Friess Lake Elementary in Holy Hill Area School District, Wisconsin recently piloted the K–5 Collaborative Literacy curriculum and will adopt it in the 2026-27 school year. As part of the pilot, Friess Lake teacher Katie Bauter’s students also experienced CC PAL, the instructionally aligned student practice app that comes with Collaborative Literacy.
CC PAL is the only student app designed to extend classroom learning with independent retrieval practice that directly reinforces instruction.
Katie was interviewed by Kari Steck, Collaborative Classroom’s Manager of Educational Partnerships for Wisconsin.
Tell us when and how your students at Friess Lake Elementary got to experience the CC PAL student practice app.
The CC PAL app was part of our pilot of the Collaborative Literacy curriculum. It was a nice bonus to have my first-grade students explore this resource and what it offers for aligned phonics practice and connected text reading.
What Students Think About the CC PAL App
Did your students find the CC PAL practice app fun to use during your pilot of Collaborative Literacy? If they did, how can you tell?
Based on classroom observations and student feedback, my students found CC PAL to be highly engaging and enjoyable to use. I saw increased time on task, and students exhibited higher levels of focus and persistence in completing assignments.
I also saw a positive classroom atmosphere. The use of CC PAL led to an energetic and positive working environment, suggesting that my students were motivated by the format and content.
How the CC PAL App Meets Teacher And Student Needs
How well did the CC PAL app meet your students at their individual foundational skills levels and enable them to progress?
CC PAL proved highly effective in meeting students at their individual foundational skills levels. The app allows teachers to easily adjust the instructional starting point, ensuring the material is neither overwhelming nor under-challenging.
The CC PAL platform also provides data monitoring, which allows me to track individual progress and make necessary adjustments. Because the activities are highly engaging and individualized, students are appropriately challenged and motivated to move forward in their learning.
As a teacher, how much preparation did you need to do before using CC PAL with your students?
My preparation for using CC PAL was efficient and not overly time consuming. The initial setup was simple, as the district was able to input all student rosters easily. There was no manual setup work on my end.
Once the students were rostered, all I needed to do was to log in to the app dashboard to adjust the individualized starting point for each student.
How CC PAL Grows With Student Learning
Looking ahead to your implementation of Collaborative Literacy in the next school year, do you see CC PAL as a tool that will grow with your students? If so, how?
Yes, absolutely, CC PAL is a tool that can effectively grow with my students. The app is designed to be adaptive: as students master specific skills, CC PAL introduces more complex and challenging material to provide academic growth. Also, if a student needs additional support, the app provides targeted practice opportunities for specific skills.
The CC PAL app is a relevant and challenging instructional tool regardless of a student’s current proficiency level.
How did CC PAL help your day-to-day classroom flow, especially during times when students are working independently?
Implementing CC PAL had a positive impact on our day-to-day classroom flow.
I already had a block of time set aside for independent reading and phonics practice using devices. CC PAL was easy to implement directly within this routine, requiring no disruption or significant changes to the class schedule. Students seamlessly transitioned to using the app during that established time, allowing the technology to enhance the daily structure of the classroom.
Using CC PAL Data for Instructional Decision-Making
Tell us about your experience using the data provided in the teacher-facing part of the app, CC PAL Insight.
Since our pilot of Collaborative Literacy was short, I wasn’t able to look into the data as much as I would’ve liked. It would’ve been nice to compare the CC PAL Insight app data directly with my overall lesson data. However, the app data reflects my classroom observations. I could tell my students were practicing the skills they needed and they were very engaged while working on the tasks in the app.
If I had had more time to dive into the data from the app, I would certainly have used it to help make more decisions about my instruction.
Overall Impressions of CC PAL
What is your overall impression of CC PAL as an instructionally aligned student practice app?
Based purely on what I saw in the classroom, the CC PAL app offers instructional benefits. It’s a strong tool, and the students were highly engaged.
Is there a particular anecdote that illustrates the benefits of using CC PAL in your classroom?
The most telling observation about CC PAL came at the end of our Collaborative Literacy pilot. When I told my students that our pilot time was over and we would stop using CC PAL, they were disappointed and asked if they could continue using it. Student requests to keep using an educational resource are pretty clear evidence that they value the app and find it highly engaging.
Would you recommend the CC PAL student practice app to other educators who are implementing Collaborative Classroom programs? Why or why not?
I would recommend the CC PAL app. Based on the positive student engagement, the strong, integrated approach to reading and writing, and the ease of use, I believe CC PAL is a valuable resource for educators implementing Collaborative Literacy.
Given more time, I’d like to explore the CC PAL app’s full capabilities and dive more deeply into the provided student data. Even during our pilot, the benefits were clear and compelling.
Related Reading:
Why Sufficient, Deliberate Practice Is a Critical Element of Literacy Learning and Retention
Collaborative Classroom Announces the CC PAL Student Practice App for Foundational Skills Mastery
The Reading League Publishes a Curriculum Navigation Report on Collaborative Literacy
The CC PAL Practice App
Extend classroom learning with independent retrieval practice that directly reinforces your Collaborative Classroom instruction!