Posted on behalf of Tim Ditlow; VP, Content for Epic!
Epic!, the popular digital library offered completely free for teachers and school librarians, recently added 1,500 French and Chinese titles to its award-winning digital library. Used in 87% of elementary schools and enabling kids to read more than 24 million books on its platform every month, Epic! already includes 25,000 high-quality English books and 1,000 Spanish books.
Responding to consumer and educator demand around the world, Epic! expanded its foreign language offering with the introduction of 500 French books from more than a dozen publishers from Quebec to Paris. Earlier this year, Epic! also added to its library 1,000 Chinese children’s books, including titles by Cao Wenxuan, the 2016 winner of the Hans Christian Andersen Award.
Learning a foreign language is beneficial on a number of levels as studies have shown how attention and problem-solving skills increase as we become more proficient in another language.
Epic! also introduced two highly-requested features over the last two months:
Text Highlighting
Students can now enable world highlighting in 2,500 read-along titles on Epic!. Studies show word highlighting helps children improve reading skills by strengthening the connection between sight and sound.
Built-in Dictionary Look-Up
To help kids build vocabulary, literacy and pronunciation, Epic! has teamed up with Merriam-Webster to bring clear, concise, child-friendly definitions to its entire library of more than 25,000 ebooks.
Now offering 25,000 books in English, plus thousands more in Spanish, French and Chinese, Epic! is now able to reach even more kids in their first language, plus those interested in learning another language. Epic!’s expanded library, plus new features designed to help improve vocabulary and literacy, help the company toward its goal of bringing reading and learning to even more kids around the world.
What better way to develop a global and multicultural perspective than to introduce this diverse collection of picture books, non-fiction and fiction titles to your students?
In 2016, Epic! was recognized as an AASL Best Website for Teaching & Learning and AASL Best App for Teaching & Learning.
Author: Jen Habley
Jen Habley is the AASL Manager of Web Communications. She manages the AASL websites, writes press releases, coordinates AASL’s online learning opportunities, and oversees AASL’s web 2.0 tools. When not working, Jen spends time researching her family tree, reading, and watching hockey.
Categories: Technology
The Victory School in Milwaukee is Italian Immersion. Can you add Italian to Epic! someday?