Books for Kids

Books for Kids is a collection of children’s literature designed for early readers. When launching the app, users can tap the “all” button, and they will be able to select books by genre (e.g., Classic Tales, Education, and MindChamps Tales) or cost. When users identify a book of interest, they must tap the book’s icon to open it. Once opened, the book is presented in an interactive format. In this format, users can listen to the text being read, pull up the text while it is being read, tap the screen to interact with the characters and/or setting, and view colorful illustrations. If users “pull up” the text, they can simultaneously hear the text being read while watching the specific words being read.

Instructional Ideas

1. Teachers can have students read these books independently or in small groups. If reading independently, students should use headphones.
2. Teachers can have students build their reading fluency with this app. To do so, students should “pull up” the text, so they can watch the words being read to them. After the app reads the text, students can read the text aloud in response. Once students have listened and read the entire page, they should progress to the next one.
3. To build students’ reading comprehension skills, teachers can have a group of students read the same text individually. Next, each student can either draw a picture that symbolizes the text’s meaning or write a brief summary (one to three sentences) of the text. Finally, all the group members who read the same text can gather together and share their pictures and/or summaries.
4. Teachers can connect their iPad to a projector and together the class can engage a text. As the text is being read or after it has been read, teachers can facilitate a classroom conversation about the text by asking students text-dependent questions, such as: (1) What did you like/not like about the book? (2) What was the moral of the book? and (3) How else could the book have ended?

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