Fast ForWord Home
Learner Success Manual
for Parents
Literacy: Stellar Stories
© 1996 through 2017 Scientific Learning Corporation. All rights reserved.
Fast ForWord Home Interventions for Parents
One of the very first things you can do to assist your child when they are experiencing difficulty
with a particular exercise is to sit with them and watch and listen as they work. You can either
use a Y-splitter so that you can listen in on your own headphones or you can remove the
headphones for a short time so that you can hear what is going on. That way, you will be able
to identify if your child is having difficulty understanding the goal of the exercise or if it is the
content.
Check for Understanding
1.
2.
3.
4.
Ask your child to explain the exercise to you.
Do they understand the expectations of the exercise?
Do they understand how to use the mouse or keyboard?
Ask: “Can you tell me what this exercise wants you to do?”
Listen with Your Child
1. Listen in with your child (we do recommend a stereo audio splitter that enables you to
plug two headsets into the computer).
2. Listen to what they hear.
3. Ask them to tell you what they hear.
4. Naming sounds can be helpful too.
5. Help them to understand the difference between sounds that are the same and those
that are different.
The next step is to do the exercise with them. This can be achieved by using the Demo mode.
These are the steps to work on the Demo. Keep in mind that no data will be recorded when
using the Demo mode.
To use the demos:
1. Go to www.myscilearn.com
2. Choose student login on the bottom left of the box.
3. Choose school district: BrainPro OnDemand District
4. Sign in as usual.
5. When the page comes up with the assignment look at the tabs at the top and choose DEMOS
(it will say you need your teacher's permission, please let your consultant know you are going
to do the Demos).
© 1996 through 2017 Scientific Learning Corporation. All rights reserved.
6. Choose the exercise that your child is struggling with and work together for a while until you
are sure they are familiar with the task and have answered at least three in a row correctly.
7. Exit demos and allow them to work as usual.
Stellar Stories
Object: Stellar Stories is comprised of three parts. In the Listening Comprehension
component, the learner listens to a story and answers comprehension questions about that
story. In the Language Conventions component, they listen to sentences and select the
pictures that best represent the sentences. In the Following Directions components, the
learner will listen to instructions and manipulate one or more objects as instructed.
Listening Comprehension
Have your child take notes on what information is being presented in the story. You can ask
your consultant for a general note-taking tips sheet.
After listening to the story, have the learner write down any questions that he or she missed.
Let them know that the story will be presented again at a later time and ask them to pay close
attention to the information related to questions he or she missed.
Use the Error Reports, and go over the questions that have been missed most frequently.
Before beginning the program, go over the questions and remind your learner that they should
be paying attention to listening for the parts of the story that discuss those details.
Your child can also have a copy of the questions in front of them while listening to the story
and can write down the answer when they hear it, much like taking notes in class.
Language Conventions
These sentences may seem a little strange in their formation, but they are designed to create an
awareness of the way words work together in English, as well as increasing focus and memory
in that the learner is required to remember what has been said.
Listen in with your child, using either: a headphone splitter and a second set of headphones, or
taking them out altogether and just using the computer speakers. Ask them to repeat the
sentence back to you and have them explain why he or she would choose one picture over the
others before clicking on the picture. This will help you identify if they are having trouble with
listening comprehension and/or attention skills or if they are not familiar with some of the
grammatical concepts.
© 1996 through 2017 Scientific Learning Corporation. All rights reserved.
Following Directions
Determine (using the Errors Report) the sentences your child has missed most often. If they
are missing a lot of sentences with one object and two or three properties, they may simply
need to pay closer attention to following directions. If your child is missing more answers with
two objects and two or three properties, they may need to improve his or her working memory.
Often, you will see your child miss directions based on the removal or manipulation of objects
or with relative placement. Be sure to explain what each of these directions mean and how
they would manipulate the object on the screen.
Following Directions Questions – When presented with a 2-step direction, have your child
immediately move the mouse cursor to the correct shape as soon as he or she hears the first
step. Once the sentence is done, they will simply need to click the first object and complete the
second part of the sentence.
Practice at Home – Start with two step directions and build up as your child becomes better at
remembering more steps. Practice with them during the regular day. For example, "Julia,
please go get the small white plate out of the cabinet and put it on the large red plate."
Below you will find a list of 50 multi-step direction ideas. You can adapt to fit your needs
either combining or removing steps as necessary.
© 1996 through 2017 Scientific Learning Corporation. All rights reserved.
50 Multi-Step Directions

Cross your fingers, stand up, turn around in a circle, and wink at someone in the room.

Shake your head "No", count the chairs in the room, point to the corner of the room, and wiggle
your fingers.

Snap your fingers 4 times, pretend to put a shirt on, tap your foot on the floor, and name
something blue.

Sing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star", pretend to wash your hands, put your elbows on the table,
and touch your nose.

Pretend to sneeze, walk to the door, count to 5, and sit down.

Blink your eyes, pretend to take your watch off, name a shape, and say "Look over there."

Wave with one hand, say "Hello", stand up, and shake your head "yes".

Name something that is red, put both hands in the air, put your hand over your mouth, and count
to 8.

