Feature #7: Unite for Literacy

   Unite for Literacy (https://www.uniteforliteracy.com/) is a web-based platform that offers a vast library of literary content all in one resource.  Users may access over 400 original picture books to read at their leisure, or they may even submit a picture book to be published of their own. Some publications posted on the Unite for Literacy website offer the option to read in other commonly used languages besides English. As stated in their name, the team behind Unite for Literacy makes it their intention to unify a love for literacy by supporting children of all genders, ethnic backgrounds, ages, and abilities. The representation ultimately ushers every demographic into a journey of enhancing their love for literacy.

    The added benefit of a multilingual platform makes Unite for Literacy a gold mine for introducing English literacy to English Language Learners. Some examples of featured languages include Spanish, Tagalog, German, Vietnamese, Russian, Portuguese, Danish, Mandarin, and Turkish, among several others. And while this web-based library of picture books primarily targets the demographics of emerging or struggling readers, more advanced readers of English literacy can also utilize this platform to access stories that could help aid them in learning additional languages.

    The essential goal behind Unite for Literacy is ultimately to promote a daily habit of reading regardless of cultural identity. Through their website, the Unite for Literacy team can even be contacted for literacy intervention consultations. As stated on their page, educational professionals will offer strategies to school districts or individual educators to help develop a literacy program in communities that are in dire need of them. 

*Contrubution by A. Pascual

Feature #6: PBS Kids

          

          PBS Kids (https://pbskids.org/) is a simple, safe online experience for young children who are learning basic skills, and who already know many of the characters featured on the website such as Sesame Street and Curious George.  They will enjoy playing games with their favorite character for free.  PBS Kids is designed for children 4 and up.  The site features games, videos, and other activities that center on popular PBS live-action and animated show characters.  On the PBS Kids face page, there is a rotating wheel with all the different characters to choose from.  When you select a character it will take you directly to their page to play educational and fun games.

            This educational site provides basic lessons involving favorite PBS TV characters in an easy-to-use format with voice-over instructions.  There is so much to do on this site including watching TV, playing games, and activities that can be printed out to do offline. Some of the activities included on the site are letters, numbers, and shapes for primary and for the older students, they have skilled subjects such as language and reading, following directions, letters, word recognition, reading, and vocabulary.

            Another great feature about this website is that they have a free app that allows adults to monitor their child’s activity online.  The app will periodically send parents an update with the site's corresponding app, reporting all their child’s activity online.  Overall, PBS Kids is an appropriate site for children with many fun activities, games, and TV shows to keep learning ongoing and children entertained.  

*Contribution by C. Lorenzo

Lions Club Reading Feature Bonus: Bookshare

URL:  https://temp.lionsclubs.org/EN/pdfs/iad518.pdf

Accessible Books for the Visually Impaired -

As part of the Lions Reading Action Program, clubs and districts have an important opportunity to address inequalities related to literacy, particularly among individuals with vision loss. Through our partnership with Bookshare, the world’s largest online accessible library of copyrighted content for people with print disabilities, Lions can help individuals with print disabilities have the same ease of access to print materials as people without disabilities.  Visit https://temp.lionsclubs.org/EN/pdfs/iad518.pdf

Feature #5: WordWorld

WordWorld https://www.wordworld.com is designed for preschoolers to learn to read and have fun at the same time! Through this site, preschoolers can learn to read by practicing the pre-reading skill letter sounds.  Preschoolers will learn to sound out letters, chunk, and blend them to make words.  

WordWorld’s curriculum is designed to introduce, support, and foster emergent readers ages 3 to 5.  The curriculum focuses on print, awareness, phonological sensitivity and letter knowledge, comprehension to include vocabulary development, and socio-emotional skills.  With print awareness, children will learn the characteristics of print, what it looks like, and how to organize it.  With phonological sensitivity and letter knowledge, students will recognize, identify, and manipulate the sequence of sounds represented in a word.  With comprehension, children will strengthen their thinking skills, thinking strategies, and content knowledge.  With socio-emotional, children will learn to work cooperatively, learn effectively, and interact successfully. 

The site features 5 animal friends the kids will love- duck, sheep, pig, ant, and dog. These animal friends will surely catch the attention of the children and help them learn to read through videos, apps, and games. 

