Notebooking, Teaching, and Technology

It is summer and I like to read. I will normally gravitate to a book in the fiction category specifically urban paranormal fiction. My favorites include Patrica Briggs, Helen Harper, and Lisa Edmonds'...her Alice Worth series is excellent. Typically I will also read YA paranormal fiction. I recently just finished  The Intuitives which was a fun fast read and one I would enthusiastically recommend to students. Luckily for me a few years ago my husband purchased a gift subscription to Kindle Unlimited for Mother's Day (they run a deal each year) and he renews it every May which has saved me (and subsequently him...😉) a ton of money buying books. I do try and utilize the public library whenever possible but I really LOVE my Kindle and the gratification of instantly downloading a book. Each summer I try to add at least one nonfiction book into the mix. Sometimes they are education related and sometimes they are just for fun. This year I picked up "The Edupreneur'...

Google just put out an app/program called Read Along and it looks really promising. It is advertised as being for children ages 5 and up. Video Overview : Fast forward to minute one in the video 👍 I love that it is FREE, helps students to read, gives them starts/points, has a timer, and can be used without internet access (after you have downloaded stories). 👎 What I dislike is that is ONLY available to use on an Android phone or Chrome book (so no iPad, iPhone, or PC availability...yet). Even though the app/program isn't widespread among devices it may be something teachers may want to pass on to parents as something to check out this summer if they do have one of the supporting devices. Video Overview :  Use on a Chrome Book:

https://twitter.com/EpicKidsBooks/status/1002636637191327744 As a parent you can subscribe to Epic (an online digital library for children ages 12 and under) for three months for $3 total...that is an insanely great price for access to a ton of digital books for children over the summer.  There are a lot of great resources within Epic from ebooks, audiobooks, videos, and read-to-me stories. You can cancel after the three months (but don't forget to do that or you will be charged the normal monthly fee - $8 I believe). Classroom teachers can sign up for a free account but that is limited to use in the classroom only (not at home). If you are interested you have to sign up by June 12th to get the deal.