Epic! Books for Kids

Last month I read a post about Epic! Books for Kids on Joyce Valenza's Never Ending Search blog. Epic! is a platform for reading children's e-books, and the company is offering free accounts for life to teachers and librarians.  I signed up for an educator account then downloaded the Epic! app on the library iPads.

All seven 3rd grade classes were introduced to Epic! e-books in library class, and we spent time discussing the similarities and differences between print and digital books. Once students logged into Epic! the room became silent. All students were immediately engaged in reading independently.

Some students chose biographies, some read graphic novels, many students found picture books to read, and others enjoyed reading for information.

During our class discussions of print and digital books, students agreed that there is something special about holding a physical book in our hands while we read, but having access to digital books makes books more accessible and also engages readers.

Families may sign up for an Epic! account at home for $4.99 per month.

Book Apps Galore

We use iPads across all content areas at FES. Over the past few years, more apps for children have become available for the iPad. I'm currently serving at the chair of the Children's and Young Adult Literary Bloggers' Award (CYBILS) in the Book Apps category. Over the next several months, CYBILS judges will evaluate dozen of nominated apps before choosing a winner.

People often confuse book apps with e-books. What makes a book app different from an e-book?
E-books are electronic versions of print books that display the text on a device like a computer phone or tablet. Sometimes e-books have a read aloud feature. However, e-books are not interactive. Book apps are interactive stories that may include sound effects, narration, video clips, recording capabilities, animation, and much more.

Here are some recently released book apps your children may enjoy.

Incredible Numbers developed by Touchpress

Jack and the Beanstalk developed by Nosy Crow

Rules of Summer developed by We Are Wheelbarrow PTY

How I Became a Pirate developed by Oceanhouse Media

Loose Strands developed by Darned Sock Productions

Geology by Kids Discover

Seamus Heaney: Five Fables developed by Touchpress

The CYBILS is currently accepting nominations for children's books in all categories including book apps. Books and apps must be published/released between Oct. 16, 2013 and Oct. 15, 2014 to be eligible for the 2014 CYBILS.  Visit the CYBILS blog to nominate your favorite books:
http://www.cybils.com/2014/10/and-go-2014-cybils-nominations-are-open.html

The Genre Challenge- Do you have what it takes?

Recently I collaborated with Amy Wheeler, a 5th grade teacher at FES, to create a group genre activity. All of our 5th grade students take part in the 40 Book Challenge inspired by Donalyn Miller's work in The Book Whisperer. In addition to reading 40 books in 5th grade, students are required to read across seven different genres. Students study the characteristics of the different genres in reading class. Amy's goal was to find an engaging way for students to show what they had learned about genres because during the year students are asked to figure out the genres of the books they read. 

Amy came to me with an idea to create a Survivor style group challenge. After putting our heads together we had the perfect plan. It required a lot of prep work on our part, but it paid off. We selected books from the seven different genres then created a card for each book. The front of the card displayed the cover of the book, the summary from the inside flap and a sample page was glued on the back. Amy cut and covered seven large shoe boxes in different colored paper.

We assigned students to five different groups. Each group was given a set of cards and were challenged to figure out the genre for each book. Students had to work as team to complete the challenge. This was tricky because some of the books could fit in more than on genre. Since our library's fiction collection is organized by genre, Amy had a great idea that we could place boxes in the genre sections to get students moving around the library. We awarded points based on the number of correct responses.

Once all of the teams finished depositing their genre cards into boxes, Amy and I pulled out the cards and discussed the results with the whole class. What makes this book fantasy? What words in the description made you think this was a mystery? 

The genre challenge was a huge hit with students, and it met the objectives Amy and I had set. Students had rich discussions about the elements of genres, all students were engaged, and they worked as teams. Some students even asked to check out books they had read about on the genre cards.