Experience The Power of the Pair™ with Flying Start to Literacy™! Here are just a few of the reasons Flying Start to Literacy™ should be your first choice for small group instruction: Flying Start’s text pairs work together as paired texts are meant to work—building knowledge around the same big idea—resulting in a greater understanding of each topic. Flying Start pairs informational texts with narrative texts, laying the groundwork early for success in the upper grades. Flying Start’s variety of text types require students to develop a range of reading strategies while increasing the authenticity of their writing. Flying Start books are never written to a template, and the strength of the authorship shines through in every title. Flying Start’s emphasis on high-frequency words and academic vocabulary (each pair introduces and/or reinforces the same set of words) ensures your students are encountering vocabulary in different sentence structures and contexts. Flying Start offers unmatched teaching support, with a laminated lesson plan for every pair, plus extensive other tools—including a Running Record for every pair—available at no cost online. Flying Start provides National Learning Standards on every lesson plan card, assuring your teaching is tied to outcomes. Flying Start’s readability measurements are available for every title, providing you with reliable guided reading levels, DRA levels, and Lexiles. Flying Start’s boxed classroom sets include Take-Home Books, providing avenues for parental involvement and an extension of small group learning. Flying Start is matched title-for-title by its sister program, Despegando hacia la lectura™, ensuring equity for dual-language instruction. Flying Start includes ample support for English Language Learners in every lesson plan at all developmental reading stages. Flying Start augments Tier 1 instruction through differentiated small group learning, but can also be used effectively for Tier 2 RtI, Reading Recovery, Title I, and supplemental services. Flying Start is manufactured to the highest specifications; the paper, binding, and lamination will hold up through repeated use. Flying Start is teacher-developed and field-tested with real students prior to publication. Successfully launch your students on their path to college and career readiness by requesting your free sample below! Request a Sample! Request a Sample
Flying Start to Literacy™ Intro Packs Looking for exceptional small-group resources at a price that fits your classroom budget? Discover the difference Flying Start to Literacy™ can make in your classroom with these economical Intro-Packs. Intro-Packs offer the same rich experience of the complete Flying Start to Literacy™ program, but at a price that meets your budget. For more information and pricing for each stage, download our handy reference sheet.
Reference Sheet
Flying Start to Literacy’s Perspectives You already know that Flying Start to Literacy™ uses a paired-text approach in which the narrative and informational halves of the pair work together to reinforce a strong, central idea. But are you familiar with Perspectives? Now available with all pairs from Levels N through V, Perspectives are collections of short texts that expand on the ideas presented in each pair. These high-interest, point-of-view reading selections provide the necessary foundation for students’ own persuasive writing, which is encouraged through the templates included in each volume. Click below to see Perspectives for yourself!
Perspectives
Flying Start to Literacy™ Lesson Plans! Flying Start to Literacy™ provides for best instructional practice through the convenient Lesson Plans included in the program. One lesson plan is provided for each connected pair of books. Our laminated, six-page lesson plans are crafted for exceptional practical and systematic instruction. They include Before, During, and After Reading suggestions for each book, plus formative assessment and a synthesizing activity focusing on the key concept of the paired texts. Lesson Plans can be split into four 30-minute instructional sessions and one review session. Click the link below to see one for yourself!
Lesson Plan
Flying Start to Literacy™ Running Records Assess your students’ reading level, fluency, and comprehension with free running records available for use with Flying Start to Literacy™! Visit the Flying Start to Literacy™ Teacher Support website for free, downloadable Records of Reading Behavior. One running record is provided for each pair of titles, offering you an even mix of narrative and informational text assessments. Click the button below!
Teacher Support
Flying Start to Literacy™ is now available digitally! Access the complete Flying Start to Literacy™ program from any device at any time, offering you an invaluable tool for remote or blended instruction. With Okapi Digital Literacy™, educators can access (and share with students) all 340 Flying Start to Literacy™ paired books, downloadable lesson plans, Perspectives, and vocabulary starters. Click the button below to visit our demo site and view over 100 sample books and lesson plans from all four of Okapi’s flagship programs.
