STARI units are designed to be engaging and motivating for adolescents who read below grade level. Texts have been selected that are accessible to below-grade-level readers, but age-appropriate and engaging. STARI is a culturally responsive curriculum, focused on relevant, real-world topics. Students bring funds of knowledge that teachers may draw upon to have engaging and meaningful class discussions of text. Because STARI units include opportunities for debate, ideal STARI texts tend to focus on debatable, even controversial, topics. These texts and topics were carefully chosen to provide opportunities for respectful, structured debate.

Series/Unit Overviews

The STARI curriculum consists of three series, with Series 1 most frequently used with 6th grade, Series 2 with 7th, and Series 3 with 8th. Each series includes three units, with each unit’s lesson plans written for approximately 40 instructional days. All three series address similar reading needs, but the Series 2 and 3 topics and reading materials are increasingly sophisticated.

The skills taught within each unit of a series build on each other from unit to unit, so units within a series should not be skipped or switched. However, if you feel that a particular text or unit is not the right fit for your students, you can swap out the unit for a unit within a different series, but at the same point in the sequence. For example, if you don’t want to use Unit 2.1, you could use Unit 1.1 or 3.1 instead. If you don’t want to use Unit 1.2, you could use Unit 2.2 or 3.2 instead. The same sequence of skills are taught in each series, but the topics are slightly more sophisticated in the higher series. 

VIDEO: What's the difference between the series? STARI Scope and Sequence STARI Curriculum FAQs

STARI materials connect to sets of high quality nonfiction and fiction books at accessible challenge levels.

STARI Literature List

Series 1

Cover Image: Unit 1.1
Unit 1.1
Stand Up for Yourself
Cover Image: Unit 1.2
Unit 1.2
What Makes A Family?
Cover Image: Unit 1.3
Unit 1.3
Disaster Strikes!

Series 2

Cover Image: Unit 2.1
Unit 2.1
Bearing Witness
Cover Image: Unit 2.2
Unit 2.2
In War Time
Cover Image: Unit 2.3
Unit 2.3
Telling Our Stories

Series 3

Cover Image: Unit 2.1

Unit 3.1
They Got Game

overview

Cover Image: Unit 2.2

Unit 3.2

Immigration Debate

overview

Cover Image: Unit 2.3
Unit 3.3
Harlem Renaissance

Timeline of a Typical STARI Unit

Overview of a Typical STARI Unit

sample of lesson-by-lesson overview of one unit

Sequence of a Typical STARI Lesson

:00 to :05 REVIEW HOMEWORK
:00 to :05
REVIEW HOMEWORK
:05 to :30 PARTNER FLUENCY WORK OR MINILESSON
:05 to :30
PARTNER FLUENCY WORK OR MINILESSON
:30 to :55 STUDENTS MEET IN GUIDED READING GROUPS OR READ NOVEL OR NONFICTION IN PARTNERS
:30 to :55
STUDENTS MEET IN GUIDED READING GROUPS OR READ NOVEL OR NONFICTION IN PARTNERS
:55 to :60 DAILY WRAP-UP/ASSIGN HOMEWORK
:55 to :60
DAILY WRAP-UP/ASSIGN HOMEWORK

sample of one lesson from a unit's teacher lesson plans

Sample STARI Materials:

Student Workbooks

Comprehension and decoding activities that emphasize collaborative partner work

sample

Leveled Fluency Passages

Customized workbooks of fluency activities linked to unit themes

sample: level A B C D

Do Nows and Exit Tickets

Brief activities to begin and end lessons

sample

Teacher Lesson Plans 

Detailed guides to each day's activities

sample

Projectable Slides

For use during instruction

sample

Assessment Guide

Guides to measure progress

sample

Development of STARI was led by Lowry Hemphill (Wheelock College) through a SERP collaboration with Harvard University and four Massachusetts school districts. The research reported here was supported by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, through Grant R305F100026 to the Strategic Education Research Partnership as part of the Reading for Understanding Research Initiative. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent views of the Institute or the U.S. Department of Education.

The STARI Team

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