A Real Page-Turner

Barely hanging in there, Lori

This first week after a good break has me almost in tears as I pull myself out of bed! I find myself constantly yawning throughout the day, and I have had so much coffee that I practically vibrate. Friends, I am dragging by the time I get home. That said, I thought it would be nice to throw a fun and easy to use resource your way. 

Using picture books in class is a great idea especially in the secondary classroom, but it is often difficult to put our hands on just the right book. Once we find it, it's difficult to display it with the document camera without a terrible glare. And believe it or not--teenagers care about pictures too!

Check out the International Children's Digital Library. This is more than just a beautiful way to display a picture book. Their easy search allows you to find titles by author, age range, characters, and...get this...LANGUAGE. My district has students that speak a wide variety of languages, and that's precisely how I landed on this website. A colleague had a Filipino student who spoke Tagalog. He was new to the English language and she needed a way to help him feel comfortable with reading in her classroom. She used the ICDL and designated times to allow him to read books in his native language. 

Harlem by Walter Dean Myers
from the International Children's Digital Library

Some titles can also be read in a variety of languages, so that is a nice way to provide practice for ESL students. Let them read the text in their native language and then try some skills-based work with it in English. 

The titles in the data base are somewhat obscure, but I've lost probably a good hour searching and flipping through titles. [There is a very old and cool version of Aesop's Fables that I just couldn't move away from!] 

It is free...yay! While there is no need to set up an account, you can if you would like to bookmark and save titles. 

I also love pop-up features that some books have. For example, when you flip through the pages of Harlem by Walter Dean Myers, the text pops out as you progress through the book.

This weekend, as you recover from venturing back into your classroom, I hope you find some comfy time on your couch to play around in the ICDL.