Harcourt StoryTown

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Helen Back
Posts: 242
Joined: Fri Dec 28, 2012 4:16 pm

Harcourt StoryTown

Post by Helen Back »

Anyone use Harcourt StoryTown as part or all of their Language Arts program? Particularly interested if you are in East / Southeast Asia. I'm wondering how popular it is. I've been using it since August. It's the first time I've had such a structured program. How do you find it?

Just asking out of interest..
PsyGuy
Posts: 10789
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 9:51 am
Location: Northern Europe

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Post by PsyGuy »

We sampled it. Didnt find it any better or different then any of the other reading development program in a box that are a available from a number of publishers.
1) In lower primary the material was developmentally appropriate, but around 3rd too 4th year if your students were really focused on building their reading fluency and comprehension they had surpassed the stock materials at around 4th year. Around 5th year the students dont find the subject matter very interesting. Which decreases motivation, and it was felt like the material was a "chore"
2) The pacing is really difficult to differentiate, its less productive to students who are either behind or ahead in activities such as read aloud, etc. The program works better when a majority of students are in the same ZPD.
3) The CMI components are really flashy and by that I mean flash heavy, and require more then the "basic" technology equipment I find common in most schools. Audio drops and lags behind video and low performing graphics cards (and VRAM) mean you spend more time more often waiting for video to buffer. You set everything to the lowest quality and its still not a smooth playback experience.
4) The assessments are very focused, thats the focus of the program, build/model one skill and then move to the next skill. Its great on paper, but it doesnt connect or bridge very well, and there isnt any holistic "landscape" direction, other then the generic goal of "building reading fluency and comprehension" which in my view is the mantra of developmental reading programs in much the same way "IB Learner Profile" is the reactionary response to anything IB related when you dont know a better answer.
5) Its expensive for what you get, the CMI material is not something you can do, but everything else you can put together yourself assuming your a knowledgeable reading teacher, and have the materials. There isnt anything that you couldnt put together yourself at a lower cost. If you didnt have the program youd be doing much of the same stuff anyway. Why pay for packaging.

I would close with "its not bad", Ive seen worse reading programs (Glenco). If you want everything in a couple flashy boxes, and want to click it and order and then unpack and move on to the next item on a long list of items and no one cares about the cost, it works.
Helen Back
Posts: 242
Joined: Fri Dec 28, 2012 4:16 pm

Re: Harcourt StoryTown

Post by Helen Back »

I agree with almost everything you say, although at our school we find the actual textbook stories are too long and sometimes too complicated for the 4th and 5th grade students, few of whom are native speakers. This doesn't seem to be an issue from grades 1 to 3. The program is very formulaic and it would be easy just to dish out the grammar, practice and spelling work, combined with a few min-lessons, which in all honesty is what I've been doing. I'm now trying to take out the essential components (vocab, grammar, lesson focus, etc) and restructure it in more of a student driven Daily Five style.

I don't find the online programs particularly useful, but have a couple of alternatives that are more effective. I also know what you mean by the flashy box and big price tag. It's not a bad program at all, but, as you say, the individual components could be bought at a fraction of the price.
PsyGuy
Posts: 10789
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 9:51 am
Location: Northern Europe

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Post by PsyGuy »

These students were native English speakers when we tested it, who around 5th year were reading materials like Twilight, Harry Potter, etc. Stamina wasnt an issue for them, they just found the material "boring and a chore", it wasnt reading they wanted to do, but were made to do. Thats not how I want to approach creating life long readers.
If your just cutting out the materials your REALLY overpaying for the program, and most of the materials while well designed didnt really do very much, the upper primary students completed them too quickly, and without having too work very hard at them. Ive seen more challenging materials downloaded free from the net.

The purchasing process wre limited the sales staff knew a lot more than the support staff and the evaluation period was very short, we didnt really have time to make an informed decision before returning it.
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