Web Based Site #9 - The Biblionasium Workout
The Biblionasium Workout
I hope everyone has been able to keep up with all the different sites to make learning more fun for your students and maybe even you!! Most of the sites have been technology based focusing on lesson plans, engagement, and presentations with a little mix of games students can play. As technology becomes more prevalent in our society and classrooms, sometimes we forgot the main function of the library. What might that be you ask? Well it's books of course!! Did you forget that?? I'm glad I reminded you if you did! One of the library's main functions of its many, is encouraging students to read more. Studies show that reading, helps students developmental skills in, but not limited to: social skills, cognitive thinking, emotional development, increase in vocabulary, and so much more. The trouble is, a lot of students hate to read. When thinking about reading, it is usually assigned books by the teacher that tend to be boring some of the times. I can even admit, I hate being told what to read, so I can only imagine how the students must feel. If I am reading on my own, I enjoy it so much more. As an adult, I can say that there are so many books that I want to read and I cannot keep up with the new ones that come out. To track my reading, I like to use an app I'm sure a lot of you have heard of - Goodreads. But what if there was a way for kids to track their reading as well? Well, there is!! Introducing Biblionasium. Biblionasium is a site just like Goodreads where students can keep track of what books they read, recommendations, reviews, and so much more. Let me explain more on how this works.
If you know how to use Goodreads, then you will be able to use this site! As a student, kids can set up virtual bookshelves to have books they are currently reading, have read, and what they want to read. When a parent or teacher connects the students in their class, students can see what their friends are reading and even make posts/comments about the books. Teachers and friends can even make recommendations to their student or friend. Before students get their account, teachers (or parents) create an account and add a list of students they want to their classroom. When finding books on the platform, students can find books by title, author, category, Lexile range, or even reading level. As a teacher, you can find specific books that you want specific students to read and add it to their required reading; it can be all the same book, or each student can have a different one. As a teacher/librarian, this is a great option because a lot of the time students ask for recommendations, which is obviously great, but sometimes it's hard to think of something on the spot. This is a great way that you can go back and recommend books to even that one specific kid at a later time. As a student, kids can look back at their teacher/parent approved friends and see what everyone else is reading. There is also an option for a reading log. On the reading log, students can track how long they read, what date, the book, how many pages, and make comments on what they read. This is great for when teachers assign reading time at home. By commenting on what they read, you can see when they did and did not read along with their thoughts of the book so far. For teachers, there is a report option. This is where teachers can see what their students are reading, how long they read, number of completed books, and if the books are on grade level or not. For parents, when logged in, they can see what each child is reading and even the teachers book recommendations. Reading challenges can also be set up by the teachers and if the students complete the challenge, they will earn badges. In a way, using this site is almost like using social media, but for reading. Students can interact with their own shelves, while also interacting with their friends' shelves as well. The best part is, students accounts will never be deleted, so it will follow them for their whole school career. For both teachers and parents, it is a great way to see what the child is reading and what they have the most interests in.
So what do you think? If you like Goodreads as an adult, then students will love Biblionasium! It is a great way for students to connect with each other, for teachers to keep track of reading of their students, all while being fun and potentially competitive with the badges and rewards. I hope this is one of the sites that you definitely check out with your students.
As always, here is the link to try it out with your students and don't forget to let me know what you think!
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