For my very last blog post of the block 1 semester, I am going to be diving deeper into an app called Epic. This app offers thousands of books for students to listen to. Within this digital library there are books, learning videos, quizzes and so much more. Having access to these books allows students to find what interests them and gives them exposure to books that aren't at the school library. Epic allows students to work independently and has also sparked interest in student lead book clubs. Kids love having choice with what they read and Epic does just that. The endless options of books are always growing and books are available according to the individual students reading level.
Below is a picture of what the students 'home' screen displays. As you can see, there are four different tabs; search, browse, my library and mailbox. Students can search for a specific title they are looking for, they can 'like' books that will then go into their library and also browse the recommended and popular books for them.
In the specific classroom I am in, Epic is used during daily five. This takes place during the 'listen to reading' portion of rotations. After seeing this app, I would love to use it in my future classroom someday! When the book is read to the student, each word is enlarged when read so students can easily track along with the reader and know exactly where they are. I also appreciate this feature of Epic because students can hear how tough words are being pronounced correctly. Below is a student in my 3rd grade class using epic during daily five.
We have something similar to this in my classroom! It isn't as fancy as Epic but it does the same thing. We have the children use a CD player and listen to a story while tracking on the paper copy of the book they have in their laps. Are multiple children using the Epic app at the same time? I know for my class, each student does a different thing for their round and only one person is listening to a story on the CD player. I love seeing reading incorporated in different ways in the classroom! This is a fun way to get the students more engaged in reading. This could be used as a tool to help encourage the students we have who struggle with reading. It makes it more interactive. :)
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