Blog Entry #2: eBooks

I was quite disappointed by the selection of eBook websites that were shared in the Lifewire article.  As noted in the headline, many of them were for the Kindle, which I do not have access to.  Many of the other websites were not kid friendly and difficult to maneuver through.  After clicking on several of the eBook website options, I finally decided to explore freekidsbooks.org.  This website seemed more kid friendly with the bright colors and pictures of the books.  The format of the website was easy to read and work with, until I began to notice an excessive number of pop-up ads that covered much of the screen.  I then ran into some difficulty with finding a text that was actually available to read online.  Six out of the eight books I clicked on to "read online" stated, "Online view not available yet".  However, some of the books were available in PDF form instead.  The three books I read in PDF form were Sami's Beach Rescue, I Want to Be, and The Fox Who Wanted to Fly.  You had to scroll down to read all three of these texts.  While the print was available to read online, it made it feel less like I was reading a book, and more like I was reading a document.  All of the books had nice colorful pictures.  The interactive features included just what Adobe Acrobat includes, such as zooming in and out.  I did not feel as though these texts would be engaging for a student to read.  Perhaps an adult reading them to a child with voice inflections would add more to the text.  I was finally able to find two books that I could use the read online feature.  These books were titled Raheem the Superhero and Stranger in the Forest.  When these texts opened up I noticed an immediate difference.  I was looking at one page (front cover) rather than two pages side by side, which is what the PDF texts had.  I was able to click a forward arrow or a backward arrow to turn the pages.  When going to the next page there was a sound effect that made it sound as if it were a read book page turning.  I liked that added effect!  There were also options to zoom in or out, and to make the book full screen.  There were no other interactive options.  Overall, after exploring these eBook apps, I would not choose to use them in my classroom.  However, I have used Reading A-Z in my classroom, which offers  many different interactive eBooks for teaching.  They include a highlighting and writing tool, which I used often in lessons with my kindergarten students.  I also love that they have RAZ kids, which is an app for students to independently read eBooks.  RAZ kids has many different types of books including fiction, nonfiction, decodable readers, poetry, alphabet books, and much more!  Within the app there is an option to listen to the story or read it themselves.  If a student chooses t0 listen to the story, there is a highlighted box that tracks the print as the words are being read.  Students can also click a forward or backward arrow to move from one page to another.  The Reading A-Z and RAZ kids resources are subscription based, so they are not a free resource.  While I am not a fan of spending money out of pocket for such resources, I would much rather pay for this resource as I feel it would be more engaging and beneficial for my students.