C.S. Lewis Academy issues Kindle devices to students
On Tuesday, Nov. 3, all fourth- through eighth-grade students at C.S. Lewis Academy in Santaquin were issued a personal Kindle Paperwhite thanks to a Title I School Improvement Grant. Students had known for two weeks that they would be receiving the Kindles, and they were full of anticipation.
“We realized that many students do not have the resources at home to read whenever they want. We wanted students to have more material available to read. We also wanted them to utilize the same technology at home that they do in the classroom. Kids want to use technology. We chose the Kindle Paperwhite because of its focus on reading only, rather than being able to play games.” said Lena Barney, Title I director.
Students tend to be more engaged when using technology. With Kindle, students no longer need to be discouraged by the size of a book or self-conscious when carrying their books to class, motivating even reluctant and struggling readers.
There are so many books that Amazon has available, including millions of free and out-of-copyright titles. Having Kindles for each student allows the teacher to access many more books than could be housed in a traditional library. “I am so excited for our school to have this opportunity to get and use the Kindle Paperwhite device. This gives us a great opportunity to integrate technology into our daily activities and lessons. We plan on utilizing this device to its fullest potential. We will be reading books with our guided reading groups on our Kindles. We will also have our weekly spelling, vocabulary lists and other important documents download to our Kindles. We also plan on utilizing the vocabulary builder app to help expand and strengthen our language,” said fifth-grade teacher Jane Webster.
Teachers will be able to better individualize the books being read by each student in the class and have more resources to draw from for guided reading groups. Students will be more likely to use resources like a dictionary when they are able to look up a word merely by tapping on the word when they are reading. The vocabulary app allows students to review words they have looked up and develop their own mastery lists.
Lotta C. Larson, professor of education at Kansas State University, conducted a year-long study to determine whether the use of Kindle positively impacts literacy development in primary students and found that students who received Kindles improved their vocabulary development.
As author C.S. Lewis said, “Literature adds to reality, it does not simply describe it. It enriches the necessary competencies that daily life requires and provides; and in this respect, it irrigates the deserts that our lives have already become.”