- Unite for Literacy -
In an attempt to provide children access to an abundance of books that celebrate their languages, cultures, and cultivate a lifelong love of reading, Unite for Literacy has low cost, print and digital book distribution options that support organizations in eradicating book scarcity in their communities. To accomplish their vision, the Unite for Literacy team brought together expertise from the fields of literacy education, business innovation, strategic planning, and early childhood development. The project builds home libraries and support families to develop a daily habit of reading, both of which are key factors in growing lifelong readers. To support their mission, the Unite for Literacy bookshelf (https://www.uniteforliteracy.com/) provides engaging digital picture books complete with audio narration options in a variety of languages and is available on any device (computer, tablet or smartphone). You can search for books by categories or by titles.
Teachers/users may select their preferred language and may select more than one language at a time. This is a great feature for ESL students (English as a Second Language), as they can select to play each page in first their native language and then English or vice versa. Students who have some understanding of English may choose to select the English narration for most pages and only select their native language when they come across a word or concept that is not familiar. I like how inclusive the topics and book suggestion are. Some books have the option of American Sign Language; when selected, these books have video clips of a person signing current page of the book. Selecting the narration options from the bookshelf will display all the books available in that language. Students with low vision enjoy the beautiful images, large font text and non-visually clutter pages. Students can chose to read the text themselves or press the audio button to listen to the appealing narration. At the end of the book, there is a page that has two follow-up questions or activities to do. There is also a display of suggested books relating to the topic that was just read. I also noticed that the books vary in reading levels, from simple 2-4 word sentences, to more complex sentences. The website itself is very user friendly, that even a young child can navigate it. Unite for Literacy’s online bookshelf is a great way to increase literacy at home, and anywhere it is accessible. Most importantly, it is at no cost and there is a large selection of books for different interests.
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