Before I started my reflection, I wanted to thank Thea for sharing Lisenbee and Ford’s (2017) article with me. She came across the article and thought it might apply to my age group and my interest. What a wonderful classmate!
In the article, Lisenbee and Ford (2017) described the power of storytelling and encouraged educators to use traditional and digital storytelling as part of their pedagogical methods. They shared the definitions and examples of traditional and digital storytelling, including some apps such as StoryCreator, ChatterPix, and PuppetEdu (Lisenbee and Ford, 2017). In their theoretical studies, Lisenbee and Ford’s (2017) reviewed and expanded the knowledge of Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK). Their research in literacy elements of stories showed the connections between storytelling experiences and academic content. In addition, they provided some useful resources for teaching both traditional and digital storytelling.
On the list of resources for teachers (e.g., print books, digital books, storytelling websites) provided in Lisenbee and Ford’s (2017) article, https://www.getepic.com/ has over 35,000 books for kids 12 and under and is free to educators. In fact, I just discovered getepic website a week ago through my colleague. Getepic and Tumble Books are both great online digital libraries. Take Getepic as an example, it has a huge selection of excellent books that are fun, appropriate, and educational. More importantly, it gives the Accelerated Reader (AR) level, which also matches the PM Benchmark level, to make it easier for teachers to select the right books. I also like that it includes all subjects and various topics, such as English Language Arts, Math, and Science, etc. I just signed up an account and cannot wait to show it to my students tomorrow.
To be continued…
Reference
Lisenbee, P. S., & Ford, C. M. (2017). Engaging Students in Traditional and Digital Storytelling to Make Connections Between Pedagogy and Children’s Experiences. Early Childhood Education Journal, 46(1), 129–139. doi: 10.1007/s10643-017-0846-x
mrsandersenswestcoastclassroom
October 12, 2019 — 12:52 pm
Thanks for sharing Joy. I’ve used Epic! for extra books on inquiry topics or if the students have a question that we are only going to briefly explore. Have you checked out Vooks.com? It is similar to Epic! except that it has a few more popular authors. It’s more for storytelling than instruction. It is also not free but they occasionally have a teacher appreciation sale where teacher’s get an account for free for a year. Anyway, both apps are great when you can’t find what you are looking for in your school library!