In sum, UfL provides unique, engaging materials that can support the range of learners across your classroom as well as open possibilities for communication and collaboration among teachers and students across the world! Furthermore, there is a Facebook page associated with Unite for Literacy that is updated regularly, allowing people to stay abreast of news about Unite for Literacy. These books engage learners using Violet, a character who has a bit of a sweet tooth and a habit of eating the manipulatives, especially candy and cookies!įor users who want more than access to the library, Mark blogs several times a month on a variety of topics applicable to literacy. The library also includes multiple books that focus on universally-applicable math concepts like sorting and counting. Children (and adults) can spend time learning about unique foods in books such as My Navajo Taco, personal hygiene in Let’s Brush Our Teeth, or interesting locales in Conservation in Botswana. Acknowledging that the website is designed to be a tool for children worldwide, nonfiction was deemed necessary to ensure the books had relevance and meaning across cultures and continents. According to a blog post by Mark Condon, Vice President of Unite for Literacy, this is not an accident. Think about the possibilities for discussions, not only among the learners in your classroom, but with students across the world who have access to the same book!Īdditional unique features of Unite for Literacy include the use of all original books in the library and, interestingly, an across the board focus on non-fiction. This is just the tip of the iceberg, however, as the goal for the site is to eventually be able to support readers in 300 languages. In fact, there are 15 languages included across the spectrum of the titles offered with narration. On the other hand, Can You See the Wind? features additional languages such as Arabic, Korean, and Tagalog among the fourteen languages available for narration. For example, one book, Counting Sheep, includes narration in ten different languages, including Chinese, Hindi, and Spanish. While these capabilities may be present on a variety of websites that you may already use, what makes UfL unique is the potential to address the diverse range of language found in today’s classrooms. To get you free books, simply visit Unite for Literacy website.įor more Free digital books for kids, please visit 10 Free Reading Programs That Continuously Offer Free Books to Kids.The culmination of a dream of two life-long educators, Mark Condon and Michael McGuffee, Unite for Literacy (UfL) is a website dedicated to the idea of “Book Abundance, where all children have access to books that celebrate their cultures and honor their home languages.” UfL achieves this vision within the “Wondrously Infinite Global Library,” which contains more than 100 books that can be read or listened to anytime and anywhere an Internet connection is available. All are high quality books with professional narrations. Looks like most of the books are non-fictions. There are over 120 books in the collection right now. The person who receive the message will have the website link of the book, and they can read it too. Kids can also share the book they like with family and friends via email or social media like Facebook. I do need point out that the print is always in English, so it is not meant for kids to learn reading in a different language. This is great for bilingual children or families who want to introduce another language to their kids. One is English, the other is for the language of your choice. When you choose another language other than English, you will see two speaker buttons below the book. If you click on that, you will see over 20 language options. At the top left corner of the website, there is narration option. One feature I particularly like is the many language options. If kids want to hear the words again, they can simply click on the speaker button again. This gives kids the chance to read on their own or have a parent read it for them. You have to click on the speaker button to hear the narration. Each book has professional narration, but it is not automatically on. You and kids can easily pick a book simply by tab or click on the book cover. On the home screen, you will see all the book covers. You don’t need put in name or contact information. When you get on the website, the program does ask you to choose location, but that is it. All books have professional narrations, plus there are more than 20 languages to choose from. It is a website, so you can access on your computer. Recently I found a wonderful website that offers free digital picture books for kids: Unite for Literacy.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |