Hi Folks,
I have produces a couple of apps, which we call Bibliotech Adaptive Readers. They are iOS apps, which are stories to be read by students in 4th - 8th grade. One story is about why we need to sleep, the other is about sports related concussion. Found on my web site here:
https://www.thepartnershipineducation.com/resources/bibliotech-tm-cityhacks-in-search-of-sleep
https://www.thepartnershipineducation.com/resources/bibliotech-tm-rebound-beating-concussions
The stories are build-your-own-adventures where the reader gets to pick where to go next at the end of each chapter. There are games, interactive graphics, a digital note book and a challenge where you get to use your notes. The 'Adaptive' feature is that the person reading can shift the reading level making the text easier, with simpler vocabulary and less sophisticated sentence structure or shift it up. The point is that if you have a class of students where you have differentiated the students based on reading level, some who may be reading at the lower 4th grade level and some who are at 8+, this is a story that you can give to everyone. They can all read it, all have access to the same narrative and learning goals, and then have a book-club discussion where no one is left out. None of the students need to know what reading level the picked ... In case you know your authors, we had Kate Messner write the narrative on sleep and then we went though a rather academic and careful application of Flesch–Kincaid and Lexile tools combined with the New Dale-Chall Method, as well as the EDL Core Vocabularies provided a means to achieve text that was capable of presenting the same STEM content across all three reading levels. I'm happy to share more on this if you want.
I'm initiating this discussion because I'd love to get your feed back on these stories and their utility for your classes. We are planning to revise and up-date the apps and will have ample opportunity to 'fix' and improve things. Thanks for your consideration.
John
pollock@duq.edu
P.S. feel free to poke around the rest of my web site for other fun teaching resources (most of which are free - and if you bump into a pay wall, let me know and I'll try to get you around it).
https://www.thepartnershipineducation.com/about-us
I'm uploading two peer-reviewed research papers on the app.
Attach up to 5 files which will be available for other members to download.