Thing #20

So happy to break into the 20's! I'm getting close...
When I clicked on to the NHS ebooks site it brought me to the NPS site. I had no idea that I could access my school's library collection from home! What a time saver this will be when I am searching for resources and planning from home.

I was unable to log in to the NHS ebooks site. I used the user name and password that was provided in the initial email, but for some reason, it didn't allow me to access it. I can remember when my daughters were in high school and they were carrying books back and forth to school, their backpacks were extremely heavy. Being able to access books on line would certainly help with that problem. How great to know that you didn't have to bring the novel you were reading in English class home each night, because you could read the required pages on line.

The first site I explored was Ripple Reader for kids. http://www.ripplereader.com/Library.aspx Ripple Reader is a free eBook reader for kids. Parents and other adults purchase recordable eBooks that work on both a PC or Mac. Titles on Ripple are presented just like the original book with both illustrations and text. Users can record themselves reading the story or invite someone else to read it. Kids can also record each page over and over and listen to both their voice and the parent or friend's voice for each page. This seems like a great idea for developing children's fluency. I can see using something like this in the classroom with all readers. I think both students and families would love reading the stories and recording them. Students could listen to the story over and over again and evaluate their own fluency. This also might help with reading at home. The parent could read one page to model fluency and expression, and the student the next. I think our reluctant readers would be highly motivated by this variation to their nightly 20 minutes of reading. The disadvantage of this site is that each book costs between 5 and 10 dollars to download. Once the book has been purchased it is yours. I am not sure how it would work if multiple users tried to record the story.

Raz-Kids http://www.raz-kids.com/ offers leveled ebooks for students. There seems to be many advantages. These include, listening for modeled fluency, reading for practice, recording their reading,checking comprehension with quizzes, leveled texts which correlate with DRA reading levels, teachers are can assign books at a student's independent reading level, students can log in from home or school to get books and quizzes assigned by their teachers,student worksheets can be downloaded for each book. Students record the story as they read it. Later the teacher can play the recording and do a running record. Hmm... something to think about. What a time saver this would be. Students' fluency is being assessed and the teacher is still able to take small groups! The only disadvantage I could see was cost. $79.95 per classroom for 12 months. The cost may actually be worth the money if students use this site one to two times a week. I would like to investigate the benefits further. This may be a site that is well worth the $79.95 investment.

I know many people who download books to their Kindle or ipad, but call me old fashion, I still love to curl up with a good book on the couch or on the beach and turn the pages. My home is filled with books that I love both for adults and children. My classroom collection contains hundreds, possibly thousands of books that I have purchased with my own money. I love taking those books off the shelf, thumbing through the pages, sharing them with students and remembering times spent with my own children cuddling and reading. Each book is like an old friend filled with happy times and memories. I doubt ebooks would have the same effect. So for now, I will stick with my hard copies to love and enjoy.