Demo Site
Online Teaching Support for Flying Start to Literacy™ Have you been taking advantage of the wealth of online Teaching Support available for Flying Start to Literacy™? If you are using Flying Start to Literacy™ in your classroom, be sure to visit the Flying Start website for countless free and easy-to-use teacher resources! Access pacing guides, scope and sequence charts, phonics and phonemic awareness overviews, assessment checklists, records of reading behavior, and more! Click the button to go there now!
Teacher Resources
Flying Start to Literacy™ Nurture your students across nine developmental reading stages (Early Emergent through Advanced Fluent) with Flying Start to Literacy™ and its innovative use of thoughtfully linked pairs of texts. Here are just a few of the reasons the award-winning Flying Start to Literacy™ should be your first choice for small group instruction: • Flying Start to Literacy™ introduces and reuses academic vocabulary in different contexts and sentence structures. High-frequency words are gradually and systemically introduced and reused. • Key vocabulary is introduced in the early stages through photographic “Vocabulary Starters” presented in a fold-out form for easy reference. • Flying Start to Literacy™ includes systematic, explicit instruction in phonics and phonemic awareness. A developmental schema of phonemic awareness and phonics occurs in paired books, providing context for using phonology as one aspect of the reading process. • Reading informational texts in tandem with engaging stories supports children in learning how to read for different purposes. The development of comprehension is a focus of each lesson plan. • Ongoing assessment forms part of the Flying Start to Literacy™ teaching sequence. Successfully launch your students on their path to college and career readiness by requesting your free Flying Start to Literacy™ sampler below!
Request a sample
Experience The Power of the Pair™ with Flying Start to Literacy™! Click the button below to view the compelling Research Base behind Flying Start to Literacy™ and learn why this award-winning resource should be your first choice for small group instruction.
Research Base
Flying Start to Literacy™ Vocabulary Starters Flying Start to Literacy™ provides exceptional support for early language development with Vocabulary Starters at Levels A and B. These invaluable resources introduce the written form of the key vocabulary found in each pair of texts through unambiguous, labeled photographs. Suggestions for introducing and reusing vocabulary words are included on the reverse side of each one. To request your FREE Level A or Level B Sampler—which includes a set of Paired Texts, Lesson Plan, and their Vocabulary Starter—go to:
Sample
Great News for Texas Educators! TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills) lesson plans are now available online from Okapi Educational Publishing! Enjoy easy access to this expansive collection of instructional support which includes a TEKS lesson plan for every book/set of paired texts from Okapi’s four flagship programs: Flying Start to Literacy™, Despegando hacia la lectura™, WorldWise: Content-based Learning™, and ExploraMundos™. To Access TEKS Lesson Plans: • Visit the myokapi Home Page • In the right-hand sidebar, click on the TEKS Lesson Plan button • If you are a registered user, use your login information to sign in. If you are new to the site, click create an account on the right. Access is free for all registrants. Go there now!
TEKS
Lift Off to Literacy™ Reading Pen Save now on our game-changing Reading Pens! The Lift-Off to Literacy™ Reading Pen is preloaded with recordings of all 18 of our big book titles so that children can extend the shared reading experience by listening and following along independently. Order by December 31st, 2021, and receive two additional reading pens FREE with each topic set! Click the button below to see the Reading Pen in action!
Reading Pen
Lift Off to Literacy™ Develop early literacy skills through rhyme, rhythm, repetition, and highly predictable texts! Lift-Off to Literacy™ is a shared reading resource providing a mix of stories, rhymes, and informational texts. These appealing shared texts: • capture listeners’ attention and ensure group participation and engagement • instill early literacy skills and concepts of print • use rhyme, repetition and rhythm in the narrative titles • introduce science and mathematics concepts in the informational texts. In addition to the 18 Big Books, your resource includes a comprehensive Lesson Plan for each book and six student-sized copies of each title. Also included are a Vocabulary Starter for each book as well as our game-changing Reading Pens, which will allow your students to further their shared reading experience independently. Click below to request your FREE sample!
Sample