With so many students experiencing educational disruptions during the last few years, the need to enrich reading development has never been greater. BadgerLink, Wisconsin’s online library from the Department of Public Instruction (DPI), provides everyone in the state access to the TeachingBooks literacy service (TeachingBooks.net/Wisconsin). With more than 333,000 resources that align to more than 87,000 children’s and young adult books, TeachingBooks “brings books to life” by empowering students of all ages to enhance comprehension while learning more about favorite books and authors.
“Many of our district libraries have used QR codes to create an interactive, engaging, and fun environment for our readers,” said Brandy Grady, Library Media Instructional Coordinator at the School District of Beloit. “TeachingBooks gives the students the opportunity to connect to the authors of books they enjoy and discover new favorites. I also have used the Custom Reading List tool to support our city-wide BookQuest reading competition for 4th and 5th grade to help the students engage with the stories.”
On TeachingBooks.net, students, educators, and families can access a variety of resources aligned to favorite and newly assigned books, including:
- Discussion and activity guides
- Read-along audiobook performances
- Video book trailers
- Book-themed games, including concentration, word searches, and jigsaw puzzles
- Author Name Pronunciation Guide, with more than 3,000 authors revealing and personalizing the backstory about their names
“We want to instill a love of reading in every Wisconsin student by helping them find meaningful connections to books,” said TeachingBooks Founder Nick Glass. “When students leave the halls of their schools, we want them to know these resources are available to them 24/7. And, we want families to feel empowered to encourage reading engagement at home with fun family involvement.”
“For example,” Glass continues, “Kevin Henkes is one of Wisconsin’s treasures: an all-time favorite children’s book creator. He was born and educated here, and still lives within the state. With TeachingBooks, every family, student, and classroom can instantly watch a movie we made in Kevin’s Madison home, where they can see his mice and kitten and other characters come to life before their eyes.”
To access TeachingBooks from home or anywhere throughout Wisconsin, follow these three steps:
- Go to www.TeachingBooks.net
- Enter a favorite book, series, author, or subject in the search box
- Begin exploring
TeachingBooks was awarded the “Common Sense Selection for Learning” as a best-in-class resource for both students and educators in 2021. The service is available to more than 24 million students worldwide in more than 55,000 schools, public libraries, and higher education institutions. TeachingBooks, founded in Madison in 2000 and acquired by OverDrive in October 2021, executes more than eight million clicks, investigations, and searches a month for schools and libraries. The service complements OverDrive Education’s Sora student reading app, the popular app that all schools in Wisconsin currently provide to their students.
Learn more about TeachingBooks.
About TeachingBooks
TeachingBooks is an engaging collection of resources that brings children’s and young adult’s books to life. With access to hundreds of thousands of materials including original author interviews, video book trailers, discussion questions, vocabulary lists, interactive games, and more, 55,000 schools and libraries have received more than 70 million unique investigations since August 2020. Awarded the Best Digital App of 2020 by the American Association of School Librarians and the 2021 Common Sense Education Selection for Learning, TeachingBooks was founded in 2000 and is based in Madison, Wisconsin USA. TeachingBooks was acquired by OverDrive in 2021. www.TeachingBooks.net
About OverDrive Education and the Sora student reading app
The Sora student reading app, created by OverDrive Education, provides access to the right books for every student. Available in more than 61,000 K-12 schools worldwide, Sora offers the industry’s largest catalog of ebooks, audiobooks, digital magazines, and other content to support the need for required curriculum titles, class sets and pleasure reading. Sora was named one of TIME’s Best Inventions. TeachingBooks.net (acquired in 2021) complements Sora with one of the largest catalogs of supplemental resources that “bring books to life.” OverDrive – which also provides digital content to public, academic and corporate libraries – is based in Cleveland, Ohio USA. www.overdrive.com/schools
