Feature #26 - MagicBlox

https://magicblox.com

MagicBlox is an online library filled with many different kinds of books for children.  It is a free resource and the website is user friendly. You can navigate through the website by the different tabs or simply browse through the collection of books shown on the homepage of the website.  Enjoy reading books from your computer, tablet, or mobile device! You can take your books anywhere.  The stories offered are age appropriate and there are books for all ages.

MagicBlox offers different access passes.  If you opt into experiencing the website for free, you are able to enjoy the Ladybug access pass and have unlimited access to reading one free book a month.  The website also offers a Bookworm access pass which allows you to have unlimited access to all the books for a monthly fee or the Butterfly access pass that also gives you unlimited access to books for a fee of once a year - saving you 36%!

One feature that I like about this website is how every book has a description.  I think that this is really helpful in choosing what book you want to read, especially if you are using the free one book a month access.  I also like how each book has a star rating.  The online library is always expanding which makes this resource better than it already is.  The choices of books are endless! I also appreciate the stories that have the audio narrations and music.   

MagicBlox is a resource that everyone should know about.  I, myself, use it for my kids.  As an educator, I want to instill the love for reading into my students and as a parent, I want the same for my children.  MagicBlox makes reading a whole different experience for them and they love it.  

*Contribution by Jia

Feature #25 - Pebble Go and Pebble Go Next

Pebble Go & Pebble Go Next

By Capstone

Pebble Go (https://pebblego.com/) and Pebble Go Next (https://pebblegonext.com/) by Capstones is a curricular content hub. Pebble Go is designed for K-3 students and Pebble Go Next is designed for 3rd-5th grade students. Capstone is a family owned company to support the needs of reading in grades Pre-K to high school students. There are high quality and high-interest fiction and non-fictional materials. The content hub includes informational articles, ready-made activities, and literacy support for students of all abilities. It allows and fosters independent learning in core areas.

You can also sign up for a free trial to explore what Pebble Go and Pebble Go Next has to offer. Pebble Go Next's big idea is research. Its databases help students learn key concepts in Social Studies, Biographies, Science, States and American Indians. The articles are all supported by read-aloud audio and are connected to the curriculum. Pebble Go in particular assists early readers, meets student needs, and supports educators.

Pebble Go and Pebble Go Next offers a lot of user friendly features. Students just click on what they would like to read about or learn. Each category has a huge library of choices.

Among the features, is simple navigation and information is easy to find. The read aloud articles have real voice actors to help model correct pronunciation and fluency. It also provides text highlighting for readers of all abilities to follow along. 

*Contribution by Dona Miles

Feature #24 - Peto's Journey

Peto's Journey https://www.petosjourney.com/ features engaging books, publishing, games, reviews, resources, and more!  They focus on writing the vision and making it meaningful, because their creativity for any project starts with you. Your vision, goal, and desire as an author encourages the Team at Peto's Journey.  Their mission is to inspire hope, experience laughter, and love as they create stories that will stand the test of time.

*Contribution by Jarneec Halsey

Feature #23: Storyplace.org

Storyplace.org. is a digital learning library targeted for preschool-aged students. It is a free website with engaging lessons and icons that are user-friendly.  It allows a user to choose a theme that they like.  It also includes entertaining animations and voice overs to read along to.  Storyplace.org helps readers stay interested and concentrated while reading. Students have the ability to choose the topics to the story, which are all additional mechanisms for engaging the reader that users can make use of. The stories on Storyplace.org are also interactive which may help younger students with shorter attention spans to stay focused. There are a wide range of story topics that include rainbows and colors, animals, fruits, and typical jobs like firefighters. At the end of the story, students have the options to read another story or check out an activity that could be completed online.

Students may practice reading along with the story or they may listen to the voice overs in the story while watching the animations and videos. In addition, this website is not only available in desktop mode, but can also be downloaded on tablets and other mobile devices. Parents and guardians can easily access this content at home on their own devices. The app includes many more activities that are perfect for young learners.

