Epic!: Online Book Resource

What is Epic?

What is so epic, you may ask? Well, Epic!, is what's epic!

If you haven't heard of the app, don't feel like you have been under a rock. If you have been under a rock, welcome to society again! Get ready to be introduced to a very tech-savvy, 21st century teaching tool and resource!

When I heard about this app, I suddenly got very excited and jealous at the same time. I love to read books! The fact that books are so accessible and at your fingertips was so impressive to me. I was very jealous that this resource was not available to me when I was a kid, but I now get to use it for my own students. Which, is always a win-win situation!

Epic is an online library full of childrens' books. They have have everything from picture books to chapter books. They cover all topics: animals, science, fantasy, informational, graphic novels, and so much more. The best news, is that this is all for free!! If you aren't excited yet, well I am just not sure what will excite you at this point. For those who are intrigued, down below you will get a more detailed view on Epic!

How Do I Sign Up and Use Epic?
Not sure how to sign up for something? That's ok, I am here to help! First thing is first, you need to either: a) download the app on a device, or, b) go to the Epic! website. Once you have done this, you are ready to sign up for an epic experience!

Let's get started! Epic offers three different sign-up options: as an educator, as a parent, or as a student. Here, you will choose, an educator. You will put in your name, school, grade, and position. After, you will give your email and any other information they may ask for.

Once you have your account set-up, it will take you to your dashboard. On your dashboard, it will take you through six steps. The first is already done because you created an account. The second step is to add students. You can add students through your class roster, through Google Classroom, or by doing it individually. When you add students, it also gives you the option to add parent emails.

The third step, is to get your students logged in. When they login they will be asked for a classroom code. Every classroom that you setup, will have it's own unique class code to be included in that online community. The fourth step, is to assign readings. As the teacher, you have the power to assign reading assignments to your class. It could be something you want all students to read or maybe you assign different books depending on their book reading groups. It all depends on what you want them to read. This can also be an easy way to assign reading as homework.

The fifth step in the process, is to share with families. Parents and/or other family members should be encouraged to sign up for an account. The app and program is all free! This way, they know what books are available and what their child is doing. Epic allows you to communicate with parents through emails, text, and through letters. Epic has templates for each of these communication examples to send to parents.

The final step, is to create quizzes. You, the teacher, will assign your students quizzes on their reading. This can be a quick and convenient way to assess students on their comprehension of the books that they are reading. You decide on the types of questions, the formatting, and how many questions. You will also decide on what days they will be assessed. You can tailor anything to the student's need with this feature.

There are other features that Epic gives you that are pretty helpful as well. One of them, is having access to videos. For example, one video is on prefixes and suffixes. Other videos can be something as fun as hair hacks too. Besides videos, the app has "Read to Me" books. These books are ones that have recordings of a read-aloud to go with it.

The app also offers other things to use as well. It offers: collections, recommendations, quizzes, books in different languages, educator resources, Readerpillar, monthly calendar for activities, and class logs. There are four more features I want to add to this discussion. Epic allows you to track what books students are reading, how many books they are reading, how many hours are spent reading per student, and a summary of their readings and quizzes. These are great ways to keep track of student progress and to make sure that they are reading outside of the classroom.

How Do I Incorporate Epic! Into My Classroom?

The most obvious way to incorporate this app into my classroom is to have it as an option for independent reading or in a station center. In this situation, I am assuming that I have one iPad or a few desktop computers in my classroom. For a station, students can be working on reading a short text and taking a quiz afterwards to see what they got from it. They could also be working with a text to draw a story or example from it to share later with the class.

This could be a nice alternative or special treat for students to do their independent reading. Depending on my classroom setup and access to technology, I could pick one or two students daily to go and use Epic for their reading time. This allows reading to be fun and differentiated.

Another way that I can think of using Epic in my classroom is for assessment. As I have talked about before, Epic allows for the teacher to give students assignments and quizzes on their readings. Using the app for quizzes is a low-stake way to assess how students are doing on their comprehension strategies. It would not be as scary as say, DIBELS or a written test, because students are familiar and comfortable with this tool.

The last way that I can see using this in my classroom is to create extrinsic and intrinsic motivation within my students. Epic has available, what is known as, a Readerpiller. A Readerpillar, is a caterpillar that tracks all the books that students have read. This is a great visual way for your class to see how much they have read. It could be used for extrinsic motivation, if you decide after you reach a certain number, your class is rewarded with a movie day or another thing. Intrinsically, it motivates students to continue reading and enjoy reading.

My Experience and Opinion
I was first introduced to this app when I had a project in my Children's Literature course. The assignment was to read and review forty children's books. They had to be all kinds: chapter, picture, informational, fantasy, graphic novels, historical, and etc. This app gave me an easy access to books on the go.

Epic was such an easy app to sign up  for and use. I literally read from anywhere. I would read while I was waiting for other classes or when I couldn't make it to the School of Ed's library. It gave me so many options to chose from. I was able to fulfill all of my requirements for that assignment and this app helped me a lot. I also learned about an app that I know will be incorporated within my future classroom.

While I may prefer hard-copy books, the truth is that we are in the 21st century, and that means that everything is technological. Of course this isn't the first way to view books on technology, but it is free and accessible. Books can be viewed on a desktop, phone, or iPad. It is a different way than a kindle or e-reader. It can also be accessed from school, home, or on the go. This app makes things easy for students to get in their reading. They already are on their technology devices, so they will be able to just switch over and start reading.

One really positive thing about Epic, is that it allows teachers to have differentiation and universal design learning in their lesson plans. This is a great option for students if they have issues decoding, but do great at comprehending. They can use the read aloud option. That option is also great if you have students who are blind or have difficulty with speech or learning disabilities. It also helps students who need a more interactive way of reading than what a physical book can offer them. Online books also offer students an easier way to annotate or mark their texts with notes and questions.

References
Apple Store. (2017). Epic! Logo [online photo]. Retrieved from https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/epic/id719219382?mt=8.

Nicolanti, Tesa. (2016). Books on Epic! [online photo]. Retrieved from http://www.2wired2tired.com/reading-app-for-kids-epic.

Dabrowka, Vicki. (2015, July 25). Epic! on Devices [online photo]. Retrieved from http://www.greenteamgazette.com/2015/07/epic-for-educators-ereader-app-bringing.html.