Case Study Student Perspective

Amy Sanderlin is a National Board Certified Teacher of Language Arts at the Academy at Lincoln, a high-performing middle school in Greensboro North Carolina. Previously, she struggled to find ways to engage and challenge the academically gifted students in her mixed ability classroom, so she turned to Books That Grow. When asked about Books That Grow, she said it ‘fabulous resource’ and insisted that her student speak on the product's behalf. Belew we have direct feedback from Ms Sanderlin’s gifted 8th graders:

Elliott R:
Books that grow is an intriguing new way to read texts. It has a very interesting set-up, allowing you to switch your reading level depending on how good of a reader you are. It allows those who are not experienced to learn new words and helps them advance their vocabulary whilst allowing those who are more advanced to explore a text or a more profound level.

Daniel L:
In the past, not all of my classmates were able to read the same book as each other due to reading level, but with Books That Grow we can enjoy a text as a class! Books That Grow has really changed the way I read and I look forward to reading more from their prodigious library - 8th Grade Student

David W:
Books That Grow is an excellent teaching resource. It allows our teacher to assign us readings without us having to have a class set of the book. Also, if some members of the class don't read quite as well, then they can just choose a lower difficulty level to read at. The wide variety of stories means that there's something for all units and topics. The website allows us to read the text at home for homework so that we have more time to discuss it in class. Also, the stories are not just obscure and unknown. There are stories in there that have been reproduced in many formats, allowing us to do text comparisons.

Platon B:
After an introduction by our teacher, my Language Arts class had the opportunity to freely examine this innovative system, and every student enjoyed the experience.

Derek C:
Books that grow is a great website that is very useful. There are many good functions, such as the fact that you can toggle between reading levels. This is a very handy tool, as many tougher words have their definitions on a lower reading level. This will be especially helpful when we read with our elementary buddies, as they are on a lower level. So, I believe that books that grow is the best online website to read and learn about short stories.

Rory:
When I first tried it, I wasn't sure whether or not I would like it. I wasn't sure how good it would be. But then when I started to use it, I began to enjoy it. Books that Grow offers a wide variety of books and short stories to read. They have a mix of lots of different types to linguistic text. The most impressive part of Books that Grow is the ability of toggle between different difficulties of the same text. So if I am unsure of scholarly wording on one of the higher levels, I can find what it means by leading the simpler version. Books that Grow is a great tool for any students in elementary or middle school who wants to read, but also have something that is enjoyable to read.

Jayraj:
‘Books That Grow’ is a website that develops students’ in-depth reading abilities. Books That Grow has a variety of different short stories that can be read at different reading levels. These levels can be chosen according to the student’s personal reading level. Students can read novels that are uploaded to their accounts by the teacher and enhance their reading skills. Students like me would find this website very reliable and useful as teachers can give assignments on these short stories. This will help the student get better at comprehending the text. Out interest will not decrease as we are able to choose the reading level that is most comfortable to the individual. So we are not under pressure but slowly we can increase the reading level for greater vocabulary and improving our inference skills.

Jake M:
Books That Grow fosters a positive educational environment which helps kids like me develop in-depth reading abilities. The website allows easy access to a multitude of books that enlarge a student’s vocabulary and understanding of the English language. By giving various levels of reading difficulty, a student can chose books based on reading ability, from elementary level to an advanced level for high schoolers.