is an extensive program focused on the fun of reading.

Cons: Younger kids might need help, as many activities require mouse skills. Kids with vision or hearing issues might struggle.

Bottom Line: It has the potential to be a great learn-to-read program for teachers who make use of the extension materials for classwork or homework.

How Can I Teach with This Tool?

Students from a variety of learning backgrounds (ELLs, those with language delays, etc.) can use Starfall to explore literacy concepts at their own pace. The earliest readers can explore well-paced videos that introduce each letter and can actively discover letter sounds and usages, while more advanced readers can enjoy the "I'm Reading" section, with short books on subjects from comics to Greek mythology and Chinese fables. The "It's Fun to Read" section, in which kids learn about how reading can help them investigate anything that interests them, offers a nice way to tie together different classroom subjects under the overarching theme of reading and literacy. Teachers can also project the site on an interactive whiteboard to introduce new concepts (letters, letter sounds, phonemes, blending sounds, and more) to the whole class. For teachers who are ready to go all in, the Parent-Teacher Center is a must. It offers an impressive amount of additional ideas, printable worksheets, and pre-K and kindergarten curricula. Beware, however, that a lot of these extras will cost you.

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Standards:

Starfall is an early learning website featuring interactives, games, songs, and supporting resources. The heart of the site is its reading program, categorized into four sections: ABCs, which introduces letter sounds through videos and interactive games; Learn to Read, which teaches some of the more common sounds through interactive games, books, and videos; It's Fun to Read, in which kids learn to read in context; and I'm Reading, in which kids read short books, comics, and plays. Kids can progress through these four sections however they like and move on to other sections as their reading skills improve and mature. In addition to these interactives and activities, there's a Parent-Teacher Center that has printable worksheets, pre-K and kindergarten curricula, detailed lists of Common Core State Standards alignments, and other resources for teachers. There's also a store with extras like books and stuffed animals for purchase.

A limited amount of Starfall's large content base is available for free. To unlock all content, teachers need to purchase a subscription. The full, paid version also includes some math content, seasonal activities, and more. There are also several associated Starfall apps, including Starfall Learn to Read and Starfall ABCs, some of which are entirely free and some of which offer limited content for free.

Though at times the user experience can feel a bit slow and outdated, Starfall still does a good job of offering clear and useful early literacy lessons. The effective sound-it-out approach helps kids identify each individual phoneme, or sound, in words. When they see the word "bat," kids hear it sounded out ("b-a-t") several times, faster and faster, until they hear the whole word. Another great feature is that the experience personalizes as a kid's reading skills progress. For example, kids choose words to insert into sentences, and their choices influence the direction of the activity. 

While the activities aren't that interactive, kids do engage with the site. Kids can make simple choices, click on words to hear them read aloud, or click to advance videos. There's often a mixture of text and audio, and activities are well paced. Unfortunately, there's not an option to hear an entire passage read fluently, and some things, like songs, are missing captions. Young kids or kids with special learning needs may also face a few challenges. Many of the activities require a lot of mouse navigation, and a lot of the site isn't accessible to screen readers or keyboard navigation. And, for better or worse, kids are free to access any of the site's content at any time. Kids are very much in charge of directing their own journey through the learning material. This may work well for some kids, whereas others may need some supervision to keep them on track. Ultimately, the best implementation will involve diving into the Parent-Teacher Center and using the curricular guides, downloadables, and extras like books. With these, a clear plan, and a nice mixture of work on and off the website, Starfall could be a relied-upon tool in your classroom.

Starfall's strength lies in its literacy program, but teachers should note that there is some content focused on basic math concepts and other subjects.

Overall Rating
Engagement Is the product stimulating, entertaining, and engrossing? Will kids want to return?

Game graphics aren't very gripping or interactive, but there's a good mix of video/audio, games, and stories to keep kids interested.

Pedagogy Is learning content seamlessly baked-in, and do kids build conceptual understanding? Is the product adaptable and empowering? Will skills transfer?

Effectively introduces reading basics from letter recognition to beginner-level ebooks. The interactivity is limited, but the presentation is clear and well-paced and has lots of extras. Light coverage of other subjects.

Support Does the product take into account learners of varying abilities, skill levels, and learning styles? Does it address both struggling and advanced students?

Lots of free printouts to support offline instruction. A Parent-Teacher Center offers impressive curriculum guides for limited grade levels. No progress-tracking and some accessibility limitations for screen readers and deaf students.

Common Sense Reviewer
Mieke VanderBorght Researcher
About our ratings and privacy evaluation.

Key Standards Supported

Reading Foundational Skills

  • RF.1.4a

    Read on-level text with purpose and understanding.

  • RF.1.2a

    Distinguish long from short vowel sounds in spoken single-syllable words.

  • RF.1.2b

    Orally produce single-syllable words by blending sounds (phonemes), including consonant blends.

  • RF.1.2c

    Isolate and pronounce initial, medial vowel, and final sounds (phonemes) in spoken single-syllable words.

  • RF.1.2d

    Segment spoken single-syllable words into their complete sequence of individual sounds (phonemes).

  • RF.2.4a

    Read on-level text with purpose and understanding.

  • RF.2.3a

    Distinguish long and short vowels when reading regularly spelled one-syllable words.

  • RF.2.3b

    Know spelling-sound correspondences for additional common vowel teams.

  • RF.K.3a

    Demonstrate basic knowledge of one-to-one letter-sound correspondences by producing the primary or many of the most frequent sound for each consonant.

  • RF.K.3b

    Associate the long and short sounds with common spellings (graphemes) for the five major vowels.

  • RF.K.2a

    Recognize and produce rhyming words.

  • RF.K.2d

    Isolate and pronounce the initial, medial vowel, and final sounds (phonemes) in three-phoneme (consonent-vowel-consonent, or CVC) words.* (This does not include CVCs ending with /l/, /r/, or /x/.)

  • RF.K.2e

    Add or substitute individual sounds (phonemes) in simple, one-syllable words to make new words.

  • RF.K.1d

    Recognize and name all upper- and lowercase letters of the alphabet.

Reading Literature

  • RL.1.10

    With prompting and support, read prose and poetry of appropriate complexity for grade 1.

  • RL.2.10

    By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories and poetry, in the grades 2–3 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

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Teacher Reviews

(See all 76 reviews) (76 reviews) Write a review
Featured review by
Melissa Z. , Classroom teacher
Classroom teacher
Liberty
Springfield, United States
It is easy as ABC.
This tool is an excellent tool. They have really though out how to teach these concepts to the students. There is a mini lesson, a book that they can read, and than a song or activity afterward. If you are looking for a great online resource to use in your classroom I would start with this site.
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