Context
Imagine carrying an entire library in your backpack. This lesson introduces students to the power and convenience of reading on the iPad, transforming it from a simple device into a gateway to endless stories, comics, and articles. Using apps like Apple Books or Libby, students will learn that digital reading is an active, engaging experience.
This is more than just turning digital pages. It's a workshop on modern literacy skills. Students will discover how to use built-in tools to highlight important passages, take notes directly in the margins, and instantly look up unfamiliar words, breaking down barriers to comprehension. They will learn to customize their reading experience, adjusting fonts and backgrounds to suit their needs.
Preparation and Flow
For this lesson, students will need an iPad with a reading app like Apple Books installed. The teacher will provide a short, public domain text (e.g., a poem or a chapter from a classic book) as a PDF or ePub file.
1. Welcome to the Digital Library (5 mins)
Start with a discussion about reading habits. Ask: "What's your favorite book?" "Where do you usually get books from?"
Introduce the iPad as a portable library and showcase the Books app icon.
2. A Tour of Your e-Reader (15 mins)
Project the Books app and guide students through importing the shared text file.
Demonstrate the key features:
Reading: How to turn pages with a tap or swipe.
Customizing: How to change the font size, style, and background color for comfortable reading.
Annotating: Show how to press and hold a word or sentence to bring up the Highlight and Note options.
Defining: Highlight the Look Up or Define feature to get an instant dictionary definition.
3. Active Reading in Action (20 mins)
Students read the provided short text on their iPads.
Their task is to practice active reading by:
Highlighting one sentence or phrase they find powerful or interesting.
Adding a Note to explain why they chose it.
Finding one word they are unsure of and using the Define feature to look it up.
4. Think, Pair, Share (10 mins)
In pairs, students share what they discovered. They should show their partner the sentence they highlighted and explain their note, and also share the new word they learned. This reinforces the skills and encourages peer-to-peer learning.
By learning to navigate the world of e-books, students will gain the skills to become more confident, independent, and engaged readers, ready to explore any text that sparks their curiosity.
Possible Extension
Book Club Journals: Students can create a dedicated digital journal in Notes or Freeform to write longer responses, character analyses, or predictions about the book they are reading.
From the LearnGrowCreate Team
Main author: Sharon
Attach up to 5 files which will be available for other members to download.