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THIS WEEK IN DIGITAL LEARNING

Writer's pictureMelissa Brayall

Re-"Kindle" Your Love of Reading with Free Digital Books!

I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that most teachers enjoy reading for fun. The trouble is, sometimes there just aren't enough hours in the day to prioritize it. But maybe you have a 20 minute commute to and from school that you could use to listen to an audiobook. Maybe you could read a few chapters in an ebook on your phone while you are in a waiting room. What if you could access these digital book formats for FREE?


That's where the library comes in. As a teacher, you can borrow any books from the school library where you work. You can also get an interlibrary loan from another school in your district. And many school libraries also give you free access to digital ebooks and audiobooks! For teachers at Londonderry High School or Middle School (and many other schools in NH), you can use Sora, which is a phone app and website.


When you open it, you are looking for the "New Hampshire Schools Shared Digital Collection" for your school. Then just log in with your school email account!









This is a consortium of many schools in New Hampshire who all share ebooks and audiobooks to provide teachers and students with a huge library featuring thousands of titles at a variety of reading levels.


If Sora doesn't have a title that you are looking for, another option could be using your public library card to create an account on Libby, which is an app and website just like Sora (actually made by the same company!) If you don't have a library card yet, you can get one for free from the town you live in OR the town you work in! Just like Sora, New Hampshire has a shared collection called "New Hampshire State Library".







With either option, you can read in the app or if you have an eReader like a Kindle, you can send the books to that device! And if there is ever a title you are interested in that you can't find in your desired format...just ask your friendly librarian! They are often happy to purchase them.


To pull this back to the students - in addition to making reading more convenient, digital books also help students understand what they are reading. Obviously audiobooks help students who struggle with reading - they could just listen or they could pair an audiobook with a physical book. Ebooks offer even more support for students. They can select words and have them defined instantly. They can highlight passages for reference later. They can also search for certain words within the entire book. Don't be afraid to let students access these great tools to help them find their own love of reading!










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