Seeing Stars® Teacher's Manual

The Teacher’s Manual includes the theoretical and research base supporting the role of symbol imagery for phonological and orthographic processing in reading and spelling. The manual is organized into chapters for each step of the program, following a systematic and cumulative progression from simple to complex syllables and into contextual reading.

Seeing Stars® Progress Monitoring Charts

This chart presents the scope and sequence of the program and allows instructors and students to chart their progression through the steps and activities. Kit includes a packet of 30 for multiple student use.

Seeing Stars® Consonant Cards

The Consonant Cards are presented during the Sounds and Letters Step to teach students the letter name, sound, and symbol imagery. The letter is presented on the front and the back of the card includes instructions for the teacher: a sound key, a lesson, and an explanatory note. Included are digraphs and common orthographic patterns (qu).

Seeing Stars® Vowel Cards

The Vowel Cards are presented during the Sounds and Letters Step to teach students the letter name, sound, and symbol imagery. The letter is presented on the front and the back of the card includes instructions for the teacher: a sound key, a lesson, and an explanatory note. Included are diphthongs, vowel controlled r, and common orthographic patterns (ai, ea, oa).

Seeing Stars® Sounds and Symbols Charts

The ten rows of sound and letter associations present to students the most frequently used sounds, as well as the easiest to the most difficult to grasp, such as the ‘c’ and ‘g’ rules. Students can track their progress through each row.

Syllable Cards

The Syllable Cards Step is introduced when students are ready for early phonics blending. Cards follow the progression of simple to complex to multisyllabic syllable patterns and are presented to students to apply symbol imagery, to decode, and to manipulate phonemes and graphemes. Controlled chains (one phoneme/grapheme change at a time) are ordered strategically for common orthographic patterns and phonics rules, to establish early recognition of those patterns. Real and nonwords are included. Each level (box) contains 500 syllable cards, for a total of 2500 words, designed for practice and repetition in developing symbol imagery and phonological/orthographic processing, with fluency.

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Seeing Stars® Syllable Boards

The Syllable Board Step is used to provide more symbol imagery stimulation with a tactile board. One side includes 7 lines for one syllable words, while the other side includes 3 sections for up to 3 syllable patterns. Students write imaginary letters with their index finger while integrating the sounds, letter names, and symbol imagery of the word. Kit includes 30 boards for classroom lesson.

Seeing Stars® Star Words List

For the Stars Words Step, 1000 high frequency words organized by both frequency and syllable complexity, including irregular spelling patterns. The list is not ordered by phonetic consistency because many of the most frequent words in English are irregular, and require orthographic mapping for word recognition. Kit includes a packet of 10 lists for multiple student use.

Seeing Stars® Star Words 1-500

The first 500 Star Words are included individually on flash cards for additional practice and for group and classroom activities.

Seeing Stars® Visual Spelling Charts

The Visual Spelling Chart is used during the Image and Spell Step to provide more symbol imagery stimulation with high frequency words. It is organized following the “Analyze, Visualizing, Write” strategy for integrating the sounds, letter names, and symbol imagery of the word. Kit includes a packet of 30 for multiple student use.

Seeing Stars® Affix Cards

Affixes are introduced during the Two and Three Syllables Steps. 53 common prefixes and suffixes are presented individually as flashcards to introduce and practice with students.

Seeing Stars® Decoding Workbooks

The Decoding Workbooks are used during the Decode, Decode, Decode Step of the program. One set includes six workbooks organized from simple (VC/CV) to complex (CCVCC) to 2 – 5 syllable patterns. The workbooks also include activities for practicing Star Words, spelling, and contextual reading.

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Catch a Star Workbooks

These workbooks provide additional practice opportunities for high frequency words, focusing on the first 300 words from the Star Words list. The set of 6 workbooks also include contextual reading activities to reinforce vocabulary, and activities for spelling, and writing.

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Ivan's Sight Word Diner

These flashcards provide students with additional practice opportunities to experience high frequency words in context. The first 200 words from the Star Word list are included.

Test Examiner's Manual

The Symbol Imagery (SI) Test is a standardized, norm-referenced test designed to measure a student's symbol imagery for sounds and letters within words. It is often used as a diagnostic and progress monitoring tool for the Seeing Stars program. The SI Test is high correlated with standardized measures of: Phonemic Awareness, Word Recognition, Spelling, Fluency and Reading Comprehension.

Letters and Words Cards

Included in the SI Test Kit, the Letters and Words Cards provide the prompts for the person being assessed to respond to. Cards are organized into five sections of varying tasks that measure symbol imagery.