Blog Entry #2

 Digital Reading

            I was happy to see so many resources for finding free children’s e-books. The first website I explored was Amazon. I use Amazon a lot to download e-books for myself. I purchased a Kindle last year and find myself alternating between enjoying print books and e-books. I downloaded the book Feeling in Colors by Diane Alber. I liked how easy it was to purchase and download the book. The next website I explored was FreeBooksy. A children’s book that they recommended to get for free was Pepe the Key West Rooster by Victoria Scudder. The link redirected me to Amazon, and I purchased it there. Next, I explored OneHundredFreeBooks. It was very easy to navigate to the children’s section. They recommended The Flying Tree by Ingo Blum and sent me to Amazon to purchase it. Next, I looked at Freebook Sifter. Unfortunately, I was disappointed by the lack of book covers, making it difficult for children to choose books on this website. Also, the Children's eBooks section didn't provide appropriate options for younger children. One of the books listed was about addiction. I was able to find an appropriate book in the subcategory Early Learning, where they recommended The Great Rainbow Chase by Mark Rusk. I was sent to Amazon to download it. I would not recommend this website based on the inappropriate book found under the children’s category. The last website I explored was BookBub. I like that the books can be filtered by price and by retailer. I selected the book Marky the Magnificent Fairy: A Disability Story of Courage, Kindness and Acceptance by Cynthia Kern Obrien and bought it through Amazon.

When I opened each book in my Kindle app on my iPad, I noticed that the interface was very simple and easy to navigate. The e-books were not interactive. I liked the simplicity, but there wasn’t anything interactive about it that I think kids would like more compared to a print book. Marky the Magnificent Fairy: A Disability Story of Courage, Kindness and Acceptance was only formatted to show one page at a time, instead of the usual two page spread. I think this choice disrupted the story and made the illustrations hard to view.

I think digital reading in the classroom can be a valuable resource when implemented correctly, considering the student’s interests and skills. I have used digital reading in my third-grade classroom for the past two years. One of my students’ favorite websites was ‘EPIC!’. They loved all the story options, and they enjoyed that the story could be read to them. Some students still opted for a print book during reading time, but a lot of students looked forward to reading on their Chromebooks.

For my reading instruction we use Wonders, which comes with a digital component. Each week, we explore a new featured story as a class, analyzing it throughout the week. I liked the online component because it offered to read the text to the students and offered fun vocabulary and grammar games that I could assign to them. However, I received feedback from students expressing a preference for me to read the story aloud rather than relying on the computer. Although flattered, I was curious why they enjoyed being read to on EPIC! but not during our Wonders sessions. I also noticed that when I requested them to refer to the text throughout the week, students reached for their printed copies of the Wonders textbook instead of accessing the digital version on their Chromebooks.  As a result, I began reading the story aloud to them while still utilizing the Wonders online component for vocabulary and grammar games. This adjustment met their preferences while incorporating the benefits of the digital text.

As I work to implement digital reading in my classroom, I will continue to consider student preferences as well as using digital texts that enhance the reading experience. Next year I am teaching Kindergarten. It will be very important that they learn how to read and use print books, but I also want to introduce them to digital texts. While many students may already have some familiarity with digital texts, I will demonstrate how to transfer strategies from print reading to digital reading.