Wednesday, September 26, 2018

Bookshare: A Necessary Resource for your Students with Print Disabilities

We are several weeks into the new school year and I want to make sure all your students who qualify have been provided membership to an outstanding free resource. Have you signed them up for Bookshare.org, a digital library of over 656,000 titles and counting? If not, it has NEVER been easier to enroll students who qualify.

Who qualifies for Bookshare.org membership? Anyone who has a print disability or significant reading barrier as defined here. To get started, check out the Training and Resources link. Then explore the Educators Get Started detailed step by step guide. It is excellent, no need to create your own guide, unlike in the past.
Bookshare added a Reading Tool Wizard to help you identify the best device to use when accessing Bookshare books. Easily assist your students as they determine the optimal device to use.

Let's be honest; how many students who struggle with print disabilities, especially reading disabilities, enjoy reading books? Let's promote reading enjoyment and a new incredible feature encourages that. As always, it is still possible to search for a specific book. Additionally, Bookshare has added Special Collections; you can find out the preferences of your students and then assign books from the Special Collections. When they log-in, all the books that are part of that collection will show up for them. Students then select a book "off their bookshelf" and decide what they would like to read. Offering collections of selections is invaluable, as research shows book self-selection is the best indicator of reading success.

There are currently 307 collections ranging from ALA Award Winners - Children's and Young Adult, to the Magic Treehouse series to Super Heroes to the Survivor series by Erin Hunter. There is something for any struggling reader with whom you work.

Use this post to help you enroll your students who qualify. It has never been easier to provide access to grade level content.

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