Saturday, September 30, 2017

EpicPals is Flipping Out!


Do you have Flipgrid Fever? Flipgrid is an awesome tool that is rapidly gaining popularity. It is similar to Padlet in that students will be able to share their thoughts about a book but instead of having to write their thoughts, they will create a video which will post to a Flipgrid board.  The videos are incredibly easy to create and are done right on the site or on the free app

After a lot of thought about how this could benefit the students using EpicPals, I've decided to integrate this tool into one of the primary books this month to see how it goes. Padlet boards can be overwhelming for our struggling readers and writers so to level the playing field so all students can participate in some fashion, I'm going to include a Read to Me book each month which will have an attached Padlet board as well as a Flipgrid board option. Have your students choose (or you can choose) which way they would prefer to leave their thoughts. The Flipgrid board will also have a QR code for your students for easy access as you can see on the inset below. 

Since the Flipgrid board involves video and audio, please have a discussion with your students about proper digital citizenship skills and remind them that others can and will be viewing their videos.  I have the Flipgrid board set to be moderated so I can be sure that the videos are appropriate before they are posted. If there is anything that I deem questionable, I will not approve that video. I hope that this option opens up some new doors for you students and allows them a little more voice and choice with EpicPals!


On a side note, Epic Books just released a fantastic update which provides word by word highlighting for students with the Read to Me books. Another great feature for our struggling readers!

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