This app was a lifesaver. I don’t know how I would have survived virtual learning without it. Using Epic for reading comprehension strategies was the best way that I could meet my student’s reading needs at their instructional level.
Adding Students To Epic For Reading Lessons
Adding your students to Epic is easy. Especially if you have Google Classroom. You can transfer your roster right over. You’ll need to give your students the code to join your classroom. It used to be that you could only use Epic at school, but now students can use the app at home. Right now, it’s free, due to so much virtual learning. All a parent needs to do is sign up for home-access with their email address.
After that, it’s pretty easy for students to use. I taught my students to go straight to their mailbox. That’s where you can assign books, or collections of books.
Here’s a quick overview of how to use Epic for your reading comprehension lessons.
What Kind Of Resources Does Epic Have?
Using the search bar, you can find books by title and author. But you can also search for genre and reading level. Students can search for the types of books they enjoy, and teachers can search for the kinds of books they need.
Epic also has audio books and videos! I used the audio books for my listening stations all the time. Here’s a helpful tip: turn off the videos for your students if it’s too tempting for them. There’s nothing like hearing baby shark playing through headphones across the room. Instead of having the videos open for all to watch, I would let my kiddos earn the videos based on their behavior during their literacy stations. Then, on Friday afternoons, we could spend the last few minutes in class watching the fun videos on Epic.
How Can Epic For Reading Comprehension Help My Students?
Start with collections. Inside Epic, you can create collections of books and assign them to your whole class or a small group. Use Epic for reading groups, either your guided reading group through a zoom call or as a listening station for your breakout groups. Check out more quick-tips to plan your literacy stations here!
Remember how I said you can search for books by level? Doing this makes sure that your students are reading text that is exactly at their instructional level. I also found the “less clicks the better” and so I found using epic for reading assignments kept my students engaged. They knew how to use the Epic app, so I found I didn’t need to be tech support.
So give it a try! Let me know how Epic for reading activities work for you!
