It's Epic!

Epic! is a free online digital library that holds over 40,000 books, videos, and quizzes for kids. Its goal is to enhance curiosity and unlock children potential by allowing students to explore their interests. This website perfectly aligns with the idea of giving students choice when referring to differentiated instruction. So, students can search from a database of books relevant to their age, reading level, and preferences. 

While students use the website for their reading, it also gears suggestions to books they have read or looked at to create a personal experience for children. By using Epic!, students can read stories at home, complete school assignments, read independently during class time, and more. Teachers can also create a classroom on Epic! to track what books students are reading, how much they are reading and involve parents in their children's reading. 

The literacy options are endless when using Epic!

Here are five ways to use Epic Books to teach reading in the classroom: 

                                         https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECFZ7aF_N8w

In my classroom placement, my AT would use Epic! to discover stories to read aloud at the end of the school day. So, I also became familiar with the site. In particular, I found Sideways Stories from Wayside School engaged my 6th-grade class, especially when accompanied with a discussion question at the end of each chapter to get students thinking outside of the box and relate their experiences to the fictional story. Last year, 50 million kids read over 1 billion books on Epic! Overall, as students switch between virtual and in-class learning, Epic! is a convenient digital platform for children to search for books they want to read at home or school. Educators can also find books in any subject matter, such as Science & Arts, Social Emotional Learning, and Math, to use in the classroom. All the categories touch upon anything you can imagine, ensuring that children read or listen to stories that interest them and create a lifetime love of reading and learning.

Check out Epic! at: https://www.getepic.com/

Courtesy of EmilyR@OTECA NU