ILA Newsletter Project: Effective Literacy Website #2

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    My second review on an effective literacy website is on Vooks (http://www.vooks.com). Vooks is an online learning platform that allows for streaming of hundreds of read-aloud animated storybooks. It offers many teaching resources such as lesson plans and worksheets that accompany their books. The supplemental resources help educators extend the learning beyond the storybook itself. There are themes, summaries, discussion topics, and vocabulary cards that are in pdf files, which makes it convenient to access. Themes include special occasions and holidays such as Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Mother’s Day and many more. There are also arts and crafts activities that relate to some stories. These activities are easy to follow because there are video tutorials with step-by-step instruction. 

        
Personally, I signed up for Vooks’ 7 day free trial to view some of the stories the website has to offer. I must say the stories are fun, interesting, and provide positive messages that students can learn from! Each story is very enjoyable because of the artwork and voiceovers that are included.  The voiceovers are also a great option because it can assist students who are English Language Learners with pronunciation and reading fluency. As I read review from other users, many of them also stated that the stories are very engaging and entertaining. The website provides quality screen time even in comparison to YouTube or Netflix. The videos are also downloadable as a playlist in the event of spotty wifi or internet connection. I would say the only downside to Vooks is that it is not a free online platform. It is $4.99 a month or $49.99 a year. There are times when they do offer free subscriptions to teachers, and you must be signed up to their special newsletter to receive this notification. 

 

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