Point to a light in the room, touch your toes, name a color, pat yourself on the head.

Put your hands over your eyes, stand up, jump up and down 3 times, and then sit down on your
hands.

Pretend to comb your hair, put your hand on your shoulder, name a color, and wave at me.

Clap 3 times, pretend to drive a car, give someone a high 5, and give a thumbs up.

Point to the door, take a deep breath, say a number, touch your shoulders 3 times.

Snap your fingers 2 times, close your eyes, name 2 of your friends, and say the ABC's.

Count the people in the room, touch your knees 2 times, put your hands on your hips, and
pretend to tie your shoe.

Tap your finger on the table, tell me your favorite color, scratch your head, pretend to talk on the
phone.
© 1996 through 2017 Scientific Learning Corporation. All rights reserved.

Say "Eat your vegetables", slap the table, quack like a duck, and count to 10.

Look at the person next to you, stand up, hop 2 times, and take a bow.

Say "Watermelon", tell me your favorite color, cover your ears with your hands, and wave
"goodbye."

Give someone a high five, sit down on the floor, say your favorite food, put your hand over your
mouth.

Blink your eyes 3 times, stand up, jump up and down 2 times, and wink at someone.

Bark like a dog, give 2 thumbs up, snap your fingers 3 times, and pretend to eat a piece of candy.

Say "Donuts are sweet", tap your foot 4 times, look at the person next to you, and clap your
hands twice.

Shake your head "Yes", stand up, hop 4 times, and touch your knee.


Put your hands over your ears, plug your nose, snap your fingers 2 times, and pretend to wash
your face.
Touch your toes 3 times, count to 7, say "Good Luck", and spell your name.

Name 3 animals, say your age, hold up 3 fingers, and count the people in the room.

Close your eyes, stand up, say your name, and shake your head "no."

Pretend to open a present, snap your fingers 2 times, say "Hello", and pretend to put on your
glasses.

Touch your toes, put your hands on your head, pretend to eat a piece of candy, and say "this is
sticky."

Touch your elbows together, hop to the door, walk on your tip toes, and clap your hands 4 times.

Smile, hold up 3 fingers, look at the person next to you, and pretend to take off your hat.

Say a number, stand up, meow like a cat, tap your foot 2 times.

Put your hands on your head, say "Speech is cool", clap your hands 2 times, and pretend to cry.

Laugh out loud, say a shape, jump up and down 5 times, pretend to put on your glasses.

Pat yourself on the back, close your eyes, say a word that ends in "y", and give a thumbs up sign.

Turn around 2 times, cross your fingers, moo like a cow, and look up at the ceiling.

Walk to the door, say "It smells funny in here", clap your hands 1 time, and rub your shoulder.
© 1996 through 2017 Scientific Learning Corporation. All rights reserved.

Hold up 5 fingers, look at your neighbor, say "These are my fingers", and then put your head on
the table.

Put your hands on your elbows, count to 10, knock on the table, and say "Good morning."

Say a letter, put one hand on your head, snap your fingers 2 times with the other hand, and blink.

Flap your arms, say "I'm flying", clap 2 times, and say "I'm tired."

Pretend to throw a ball, hiss like a snake, count to 3, tap your foot 2 times.

Wiggle your fingers, lift both hands above your head, close your hands, and say "That's it."

Grab your ears, say "I can't hear you", give 2 thumbs up, say a shape.

Name 1 friend, say your favorite movie, say what you ate for dinner last night, snap your fingers
2 times.

Put your hands behind your back, say "I'm tied up", close your eyes, and laugh.

Snort like a pig, say "That's gross", pretend to drive a car, and then blink 2 times.

Touch your shoulders, growl like a lion, knock on the table, click your heels together.

Touch your knees, hold up 8 fingers, pretend to sneeze, and say "Goodnight everyone."
© 1996 through 2017 Scientific Learning Corporation. All rights reserved.
Stellar Stories Sample Shapes
© 1996 through 2017 Scientific Learning Corporation. All rights reserved.
Subject Verb Agreement in Stellar Stories
In Stellar Stories the Language Conventions piece has a great many of those strange English words that are the
same whether used as singular (one thing) or plural (more than one).
These words include:
Deer, Trout, Fish, Sheep, Goldfish, Jellyfish, Shrimp
One clue to how to determine if it is one or some is to look at the verb.
The basic rule is that a singular subject (who or what is doing something) takes a singular verb (is, goes, shines)
whereas a plural subject takes a plural verb (are, go, shine)
Some examples:
The trout are swimming. The verb in this sentence is “are swimming”. The verb “are” is plural, so it means that
more than one trout is swimming.
The trout is swimming. The verb in this sentence is “is swimming” The verb “is” is singular, so it means that only
one trout is swimming.
The shrimp swims. The verb in this sentence is “swims”. Swims is a singular verb, so it means that only one
shrimp is swimming.
The shrimp swim. The verb in this sentence is “swim”. Swim is a plural verb, so it means that more than one
shrimp is swimming.
© 1996 through 2017 Scientific Learning Corporation. All rights reserved.
© 1996 through 2017 Scientific Learning Corporation. All rights reserved.