Epic!

Hello and HAPPY SUMMER!


My last post was in September and it is currently June!  I'm going to save you some time and skip the details......I'm back!

I found a great new *to me* app for reading!

In July I am moving homes, cities, schools, and grade levels!  (Read more in the next blog post!)

Although I have loved every second in Second Grade, I am headed back to FIRST GRADE! 

Hip hip hooray!

I am so excited to try out this new app with my firsties in August because I know it will be a fantastic app on the iPods or iPads.

Here's the scoop:

Epic! is the name of the app.



There is a parent/student edition (that costs $) and an educator edition (that is 100% FREE!).

This app gives educators "instant access to an unlimited library of amazing children's books."

With an educator's account, you can select your age of students and their favorite topics to browse.  You can even add students under your account.

Selected text have a read-to-me option as well - which will be great for my firsties!

I've browsed several of the categories already and have found LOTS of my student's favorites within the app:

-Big Nate
-Fancy Nancy
-National Geographic
-Flat Stanley
-Scaredy Squirrel
-The Berenstain Bears

Just to name a few!

There is also a plethora of informational text to choose from (which I know is going to be a top priority for my students next year!)

Here is a sneak peak: 

Here's the home page for educators from my laptop.

 You can browse reading lists and genres to fit the needs and likes of your students. If only I knew about this when I was teaching Social Studies this year....it would have saved me tons of time hunting down books from the public library and other teacher friends!

Here's what a book looks like.  On my iphone, the book only showed one page at a time, not both pages.  You can see this book is a read-to-me book.  If I wanted the app to read, I would just click on the green speaker on the title page. Viola! A listening center.

Lastly, I have showed you what happens when you finish the book.  It suggests more books you might like, has a possible activity to go along with the book, and if the students are logged in, they can earn badges and rewards.

Another feature includes a reading log!  

There are so many possibilities with this app.  I can't wait to use it in the classroom.

If you have kids at home or are still in school (seriously, what's up with your school district!  It's JUNE!) comment and let me know how you like using it!  

I'd love any feedback I can get before August.

See you later and happy reading!