Overall, this would be great for really young children or older children who are struggling with reading comprehension. The passages and stories are very simple and use a format made for primary-aged children. 

 

*Contribution by A. Espinal

Feature #22: International Children’s Digital Library Foundation

The International Children’s Digital Library Foundation (ICDL) website - http://www.childrenslibrary.org was created to support the world’s children in becoming effective members of their local and global community while respecting the diverse cultures, languages, and ideas throughout our world.  ICDL strives to make the best children's literature available online, free of charge.  Another thing to note about this site is that it is a government-funded website so the content on the site has been reviewed and filtered. 

Even though the primary audiences for the ICDL are children from three to thirteen years old, parents, children caregivers, and educators, as well as academic professionals working in the field of children’s literature, are also targeted, since these people also impact the literacy of a child.  This website is great for students, parents, and educators, because it has a large collection of interactive books and they're all free.  It is valuable, especially considering its goals of helping a diverse audience accept all cultures.

*Contribution by G. Henry

Feature #21: Storynory

  

Storynory https://www.storynory.com is a literacy website that focuses primarily on original stories created by them as well as fairy tales. What is great about Storynory is that it is free and one can also listen to certain stories through their free audio option for them. What is great about the literacy website is that they also have other points of social media that one can follow and they even have a YouTube. Students and educators can read or listen to more of the podcasts through iTunes and other podcatchers. You can also download the application on the Apple App Store, which has no advertisements displayed.

Overall, this is a website that is both free and informative. We would like our students to have access to as many resources that are both extensive and free as well. This literacy website holds many interesting original stories, such as Lapis, which follows an ancient Egyptian cat named Lapis who is a magical apprentice to Amon the priest.  Enjoy, and have fun learning!

*Contribution by A. Ponce

Feature #20: Lalilo

 

- Lalilo -

Lalilo https://lalilo.com is an innovative, visually engaging, standards-aligned literacy software program for K-2 students, parents, and teachers.  The program supports literacy learning and instruction through interactive and developmentally appropriate exercises for students and extensive data tracking and planning tools for teachers.  It supports learning and instruction across all components of literacy, including phonological and phonemic awareness, letter and word recognition, comprehension and fluency, vocabulary, writing, and social literacy.

In the free version of Lalilo, students work on phonics, sight words, word families, reading comprehension and grammar lessons. In the student platform, children “travel” through a world of individualized, self-paced exercises. There is a sequence of lessons and content levels to ensure that students are working on developmentally appropriate exercises, individual needs, and grade level literacy standards. Students receive both positive and constructive feedback, while ensuring they are working on skills that are not too easy or too hard. It can show parents and teachers their areas of strength and growth, while suggesting lesson ideas and offline activities to reinforce skills.

The teacher dashboard organizes and analyzes student data. Teachers/parents can view students’ progress in individual skills and literacy components, create groups of students for instruction, and plan for correlated lessons. Teachers can also assign student levels or particular skills, which are taken into account in the student’s progression in the program. You can view a calendar that shows student individual activity. You can see a detailed view of the activities students completed, how many questions the student answered correctly, as well as how long they spent on each activity. You can also access an error analysis for each lesson. The free teacher dashboard displays all the phonics data. With the premium plan, you will have access to even more student data, such as the data for sight words, word families, reading comprehension and grammar lessons are available too.

The program allows for the student to progress, from sounds, to words, to stories. There are sight words, sentences, stories, and rhymes. The student earns badges after each segment is complete. The questions are not long, they are short, about 3 questions each, and the activity changes, allowing for variety to keep the learner interested. The voice overs are clear and animated tone. It is engaging to the student and sounds friendly. All activities have audio capability. You can even record yourself reading. The feedback given allows for self-correction, it is encouraging, and the learner can also rate how they are doing with the lesson. It is easy to use and it is game-based, and most children enjoy having fun while learning. The student demo is available at this link: https://student.lalilo.com/#/map/3/ready .

*Contribution by Rosan Fernando