Answer these questions to see if you need to be using Epic! Books in your classroom. Are you a teacher? Do you have students who need books to read? Do you have a limited classroom library? Do you have students who need to listen to books to hear fluent reading? Do you have students interested in Dinosaurs but you only have fiction books? Do you have students who are reading above the level you have in your classroom? Do you have students who are learning English and need to listen to books in the French, Spanish or Chinese? If you answered YES to any of these questions, then Epic! Books is for you. And the best part, Epic! is FREE for educators. Simply go to ge tepic.com , click EDUCATORS and sign up. Now that you have an account, it is time to create some collections. Collections are groups of books that you have put together. Collections can be assigned to one, two, or all of your students.  Simply find a book you like, click on the heart, Add to, click C......

There are several skills that must be in place before a child is ready to ready. They include the following:    Identifying the cover, back, & title page of a book    Identifying where to read    Identifying the pictures and the words    Pointing to where to begin reading and tracking the words across a page    Knowing the difference between a letter and a word    One-to-one word correspondence, touching each word as it is read All of these skills are taught during read alouds and often taught indirectly. But the last one, word tracking, needs a little more direct instruction. Big books and pointers are great for this. As I read the book I touch each word with a pointer. After rereading the book, I let a student be my helper; they point to the words as I read them. After spending a week with the same book, I put it into my reading center, with the pointers. Students will have learned the book and can practice ......

This week our school celebrated literacy with fun activities each day; silly socks day, hat day, sunglasses day, etc... Friday was the final celebration with Literacy on the Lawn. I know that many parts of the country are faced with snow drifts and freezing temperatures. But here is south Florida the winter weather couldn't be better. A little cool in the morning then the sun comes out and it warms up nicely. Perfect weather to sit outside and read a book or two. You can see the bright sunny day we had yesterday. I hope the rest of you stay warm.  ...