Books That Grow Makes Learning Fit the Student

In 2013 a group of reading specialists, neuroscientists, and technologists came together to solve the most common challenge faced by teachers - How to support students of varied abilities in the same classroom?  Our answer, Books That Grow. We’ve made differentiated instruction simple through developing leveled readers that adjust to the student’s reading ability. Now, advanced and struggling readers can sit side-by-side, read the same text at different reading levels, draw the same meaning, and participate in the same discussion.  Books That Grow can  be used to foster the inclusion of Special Education students and English Language Learners into mainstream classroom, just as effectively as it provides a ‘stretch’ opportunity to gifted students.  Books That Grow is backed by decades of research and used in thousands of schools around the world.

Books That Grow Applies Research to Reading Instruction

Books That Grow operationalizes decades of research on best practices in literacy instruction and learning. Chief amongst them is the Vygotskian principle that learning is most effective when students are within their ‘Zone of Proximal Development’ (Vygotsky 1962, 1968, 1971).   Our leveled readers keep students in the Zone of Proximal by Development by enabling teachers to gradually and continually increase the level of text complexity for each student. Research also demonstrates the importance of helping learners develop confidence in their reading abilities. As students become confident in their reading abilities, they are more willing to practice their reading skills with increasingly complex material, and practice leads to competence (Irvin, Meltzer, Dukes 2007).  Additionally, Books That Grow, offers a variety of reading tools the help students apply close reading strategies that lead to improved reading comprehension. (Porter-O’Donnell, 2004)  For example, students can annotate text by applying written notes as well as literary device tags like ‘Main Idea’ ‘Evidence’ ‘Symbolism.’

Books That Grow is Award-Winning and Teacher Approved

Books That Grow has won numerous honors since its launch.  In 2016, we were named ‘Most Innovative Company’ by the members of the International Society for Technology in Education.  We also won the Verizon Powerful Answers Award and National School Boards Association’s Innovation Showcase.  However, we’re most proud of the affirmations we’ve received from teachers and students around the world.  Every day, teachers tell us how we’ve made their lives easier, raised the level of rigor in their classroom, or unlocked the potential of a student. We love what we do and look forward to supporting your learning objectives.

Yours always

Team Books That Grow