International Reading Association Newsletter Weekly Project: Effective Literacy Website #2 Exploration

International Reading Association Newsletter Weekly Project: 

Effective Literacy Website #2 Exploration

Epic (https://www.getepic.com) is an award-winning subscription service, which gives millions of families and classrooms instant, unlimited access to thousands of books, videos and quizzes from leading publishers to help kids everywhere read, learn and grow. The website is a digital library for ages 12 and under that provides unlimited downloads of more than 25,000 ebooks, videos, quizzes and audiobooks. The site costs $7.99 per month but comes with one free month. However, Epic! also offers free accounts to elementary educators and school librarians. Students can personalize their profile with their interests and preferences, and as they read the site provides personalized recommendations for other things they might like to read. Epic! also gives the Accelerated Reader (AR) level and Lexile levels to ease the teacher’s selection process of chosen books. Some books also include an audio or “read-to-me” version so children can follow along with highlighted words on the page. A great feature about this site is that it sets up kids for future success and grows their confidence in nonfiction subjects, including Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics that feature content aligned with Common Core Standards. In addition, the site offers a built-in dictionary, learning videos for thousands of topics and has an assessment feature to allow teachers to create engaging quizzes.