TECH TOOLS |
EPIC! is a free website students can use to either read books independently or have books read aloud to them. You can personalize what your students listen/read by creating "mailboxes" or libraries for them to chose books from. There is a wide variety of genres and texts in EPIC! so in my Kindergarten classroom, we create these mailboxes for our students based off of their interests and so that they are not overwhelmed by the choice selection.
TUMBLEBOOKS is a paid website/app that my school has used in the past. Tumblebooks had a wide variety of fiction and non-fiction stories the kids could listen to online (550 texts to be exact). The stories are sorted into categories such as Authors, Award Winning Story Books and Novels, Early Readers, Humor, etc. As the students listened to the story, the pages of the book showed on the screen so the kids could see the pictures on each page.
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READING EGGS is a paid website/app that my school has used in the past. The students start off the year by taking a "placement test" to see where they are with letter recognition, phonics, and decoding skills. Based off of that score, the students start at a certain level and then move throughout the levels with different activities based on areas of need. As the kids move through the levels, they earn prizes, which is very motivating for some students!
STORYLINE ONLINE is the SAG-AFTRA award-winning children's literacy website that is free. Famous celebrities read the children's books aloud and while they are reading, the camera goes back and forth of showing them as well as the illustrations in the book. At the end of the story, the celebrity shares why they picked that book to read and what the lesson of the story was.
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PEBBLEGO is a paid website that is full of rich non-fiction texts about Social Studies and Science topics. The texts can either be read aloud to the students or read independently. While a student is listening to the story be read aloud, the words are highlighted at the same time. At the end of each text, "related articles" are also recommended. This website also has activities the kids can do after listening/reading and videos they can watch to learn more information on the topic.
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CHATTERPIX KIDS is a free app students can use for voice recording. The student takes a picture of either a drawn picture, a still object, or a face and then draws a mouth on it. After drawing a mouth, the student can record their voice to make the object look like it's talking. The kids LOVE this app!
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DRAW AND TELL is a free app students can use to retell a story or information learned with a voice recording behind it.