69传媒

Special Report
69传媒 & Literacy

Startup Aims to Customize Classroom Book Selections

By Brenda Iasevoli 鈥 November 09, 2016 3 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print
Email Copy URL

After 22 years of teaching middle school in a Chicago suburb, Mindi Rench switched to an elementary school this year. So, in order to build a top-notch classroom library for her new class of 3rd graders, the self-proclaimed bibliophile found herself having to swap out her young-adult novels for picture books.

Rench sought book suggestions from fellow teachers. She raided used bookstores and asked friends and family for donations.

Then, from a friend鈥檚 Facebook post, she read about an online book-subscription service and app called that aims to tailor books to children鈥檚 interests or a teacher鈥檚 particular needs. Rench signed up. Each month, she gets three brand-new books chosen by the company鈥檚 reading coaches for $25 per month. (The subscription price has since been raised to $35.)

鈥淵ou get reading experts helping you to figure out which books are good for your particular grade level, or which books will keep your particular students, with their wide range of interests, with their noses in a book,鈥 Rench said.

While it deals primarily in print books, Readocity presents yet another example of how digital technology is changing literacy instruction in schools.

The startup, which launched in mid-September and so far has about 60 subscribers, was co-founded by a product developer and a former high school English teacher with the goal of leveraging technology to help parents and teachers make more-customized book selections for students and classrooms and share information about students鈥 reading progress and interests.

鈥淚magine a first-year teacher and everything she is up against,鈥 said Meenoo Rami, the former teacher who co-founded the company. 鈥淪he is learning how to teach while juggling classroom management and navigating the systems of a school. On top of it, she has outdated books that don鈥檛 reflect the diversity of her classroom or maybe she has no books at all. We want to help that teacher build her classroom library.鈥

Teachers who sign up for Readocity fill out a questionnaire about reading needs and interests of their classes. Then, every month, they receive 鈥渁 personalized bundle鈥 of books selected by the company鈥檚 curators, an all-volunteer team of teachers and librarians. The company buys the books through wholesalers to cut costs. Educators often think of technology as taking power away from teachers, said David Rose, a lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education who specializes in new learning technologies. But programs like Readocity, he said, can make teachers more powerful.

鈥淚nterest-driven reading is a very powerful way to get kids to do a lot of reading,鈥 he said. 鈥淭he key is to have kids reading high-interest texts at demanding levels that will build comprehension and vocabulary.鈥

But Rose cautions against relying exclusively on services like Readocity. 鈥淭echnology can get smarter and smarter about kids, but we also need kids to get smarter about themselves,鈥 he said. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 want computers or apps to drive student interest. 69传媒 need to know what they want and how to find it.鈥

鈥業nterest-Driven 69传媒鈥

To fill holes in her classroom library, Rench wanted lots of different types of books. And she wanted books representing diverse characters: ethnic and racial diversity, students with disabilities, and children from many different backgrounds.

She appreciated that, in the first shipment from Readocity, the company sent two picture books and one early-reader chapter book, demonstrating that Readocity understands her 3rd graders will be making a gradual change to more sophisticated books.

And the books in the two shipments Rench has received so far represent diversity in many senses of the term. There were books by diverse authors, including a Korean-American and an African-American. There were books of poetry and picture books featuring characters whose lives were different from her students鈥.

Rench plans to let parents know about the Readocity app so book talks can continue at home. Parents who download the app get a notification when a book has been shared in class, and they are able to see the teacher鈥檚 talking points.

The app also allows parents to share individual children鈥檚 interests and grade levels and get book recommendations. Parents can then share with teachers what their children are reading at home.

鈥淲e know that accessibility to high-quality books has a direct correlation to improved reading ability,鈥 Rench said. 鈥淎nything we can do to further that process is a step in the right direction.鈥

A version of this article appeared in the November 09, 2016 edition of Education Week as Startup Aims to Customize Classroom Book Selections

Events

School & District Management Webinar Crafting Outcomes-Based Contracts That Work for Everyone
Discover the power of outcomes-based contracts and how they can drive student achievement.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
School & District Management Webinar
Harnessing AI to Address Chronic Absenteeism in 69传媒
Learn how AI can help your district improve student attendance and boost academic outcomes.
Content provided by 
School & District Management Webinar EdMarketer Quick Hit: What鈥檚 Trending among K-12 Leaders?
What issues are keeping K-12 leaders up at night? Join us for EdMarketer Quick Hit: What鈥檚 Trending among K-12 Leaders?

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide 鈥 elementary, middle, high school and more.
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.

Read Next

69传媒 & Literacy Opinion Boys Don't Love to Read. Could This Former Teacher Be on to Something?
Boys are falling behind in reading. Books with military-history themes may help reverse this trend.
7 min read
The United States Capitol building as a bookcase filled with red, white, and blue policy books in a Washington DC landscape.
Luca D'Urbino for Education Week
69传媒 & Literacy Is Handwriting a Lost Art? What One College鈥檚 Kerfuffle Over Cursive Can Tell Us
Since 2014, there鈥檚 been a resurgence of cursive and handwriting education.
6 min read
A photograph of a close up of cursive handwriting that is undecipherable
E+
69传媒 & Literacy Quiz Quiz Yourself: How Much Do You Know About Student Literacy Data?
Answer 7 questions about the importance of student literacy data and how to collect and use it.
69传媒 & Literacy 69传媒 Interventions for Older 69传媒 May Be Missing a Key Component
Many older elementary and middle school students still struggle with foundational reading skills.
6 min read
An illustration of a high school student looking in to an open book with black, gray, and red letters circling about around him.
iStock/Getty