Top Ten Tech Tools - #9 Epic! Books for Kids

#9 - Epic! Books for Kids

Do you ever wish your classroom library was bigger? Had more books? Had more levels?  Had more variety to reach your students interests? Well, have I got the solution for you - and the best part is - it's FREE for educators! Yes - you read that correct - absolutely FREE! Epic! books for kids is a device agnostic library of over 15,000 children's books (the library keeps growing and growing). Educators can sign up for a free account which allows them to create up to 36 individual student profiles. 

(images: www.getepic.com)

One of my favorite things about Epic! is that it asks students questions to figure out their interests, then it recommends books for students based on their interests! Talk about engagement! Even your reluctant readers will be excited to read books that interest them! 

Many of Epics! books also have a "read to me" feature. These books can be read aloud to the students through the app. They are read in a nice "human" sounding voice. This is excellent for fluency and for your non-readers. 

But wait! There's more! One of my favorite features of Epic! is the search feature. Students in my classroom LOVED to search and read books about our content when they finished their work. 

My students were incredibly motivated by the badge reward system offered by Epic!. All they wanted to do was read on Epic! so they could earn the next badge! Very motivating! 

The possibilities of using Epic! in the classroom are endless! Here's a few reasons/tips why Epic! is an AMAZING classroom tool:

(image: www.getepic.com)

For more information and to sign up for an account visit:

Epic! For Educators

Happy reading! 

Top 10 Tech Tools: #10 - Write About This

Let's get this blogging started! Over the next 10 weeks I am going to share my personal top ten tech tools that I use in my classroom. I'll share the tool, ways I have used it in my classroom, and examples (if applicable). 

#10 - Write About This 

Write About This is a visual writing and creation tool (App) for young students. The app includes hundreds of images with writing prompts ready to go. It also allows for the user to create their own image and writing prompt. Another great feature is the ability for students to record themselves reading their writing - this allows them to not only work on their writing but work on their fluency as well. The app is also very accessible even to the youngest students as the app will read the writing prompt to the students. There is a free version of the app available for you to try out - and when you fall in love with it - which you will - you can upgrade to the paid version of the app to access all the features for $3.99. 

Very user friendly opening interface:

Lots of fun, engaging, and interesting categories for students to pick from (or teacher to assign):

User friendly writing interface:

In my classroom I have the students use the app once a week during literacy centers. Write About This is always my writing center activity. I allow students voice and choice and they choose the topic they wish to write about. They are also allowed to create a topic if there is something they really want to write about. The app offers an author gallery. I have never used this feature. Being that we are a Google apps school I simply have my students save their writing to the camera roll then upload it into their Google Drive account. By saving the work this way the parents of my students are able to see the student's writing when they sign in to their Google accounts at home. The students have a "writing" folder in their Google Drive. This folder serves as a digital writing portfolio. Throughout the year the students and I take a look at their digital writing portfolio. We look at the improvements we've made in our writing and we set goals for ourselves. This is a great way to get students to reflect on their writing. 

Sample of a student's writing using Write About This:

Sample of a student's digital writing portfolio in Google Drive:

For more information about Write About This visit:

Write About This

Happy Writing!