Bookopolis https://www.bookopolis.

com/#/
Link Technology to Curriculum: Bookopolis is an easy tool used to support technology in
an educational setting. It has many features and activities that align to several Common
Core Reading and Writing standards for students in Grades 2 6. The Childrens Book
Council posted in May 2014 that Bookopolis was a great tool to use to avoid the
summer slump. The Teacher Librarian lists Bookopolis as a website designed to ignite
a passion for reading in children ages 7-12 (Lamb, A. October 2015).
Activity #1: Core Curriculum: English Language Arts Book Reviews
Educational Level: Grades 3, 4, 5, and 6. (Elementary and Middle School)
Role: The role of Bookopolis is to help students express their opinions by writing book
reviews and persuade someone else to read or avoid a particular book.
Common Core Standards:
RL.6.11. Recognize, interpret, and make connections in narratives, poetry, and drama, ethically
and artistically to other texts, ideas, cultural perspectives, era, personal events, and situations.
Self-select text based on personal preferences.
Use established criteria to classify, select, and evaluate texts to make informed judgements
about the quality of the pieces.
IFC:
Responding to Literature
Participates in literary discussions and book clubs
Finds areas of passion or interest within topics of study.
AASL Standard:
1.4.2 Use interaction with feedback from teachers and peers to guide own inquiry process.
2.1.4 Use technology and other information tools to analyze and organize information
3.1.2 Participate and collaborate as members of a social and intellectual network of learners.
4.1.7 Use social networks and information tools to gather and share information.

Academic Language: I will be addressing summarizing and main idea as academic

language. In order to make sure that everyone understands the word summarize I
would take a familiar book that they have all read and think out loud about the main
parts of the books. I could also use frames to help students understand the concept. For
example: _______ happens because _______. Students will be writing book reviews
and will need to understand what happens in a book and how to write using just the
main ideas. This can be difficult for students. I believe teachers need to model in many
ways. Besides these two academic terms, I would also be encouraging appeal terms,
adjectives that help convey a readers reaction to certain elements in a book, such as,
pace, characterization and tone.

Activity: In this activity students will write a book review. The students will answer three
main questions about the book. First, they will start with a hook. I will spend time
modeling ways for students to grab the readers attention right from the beginning.
Students may want to start with a question or thoughts that will excite the audience.
The students will discuss in 1 or 2 sentences what the book is about, summarize.
Students should be careful not to give the ending of the book away. Next, students will
describe what they liked or disliked about the book. Students need to think about what
parts of the story made it engaging for them. This is a great place to discuss your
feelings, favorite parts and main characters. Lastly, students would tell who they would
recommend this book to.
Activity #2: Core Curriculum: English Language Arts - Booktalks
Educational Level: Grades 3, 4, 5, and 6. (Elementary and Middle School)
Role: The role of Bookopolis is to encourage a strong reading community and promote
opportunity for students to safely connect with friends to share favorite books.
Bookopolis helps go beyond decoding to interpretation and development of new
understandings when reading. This site also makes it fun and exciting to share your
ideas with others.
Common Core Standards:
RL.3.2. Recount stories, including fables, folktales, and myths from diverse cultures, determine
the central message. Lesson, or moral and explain how it is conveyed through key ideas in the
text.
RL.3.3. Describe the characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain
how their actions contribute to the sequence of events.
W.3.1 Write opinion pieces on topics or text, supporting a point of view with reasons.
IFC:
Responding to Literature
Participates in literary discussions and book clubs
Finds areas of passion or interest within topics of study.
AASL Standard:
1.4.2 Use interaction with feedback from teaches and peers to guide own inquiry process.
2.1.4 Use technology and other information tools to analyze and organize information
3.1.2 Participate and collaborate as members of a social and intellectual network of learners.
4.1.1 Read, view, and listen for pleasure and personal growth.
4.1.7 Use social networks and information tools to gather and share information.

Academic Language: While exposing students to booktalks the opportunities are there
to introduce a great deal of academic vocabulary, such as: book talk, authors purpose,
character traits, theme, plot, setting, point of view, opinion, main idea and supporting
details. The strategy I will use during this lesson is modeling. I will show the students

what it looks and sounds like when discussing a book. It is important for the teacher to
use these terms to support student learning and continued use.
Activity: This activity begins with the teacher modeling five book talks on various books.
After seeing all 5, the class will list what they noticed about the booktalks. This teaching
strategy is checking for understanding. Continuous checking for understanding is
essential for effective instruction. We will list how we talk about books: I think that, I
noticed, Im wondering, I didnt like, That reminds me, Maybe, The author might mean,
Im predicting, and I hope that. This would make a great chart to hang in the library for
book discussions. After students have had time to wonder and discuss what they think
about the booktalks, they will revisit activity one where they wrote a book review.
Students will look at their book review and see if they would like to make changes. They
will use their book review for a booktalk, presenting it verbally or by using a digital
presentation.
In conclusion, Bookopolis helps support inquiry learning because it offers a social
network for young readers to explore and share their favorite books. As an adult, I enjoy
using Goodreads to look at new books and keep track of those I have read or would like
to read. This site offers that same opportunities for young readers. Bookopolis ties in
very well with the Common Core Standards, AASL Standards and Information Fluency
Curriculum. Bookopolis is a fun way for students to learn curriculum through the use of
technology. I am currently using Bookopolis with both my 5 th and 6th graders. At this
point in the school year, we have only set up our book shelves and created avatars. I
am looking forward to where this will lead us. The students are definitely more
interested and it is more exciting and meaningful than plain old book logs. I am
working with classroom teachers to determine if this is something they would like to do
along side of me in the library.