WordWorld is featured on the PBS kids channel and they even have a YouTube channel.  These are 2 additional ways to access WordWorld on top of their website and app.  WordWorld is truly a great literacy site.  It is so great they’re award winning!  WordWorld has been receiving awards since 2008.  They’ve won 2 Emmy Awards for Outstanding Children’s Program and Outstanding Writing in Animation. 

*Contribution by Tanya Tanaliga

Feature #4: ABCya

ABCya (https://www.abcya.com) is an educational website that provides a variety of engaging online games for children for multiple subject categories.  The homepage is easy to navigate and children are able to click on their grade level to access games that are age-appropriate.  The website offers games from Pre-K to 6th grade+ which can fit a wide range of children of all ages. 

There is a tab labeled, "Common Core Standards" where families can search games by specific standards. This allows families to find content geared towards what their children are currently learning. There is also a tab that includes blog entries on various topics including, "5 Tips that Will Make Homework More Fun" and so forth.

The website makes playing games very simple and easy for children to play. Once a child clicks on the game of their interest, it leads them to the game's page. There is a brief description of the game and an option to add the game to their favorites. There is also a simple "Play" button that the student can click on, which will start the game.  Enjoy learning & stay safe!  

*Contribution by Dona Miles

Feature #3: Storyline Online

Storyline Online (http://www.storylineonline.net/) invites you to explore captivating books that are read out loud by celebrities.  The home page of Storyline Online is full of vibrant, inviting colors.  Each book is large enough to see the details of the covers, and there are sound effects if you scroll over each book.  When you click on the book, it leads you to a video of the Read Aloud.  The video is a good size.  It is not too large or too small.

The length of the Read Aloud is given as well as a short synopsis of the book.  Each book is beautifully read with images from the stories, which are shown in the video.  In addition, the simplicity of the website is wonderful.  It is easy to navigate and there are not many words to overwhelm the website.  There are no advertisements on the corners to distract from it and all the links work well.

Favorite books, such as The Rainbow Fish, Stellaluna, Harry the Dirty Dog, and Knots on a Counting Rope are available to read.  Storyline Online is a resourceful website for parents, students, and teachers.  Experiencing Read Alouds is essential when developing literacy skills in children.  This website allows children to experience the beauty and wonder of delightful books!  Visit Storyline Online now and enjoy reading from the vast selection of books! 

*Contribution by Rachel Flores 



Feature #2: KidsLit TV

 

  Igniting a passion for reading in children can be the key to their success in the world. Many educators and parents search for strategies to help young children grow to share a love of reading. KidLit Tv (https://kidlit.tv/) is a website that can help engage students by providing supplemental activities and videos that make reading fun!
    KidLit Tv was founded by Julie Gribble. As an author herself, Julie wanted a place where authors and illustrators can connect with their audiences to help promote their books. The website has been a huge success and has won awards such as the Parent’s Choice Gold Award and the Norton Juster Award.
    The KidLit TV shows included on the website are broken up into six sections. The first section, StoryMakers is a talkshow featuring bestselling Kidlit authors and illustrators. The StoryMakers section can help students understand the authors purpose for writing the book. They can also learn things they may have never known about a book they have already read through the talkshows. It is a great feature for parents if they are searching for books for their children because they are able to learn all the details of a story through one episode.
    The Read Out Loud series features KidLit authors reading their books aloud. The best part of the series is it provides additional animation to capture children’s attention. The featured authors are enthusiastic and funny in the episodes which can motivate students to keep watching. The third series, Ready Set Draw, features illustrators teaching viewers how to draw characters or images from their stories. This is great for students who love to draw. The series enables educators and parents to integrate art into literacy.
    The website also features crafts and activities all related to literacy. The crafts include activities such as, making pom pom book marks, crafts that match holiday stories, and cooking recipes to supplement a variety of texts. This series is a great way to extend a story and integrate other subject areas into literacy.
    Children are often captivated by movie trailers. They may ask to watch a movie by simply viewing a short preview. KidLit TV has brought the same concept, but to books! The website features book trailers for stories to captivate students into reading a particular book. This is a great feature to showcase to students prior to reading a text. Building background knowledge and holding conversations prior to reading a story can help students succeed. The book trailers can be used to make predictions, identify setting, characters, and other story elements featured in the preview.
    The website offers many more features and resources that are extremely useful for students, parents, and educators. Teachers can showcase the website by having students watch a series, engage students in fun supplemental activities after reading a book, or preview the website before planning lessons for great ideas. KidLit TV has truly brought the fun to reading!

*Contribution by Christina Sablan Toves