I’m thankful that Epic! gives me access to many more books, and all I have to do is log in! Epic! is a great tool for having your students engage in narrow reading, because there are usually a couple of books available on a topic, and you can supplement with print books of your own.
I’m always requesting books at the library, searching through my own stacks…that takes a lot of time, and sometimes I just can’t find the books I need. Narrow reading also exposes students to similar content, which builds deep background knowledge of the topic.īut it can be difficult to get access to multiple books on the same topic-especially if you’re looking for books at certain reading levels or appropriate for a certain grade level. Narrow reading gives students multiple exposures to some of the same vocabulary words, which makes it more likely that students will actually learn the words. Narrow reading is reading about the same topic across multiple (usually nonfiction) texts. Narrow reading is a great way to develop students’ vocabulary and background knowledge. The more we can develop both of these areas, the better our students become at reading comprehension. Vocabulary knowledge and background knowledge play a huge role in a reader’s ability to comprehend a text. Epic! has a number of examples that you can use as mentor texts! #5: Narrow Reading Kids love making these comics, but they also need to see some examples first. Speech bubbles, thought bubbles, and other components of comic writing can be easily transferred to “regular” writing. I also teach my students to make comics as part of the writing center or our writing units. Some reluctant readers are hesitant to read “regular” books but love reading comics! Epic! has quite a few comic books available. #4: Engaging Your Reluctant Readers with Comics Students can discuss and/or draw what they’re visualizing (you will want to model this first).Īlthough I love picture books for readalouds, these audio books are super useful for practicing visualization and working on listening comprehension. You can give students a little background on a story, start the audio book, and then pause it periodically. While you can always find a print version of the book and show students the pictures as you read, an audio book by itself is a GREAT tool for working on visualization. #3: Teaching Visualization and Listening ComprehensionĮpic! now has a section for “audio books.” These audio books include a text read aloud, but you can’t see any pictures or inside pages of the book. Students can then read the books to a partner or to their parents at home (if they have access to technology). Rereading the same text repeatedly builds fluency. Then, students can read the SAME book a couple of times (clicking through the pages without turning the audio on). When they listen to a book read aloud on Epic!, they’re hearing strong fluency modeled. #2: Fluency PracticeĮpic! is also a great tool for developing students’ fluency. My students always feel so proud to share what they’ve learned-and Epic! is a great help for giving them access to information. They can listen to books on Epic! to help supplement any print books you can find for them. Maybe I can find one book at the library that’s at a reading level appropriate for some of my students, but a true research project requires more than just one book!Įpic! makes doing research easy, even for students who are beginning readers. However, a big problem has been a lack of nonfiction books at lower reading levels. They read about a nonfiction topic and then write about what they’ve learned. Note: This post was written in collaboration with Epic! #1: Research ProjectsĮvery year, my students LOVE the opportunity to do mini-research projects. Photo Credits: NIRUT RUPKHAM, Shutterstock
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