How I Turned an Entire Class Into Eager Readers in ONE DAY!

It’s very rare to find a child nowadays that absolutely loves to read.  I run across only a handful each year as an elementary school librarian and it makes my heart so happy when I figure out who these kids are.  It’s also my job to help encourage those students who don’t like to read or maybe can’t read as well as others in their grade.  One day I tried something different in my library and I wanted to tell you how I turned an entire class into eager readers in one day!

 

 

As a children’s librarian I hear the following quite often:

“My kid hates to read!”

“How can I get my child to read a book and actually LIKE it?”

“I buy him/her all kinds of books.  It’s no use!”

And I totally get it, because guess what?  I’m also a mom to a fifth grader who didn’t really like to read.  Usually kids don’t like to read for one or two reasons, and those are that they have difficulty reading and can’t read what they actually want to read, or they just haven’t come across a book that interests them.  School libraries try very hard to keep up with current trends in books when making purchases for the year, but when funding is limited, it’s tough to purchase books that appeal to all kids.  It just is.

How I Turned An Entire Class Into Eager Readers in One Day

We are fortunate to have an iPad cart in our library with 30 iPads, and out of desperation one day I downloaded an app I often used last year at another school on the Smart Board, because we didn’t have enough iPads for every student.  I had NO IDEA the fun and learning I was about to unleash in my little library!

So what is this magic reading app that suddenly made my students love reading?  It’s EPIC!

EPIC! is an app that contains over 20,000 books for kids 12 and under and the books are actually quality books with characters your kids recognize and love!  It’s like the Netflix of children’s books!  So often I run across reading apps that have these obscure books that you’ve never heard of and the kids just aren’t interested in them at all.  Not with EPIC!  If your kids love Biscuit, Big Nate, Fancy Nancy, Goosebumps, and so much more…it’s all there!  EPIC! works on all Web, iOS, and Android devices, so you can use it on the computer, a tablet, or even your phone!

EPIC! for Home

EPIC! not only offers books to read on tablets, but it also offers audio books, videos, and some books will even read to your child as they follow along, which is perfect for those kids just learning to read or ones that are struggling.  There are also little quizzes at the end of some of the books to help your child recall what they have read.

EPIC! is $4.99 a month for unlimited reading and it also tracks your child’s reading time and progress, rewarding them with badges for completing different reading goals.  I seriously cannot think of a better way to spend five bucks a month.  You couldn’t even hardly buy one book for this much money, but EPIC! gives your child access to over 20,000 books!  The first month is absolutely free to try!

EPIC! for Educators

Teachers, guess what?  A majority of the books on EPIC! also have Accelerated Reader quizzes!  This THRILLED me because I didn’t want the students to completely forget about AR because they loved EPIC! so much.  Want to know the best part?  EPIC! is completely free for educators to use in school.  Yes, FREE!  It also tracks the reading time your students put in and rewards them with badges for their hard work.  The kids I work with get so excited each time they level up to a new badge and our “Readerpillar”, this cute caterpillar chart that tracks books we read in increments of 100 books, just grows longer and longer!

You Need EPIC!

Whether your using EPIC! at home or in the classroom, it’s absolutely worth it to see your kids or students get so excited about reading again.  My students beg me to use the iPads every single day now, and I have no problem with them reading a book and taking an AR test on it.  They can’t wait to show me their new badges and the change in our school library atmosphere is unbelievable!  We are getting so much reading done and THAT is what makes my librarian heart smile!  EPIC! also makes a wonderful gift for a child you know and it’s a gift that doesn’t take up space or get outgrown very fast!

Giving your child the best access to books is a gift you really can’t put a price tag on and this is definitely a wonderful way to get your kids excited about reading.  READ FREE FOR 30 DAYS!