Michele Reakes

September 30, 2016

IST 611: Informational Technologies in Educational Organizations
Assignment #1: Individual Technology Assignment
Title: Bookopolis
URL: https://www.bookopolis.com/#/
Description: Bookopolis is a book discovery tool and social network for young readers.
Bookopolis provides an opportunity to safely connect with friends to share favorite
books. This site provides a way for students to locate books that fit their interest through
peer recommendations. Students create virtual book shelves of books they have read,
are currently reading, or would like to read. This site is designed for students in second
through sixth grade. It begins with students creating their own profiles and inviting their
friends to follow them in their world. As students read they earn badges. The more
students use this site and read the more badges they earn. Students can write book
reviews and recommendations for their peers. Students can also keep track of their
readings through book logs. Bookopolis has received multiple awards and honors. The
American Library Association awarded it Best Teaching and Learning Website for 2015.
It was a Cool Tool Pick for 2016 by Ed Tech Digest. Bookopolis also made the Top 100
Website list from Homeschool.com.
Strengths:

Promotes reading skills with a variety of books.

Promotes writing skills.
COPPA kid safe certified which means it meets specific online safety and
privacy rules to protect children. This includes appropriate book selections and
restriction of language within the site that is safe for elementary and middle
school students.
Common Core aligned reading and writing standards.
Extrinsic motivators offer support for reluctant readers.

Weaknesses:

Doesnt promote group discussions or collaboration among users. It tends to be

the students own work.

Special Features:

Students can customize their page with their own avatar.

Students can monitor their reading by using a reading log.

Link Technology to Curriculum: Bookopolis is an easy tool used to support technology in

an educational setting. It has many features and activities that align to several Common
Core Reading and Writing standards for students in Grades 2 6. The Childrens Book
Council posted in May 2014 that Bookopolis was a great tool to use to avoid the
summer slump. The Teacher Librarian lists Bookopolis as a website designed to ignite
a passion for reading in children ages 7-12 (Lamb, A. October 2015).
Bookopolis https://www.bookopolis.com/#/
Core Curriculum: English Language Arts Book Reviews
Educational Level: Grades 3, 4, 5, and 6. (Elementary and Middle School)
Role: The role of Bookopolis is to help students express their opinions by writing book
reviews and persuade someone else to read or avoid a particular book.
Common Core Standards:
RL.6.11. Recognize, interpret, and make connections in narratives, poetry, and drama, ethically
and artistically to other texts, ideas, cultural perspectives, era, personal events, and situations.
Self-select text based on personal preferences.
Use established criteria to classify, select, and evaluate texts to make informed judgements
about the quality of the pieces.
IFC:
Responding to Literature
Participates in literary discussions and book clubs
Finds areas of passion or interest within topics of study.
AASL Standard:
1.4.2 Use interaction with feedback from teachers and peers to guide own inquiry process.
2.1.4 Use technology and other information tools to analyze and organize information
3.1.2 Participate and collaborate as members of a social and intellectual network of learners.
4.1.7 Use social networks and information tools to gather and share information.

Academic Language: I will be addressing summarizing and main idea as academic

language. In order to make sure that everyone understands the word summarize I
would take a familiar book that they have all read and think out loud about the main
parts of the books. I could also use frames to help students understand the concept. For
example: _______ happens because _______. Students will be writing book reviews
and will need to understand what happens in a book and how to write using just the
main ideas. This can be difficult for students. I believe teachers need to model in many
ways. Besides these two academic terms, I would also be encouraging appeal terms,
adjectives that help convey a readers reaction to certain elements in a book, such as,
pace, characterization and tone.

Activity: In this activity students will write a book review. The students will answer three
main questions about the book. First, they will start with a hook. I will spend time
modeling ways for students to grab the readers attention right from the beginning.
Students may want to start with a question or thoughts that will excite the audience.
The students will discuss in 1 or 2 sentences what the book is about, summarize.
Students should be careful not to give the ending of the book away. Next, students will
describe what they liked or disliked about the book. Students need to think about what
parts of the story made it engaging for them. This is a great place to discuss your
feelings, favorite parts and main characters. Lastly, students would tell who they would
recommend this book to.
Bookopolis https://www.bookopolis.com/#/
Core Curriculum: English Language Arts - Booktalks
Educational Level: Grades 3, 4, 5, and 6. (Elementary and Middle School)
Role: The role of Bookopolis is to encourage a strong reading community and promote
opportunity for students to safely connect with friends to share favorite books.
Bookopolis helps go beyond decoding to interpretation and development of new
understandings when reading. This site also makes it fun and exciting to share your
ideas with others.
Common Core Standards:
RL.3.2. Recount stories, including fables, folktales, and myths from diverse cultures, determine
the central message. Lesson, or moral and explain how it is conveyed through key ideas in the
text.
RL.3.3. Describe the characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain
how their actions contribute to the sequence of events.
W.3.1 Write opinion pieces on topics or text, supporting a point of view with reasons.
IFC:
Responding to Literature
Participates in literary discussions and book clubs
Finds areas of passion or interest within topics of study.
AASL Standard:
1.4.2 Use interaction with feedback from teaches and peers to guide own inquiry process.
2.1.4 Use technology and other information tools to analyze and organize information
3.1.2 Participate and collaborate as members of a social and intellectual network of learners.
4.1.1 Read, view, and listen for pleasure and personal growth.
4.1.7 Use social networks and information tools to gather and share information.

Academic Language: While exposing students to booktalks the opportunities are there
to introduce a great deal of academic vocabulary, such as: book talk, authors purpose,

character traits, theme, plot, setting, point of view, opinion, main idea and supporting
details. The strategy I will use during this lesson is modeling. I will show the students
what it looks and sounds like when discussing a book. It is important for the teacher to
use these terms to support student learning and continued use.
Activity: This activity begins with the teacher modeling five book talks on various books.
After seeing all 5, the class will list what they noticed about the booktalks. This teaching
strategy is checking for understanding. Continuous checking for understanding is
essential for effective instruction. We will list how we talk about books: I think that, I
noticed, Im wondering, I didnt like, That reminds me, Maybe, The author might mean,
Im predicting, and I hope that. This would make a great chart to hang in the library for
book discussions. After students have had time to wonder and discuss what they think
about the booktalks, they will revisit activity one where they wrote a book review.
Students will look at their book review and see if they would like to make changes. They
will use their book review for a booktalk, presenting it verbally or by using a digital
presentation.
In conclusion, Bookopolis helps support inquiry learning because it offers a social
network for young readers to explore and share their favorite books. As an adult, I enjoy
using Goodreads to look at new books and keep track of those I have read or would like
to read. This site offers that same opportunities for young readers. Bookopolis ties in
very well with the Common Core Standards, AASL Standards and Information Fluency
Curriculum. Bookopolis is a fun way for students to learn curriculum through the use of
technology. I am currently using Bookopolis with both my 5 th and 6th graders. At this
point in the school year, we have only set up our book shelves and created avatars. I
am looking forward to where this will lead us. The students are definitely more
interested and it is more exciting and meaningful than plain old book logs. I am
working with classroom teachers to determine if this is something they would like to do
along side of me in the library.

Link to Video Tutorial:

My tutorial for Bookopolis is directed for students in grades 3 -6. It will help students log
in, set up their profile page, add books to their book shelves and look at recommended
books.

Portfolio Tool Exploration:

I have to admit that both Weebly and Wix are brand new terms and experiences for me.
I have had very little experience with technology. I started by looking at Weebly.com. My
first impression was that I liked the way the page was laid out. It was clear and
appeared well organized. I set up an account and started building a page. I like the
types of templates, or themes, and how they were divided into different categories
(Featured, Business, Portfolio, Personal and Event). This helped me narrow down my
choices. I found the drop and drag easy to use. Weebly has a left side toolbar to locate
different elements for your page. I found there to be many options including adding a
map or a slideshow. However, adding audio and HD video required a payed-for
upgrade. They are noted as premium elements and have a lightning bolt next to them.
Once I had pictures downloaded, I had difficulty moving them to where I wanted them.
The templates seemed rigid. I also felt like I had to keep going in and out of my page. It
didnt seem very fluid.
Next, I explored Wix. My first impressions were that this was visually distracting,
although, I was impressed with how many templates and themes they offered. Once I
entered the template of my choice and started to build my site I was pleasantly
surprised to find it quite easy to use. The tool bar on the left hand side offers five basic
categorizes with drop down boxes from which to choose: background, text, app market,
and uploads. My thoughts quickly changed from distracting to more colorful and
creative. I found Wix easy to navigate. I could easily take pictures and make them the
sizes that I wanted. While working in Wix, I felt like I was working on one page and not
moving around as much. I could click and work in the same area. I found Wix offered
many animations to help bring my page to life. Animated pictures and text help grab the
attention of the viewer. Lastly, I love the undo button!
When choosing a design tool for developing a portfolio it must be based on personal
preference. I could easily use either site to develop a portfolio, finding them quite
similar. They both were easy to use and had drag and drop features. The importance of
actually using a tool is crucial. I set up accounts and practiced in both. The more that I
used both, the more I found myself preferring Wix over Weebly. My first impression was
that Weebly was more structured and more formal, which I typically like. As I kept using
Wix, I found it easier to use than Weebly. I felt like everything was right there in front of
me. I liked that I had more free control. I also like all the color palettes. I definitely felt
that Wix had more aesthetics and was not so predefined. Both websites offered app
markets to use with their products. Wix tended to offer more tips on how to create and
customize your portfolio. I enjoyed watching their quick, helpful tutorials about how to
use their product. I look forward to creating my portfolio using Wix.