TumbleBooks Boosts Reading Fluency

We love receiving information about how well our services help people. Here is one example that TumbleBooks sent us. Be sure to check out:

TumbleBooks Library (preschool - early elementary)

TumbleReadables (reluctant, emergent, ESL and middle schoolers)

TumbleTalkingBooks Library (readers of all ages and abilities and those learning English as a second language)

A recent article in the School Library Journal, entitled "Are Ebooks Any Good?" extols the many benefits of using TumbleBooks in the classroom!

Julie Hume, a reading specialist in University City, MO, received a grant to conduct an experiment. She works with children in grades 3-5 who struggle with reading fluency. At the beginning of the school year, she divided the children randomly into two groups: a TumbleBooks treatment group and a control group. The TumbleBooks group "spent time at a computer, reading and listening to ebooks that were either at or just above their reading level." The other group "received the same reading interventions that she had used in the past, with Hume sitting at a table and assisting them as they read along in their paper books." Hume sought to investigate "which group would show the most improvement?"

Here is an excerpt from the article which discusses the amazing results!

The students using Tumblebooks leapt ahead of their peers. Last November, three months after starting the project, the average fluency rate for the Tumblebook group was 23 percentage points higher than that of the control group. Students using the ebooks had moved from a Lexile level of K to M. By January, the entire group of children in the ebook program had achieved fluency to the point that they were "exited" from her pull-out sessions and integrated back into their regular classrooms. It took the control group two months longer. She credits the success to the ebooks' ability to narrate the story, while allowing students to feel like they're in control of what and when they read. "When students repeatedly have a strong model of fluency, the more they hear that, the better they get it."

In today's digital world, ebooks are particularly relevant. For example: "Laura Hodges, a principal at Churchville Elementary School in Augusta County, VA, says Tumblebooks are helping her school attain its goal of 'embedding technology into instruction,' while saving money on books. Teachers who want to give children access to picture books in their classrooms can make them available on computers without the school having to buy multiple copies of the same book."

Parents can also benefit by sharing the books with their children 24/7. The possibilities are endless!

Ron Zevy
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