Online Stories, Reading Apps and a Freebie!

During our classroom reading centers, students have the choice to listen to reading using online stories on the computer or the iPad. Here are a few of our favorite resources to listening to stories.

 

One of my favorite reading apps is Storia from Scholastic.  It is free to sign up and you will get 5 free e-books to start your library. Every once in awhile you will get access to additional free books if you get emails from Scholastic.  I also use my bonus points to purchase additional books.  Some of the books have "read to me" capability, and some of them have interactive pieces like comprehension questions, videos and facts.

Another great resource for nonfiction reading is National Geographic Young Explorer. 

 

TumbleBook is a great online resource for books. Check your local library to see if they offer access to this online. If they don't, you'll have to do a search using the keywords "tumblebooks" and "library" to find this resource.

 

Storyline Online offers Children's books read by Screen Actor's Guild members (video format). 

 

Read to Me is an engaging site where kids can listen to books told by celebrities. Printable PDFs of lesson plans are available as well as the author’s site, celebrity reader’s site and publisher site. Stories can be viewed full screen.

 

Barnes and Nobel has Online Storytime, a program offering videos of popular children's stories read out loud. Many are even read by the authors themselves. There are currently 18 different stories to choose from. 

 

We Do Listen has several free stories that help children learn good social skills. All of the stories are very engaging and feature the character Howard B. Wigglebottom. There are lessons and games as well.



We Give Books  includes a large selection fiction and nonfiction books. You can filter the search options by genre, author or age range. It also lets you zoom in closer to look at details in the illustrations and "move" the book around. You will need to join the site and create a log in and password to access the books.

 

Listen and Read from Scholastic  offers 54 nonfiction read aloud books on a variety of topics including: careers, animals, science, and social studies.

What resources do you use for listening to reading in your classroom?

Here is a freebie you can use with your students to do a book review once they have listened to a story online or using an app. Click on the picture to grab it. Enjoy!