You’re made it to March and have already accomplished so much. Your persistence and commitment in the classroom speaks volumes.
It’s come with challenges, however. Learning loss in students is significant and growing post pandemic. Students are struggling with literacy and teachers need tools designed to help.
We know teachers are looking for easy to use tools that help to minimize your workload; not add to it. You’ve found your groove and want tools that work with your existing workflows. Luckily, we have two tools that fit the bill!
What’s Epic?
You already know Lumio, but have you heard of Epic? With Epic, students can access over 40,000 digital books, audiobooks and learning videos which gives students more choice and freedom when searching for a book to connect with or reflect on.
Literacy is and will continue to be at the heart of learning. Whether you’re looking for fiction or non-fiction, history, science or social studies, Epic has a wide variety of books for you and your students to dive into and experience.
But wait, there’s more! Epic digital books come in multiple languages, allowing students to practice reading in their native language or learn a new one. And it’s free for educators and students to access from 7 am to 3 pm when school is in session!
Working together to bring you ready-made lessons and activities
We’ve teamed up with Epic to create fun, engaging Lumio lessons to help students reflect and understand the books they’ve read in Epic. Explore our Reading with Epic collection for ready-made lessons and resources that you can use in your class right now, or edit to include your own ideas.
And, it’s not over yet… you’ve heard of March Madness, here comes Reading Madness! We want to know which book you would like to see an engaging Lumio lesson created for. We’ve selected 16 popular Epic digital books and pitted against each other in this ultimate reading match-up. For the month of March, we’re asking you to vote for your favorite Epic books until the champion is crowned! The winning book will be paired with a fun and engaging lesson, giving you a combination of rich literature and interactive learning that is free, ready-made, and pedagogically driven.
How to get started with Lumio and Epic
Make sure to sign up for Lumio (it’s free!) and Epic (also free!). Then, dive into the thousands of digital books that are ready and available in Epic. Use in your classroom for:
- Reading assignments: assign students books from Epic's library to read on their own time. You can also create reading lists for your students customized to their interests and reading levels.
- Guided reading groups: use Epic to facilitate guided reading groups, where students read and discuss books together. Epic also provides progress updates so you can monitor students' reading progress and provide feedback.
- Literacy centers: create a literacy center in your classroom using Epic and ask students to explore the different books independently or with a partner.
- Differentiated instruction: Epic provides tools for assessing students' reading levels and recommending books that match their interests and abilities. This allows teachers to provide differentiated instruction and tailor their teaching to the needs of each student.
- Classroom library: Teachers can use Epic as a digital classroom library, providing students with access to a wide range of books and resources.
In addition to these classroom applications, Epic also provides teachers with professional development resources and lesson plans to help them integrate digital reading into their curriculum.
Pair Epic books with ready-made Lumio lessons to reflect and understand the books you’ve just read. Try a reading response activity about the characters, sequencing, or setting in a book and reflect as a whole class to share ideas and get your students involved.
Other Lumio lessons include Text Features and Images to better understand the different parts of a book, Growth Mindset for introducing the journey of characters and storylines, as well as Biography Research to help students research and study books better.
Stay tuned for even more lessons on some of your favorite Epic books! You get to decide which Epic books we create Lumio lessons on so head over to Twitter this month to vote. Learn more about Lumio & Epic Reading Madness here: