Good morning all!
My friend and fellow New Jersey techno-teacher Ann Oro shared about LookyBook.com the other day. She heard about it from Kim Cofino, who in turn had heard about it from Justin Medved. Don’t you just love The Network?
Lookybook offers FREE access to wonderful children’s books that would be ideal for use with an interactive whiteboard via whole-class activity. I love how the site clearly states how the technology will “never replace an actual book in your hands” but it will definitely help encourage and support early readers while the story mesmerizes the rest of the class. You know what magic a good book has in the classroom!
The interface is super simple, point, click, boom – there it is! No audio is provided, which makes sense since the site is about reading (not listening), but the graphics are gorgeous and would be really impressive on a whiteboard in front of the room. I can visualize kids reading along and even driving the presentation themselves (which is the whole point of interactive whiteboards, right?)
The site features a rating system and the ability to create custom bookshelves, perfect for teachers wanting to create a digital library of books to share. The selection is somewhat limited but more books are being added every day. They are generating quite a bit of buzz; the site was recently written up in Publisher’s Weekly. Good stuff.
So if you have early readers in your classroom, check out LookyBook.com, either for a fun end of year activity or something for next year. Yep, June’s not even here yet and I’m already excited about September!
Hope this helps!
-kj-
7 responses so far ↓
1 Jason // May 29, 2008 at 7:57 am
Kevin,
thanks for the link. It looks great. The illustrations look fantastic and the topics will link right into my theme. I’ll be giving it a go tomorrow down under.
Enjoy the break
Jason
2 Kevin Jarrett // May 29, 2008 at 8:22 am
G’day Jason! Thanks for commenting. Good luck with it, please let us know how it goes! -kj-
3 Nedra // May 29, 2008 at 10:05 pm
I took a look at the sight awhile ago and really like it. I wrote and asked them if I could save pages on the IWB to preset some reading activities with the kids. It would be great for activities such as guess the covered the word. Unfortunately they said no. It can still be used on the board just not saved. Oh well. It’s a place I need to make sure parents are aware of for those rainy days this summer.
4 Kevin Jarrett // May 29, 2008 at 10:12 pm
Hi Nedra!
What IWB are you using? Do presets mean saving content or just bookmarking? As long as you have ‘net connectivity, a bookmark would work, right?
-kj-
5 Nedra // May 30, 2008 at 10:54 pm
Hmmm, yes a bookmark might work. I’ll go play with that idea right now, thanks! We have an IPM board and we just purchased the Smartboard Notebook software to go along with it. I’m still learning how to use it. I have to teach a workshop on it this fall so I’ll be doing a lot of playing and learning this summer, I know there’s lots of great sites out there, I just need the time to explore and play!
6 Erica // Jun 1, 2008 at 7:44 am
Thanks you so much for finding this site. I just spent two hours with my three year old on my lap “reading books” on Looky Book. I also found a great book for a friend who is adopting a daughter this week (that isn’t sold on amazon or barnes and noble) called “I Don’t Have Your Eyes”. It is a great read for any age. I really enjoy your blog and want to thank you again for finding these gems!
Erica from theitclassroom
7 Kevin Jarrett // Jun 1, 2008 at 7:54 am
Hey guys! So glad you’re enjoying the site! I come across so many in my travels, I *try* to profile the very best, and feedback like this helps me know that I’m getting the job done! Thanks for reading!
-kj-
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