Digital books create eager readers

Every morning at North Charleston Elementary School, students in different grades go online to reads books for at least 30 minutes.

School officials want to increase the amount of time students spend reading, and that appears to be happening.

Students have accessed the collection of 206 books more than 8,100 times since the beginning of the school year, which is more than any school in the district. Districtwide, the digital collection has been accessed more than 58,000 times.

District leaders recognize the popularity of the digital books and have received the go-ahead from the county school board to expand its online library to about 2,000 books. Students at all grade levels will be able to read the books anywhere they have internet access, and teachers can use them to supplement class instruction.

"It's good reading, and it's what they enjoy," said Connie Dopierala, the district's coordinator for media services. "They're getting hooked on reading, and that's what we want to continue. If this is the medium that will capture their attention and give them more time on task, then I'm all for it."

State education officials said it's up to districts to provide these kinds of online resources to students, and they don't track those efforts. In the Lowcountry, neither Berkeley nor Dorchester District 2 have a formal online library, but both school districts have schools that either are exploring or offering that option to students.

Officials hope to be able to offer the expanded collection of books to students by the end of the school year. The new books come with other enhancements, such as a test that will determine students' Lexile or reading level and an interest survey to determine the kinds of books they want to read. The program will recommend books within students' reading ability, and it will test students after they've read five books to see whether their reading skills have improved.

The new features will allow teachers to monitor students' growth in reading, and teachers will receive training so they can use that information, Dopierala said.

Dopierala said print textbooks are pricey, and the online books are a better use of the district's funds. In addition to this collection, the district has an online reference library and one free year of access to another company's books that are math- and science-related.

"It's dynamic, and it's the way kids want to learn," she said. "They want something that's portable and accessible immediately."

North Charleston Elementary third-grader Paris Anderson loves to read, and she said the online books are "the best." She likes that she doesn't have to hold the book, and she likes putting on headphones and following along with the book's narrator. On Wednesday, she was reading Poison Pages, a "scary" story about a librarian stuck in a book.

When third-grader Stephanie Lomeli-Garcia heard Anderson talking about Poison Pages, she peeked around her computer and said she'd read that book, too. Like Anderson, Lomeli-Garcia said she loves scary books, and she really loves reading them on the computer.

"There's lots of books we can choose to read," she said. "It's like they give sound effects, and they read the books for us."

Most of the class wore headphones and were quiet as they read. The school's media specialist, Deborah Bobo, said teachers sometimes will use the online books in their daily lessons. She hopes teachers receive the training they need so they can make the most of the expanded collection and its features.

School Principal LaTisha Vaughn-Brandon said the district has challenged all students to read 25 books throughout the school year, and the online books help with that effort.

"Students are so used to electronic media," she said. "Using the computer is more of a draw for them than a book."

Reach Diette Courrégé at 937-5546.