Before Coming to STARBASE
Dates for your school's participation at STARBASE have been determined in the spring of the previous school year and confirmed by your principal. Please check with your principal if you do not know the dates of your participation so you can plan accordingly.
As a classroom teacher, you will receive a STARBASE Teacher's Manual outlining the program and important instructions that will help prepare you and your class, it includes student permission slips, security forms, bus transportation forms, class lists, and other important information. Please verify the number of students in your class several weeks prior to participating by using the confirmation form found in the teacher's manual and faxing that information to STARBASE Minnesota, 612-713-2540.
The manual also contains pre-STARBASE lessons (only one is mandatory), curriculum overview, standards alignment, lesson overviews, and extension lessons. The manuals will be delivered to the office of your school at the following times:
- STARS 2 (5th Grade) - Will be delivered in Early September
- STARS 1 (4th Grade) - Will be delivered in Early January
Submit Your Class List & Security Form
Please submit your class list to STARBASE at least 5 days prior to your program start date. The preferred method of submission is online, please use the class number found on your teacher folder. If you are not able to complete the online form, you may still fax a paper copy of the form to 612-713-1540.
CLASS LIST FORM (Use this to submit your information online)
Class List Form Copy (Use this to print a blank copy: fill in and fax to 612-713-2540)
- St. Paul Public Schools Memo of Understanding
- Minneapolis Public Schools Memo of Understanding
Extra Participant Forms
STARBASE Student Permission Slip
Required for participation. School permission forms cannot be substituted for STARBASE permission slip.
STARBASE Student Permission Slip (Spanish Version)
STARBASE Parent Letter (Spanish Version)
Call Signs (Mandatory Pre-STARBASE Lesson)
Please complete the Call Sign lesson with your class prior to coming to STARBASE. By completing this lesson, you are allowing for more instructional time at STARBASE, and helping to excite students and mentally prepare them for an entirely new and exciting experience. We will not be using time at STARBASE to choose call signs.
Student Welcome and Expectations
Additional Lessons for Your STARBASE Preparation
Some teachers have requested lessons to prepare students for their STARBASE experience. These lessons will introduce students to concepts that they will experiment more with at STARBASE.
STARBASE Vocabulary (4th Grade) |
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Gravity Drop (6th Grade) |
What's the Matter? (6th Grade) |
STARBASE Learning Journal
The STARBASE Learning Journal is the homework intended for use by our participating classroom teachers and students during the 2009-2010 school year. We have provided the STARBASE Learning Journal as the homework option for this year for several reasons. First, it reinforces the skills and content learned each day by allowing students to reflect upon their own learning experiences. Second, parents become more informed about what their child is doing at STARBASE as their child tells the story of STARBASE in their journal. Also, classroom teachers may use the STARBASE Learning Journal as part of an overall assessment of students’ work at STARBASE and as a way to reach the 4th grade language arts standards related to descriptive writing and word processing.
As part of their participation in the STARBASE program, we expect that students write in their learning journal after each day of the program. Please do not send the STARBASE Learning Journals with the students to STARBASE. We will not be collecting them at the end of the week. We would, however, like students to submit a portion of their journal to STARBASE via our online KidsBlog. Listed below are some ideas or options of how the STARBASE Learning Journals can be incorporated into your classroom and how students can submit their writing to KidsBlog.
Option A – Written Paper Journal - Provide each student with at least a 5 page STARBASE Learning Journal for use after each day of the program. Students will then write in their journal after returning to school each day, or at home as part of their daily homework.
Journal Template (copy for your students)
Option B – Blog Format – Provide each student with one page of the STARBASE Learning Journal to use as reflection guide. After returning to school each day, or before leaving for STARBASE the next day, students will type their journal into a Word document. After their STARBASE experience, students may submit portions of their blogs to STARBASE via an online blog form. Students may cut and paste portions of their blog into the form and submit it to STARBASE. We love reading these blogs and encourage all teachers to have their students submit a portion of their writing! Please note: Blogs submitted to STARBASE will not be available to classroom teachers.
