E-Book Summary

Stephanie Marotto

Kansas University
 Abstract
This paper will provide an overview of the e-book, "Where are We in the World". It will

give readers an understanding of the books content and the related Common Core

Standards to write the book. Finally, this paper will discuss certain components of the

book and why they were specifically chosen.

 E-Book Summary

"Where are We in the World" is a fun, interactive e-book for students to have a

better understanding of where they live. Too often schools forget about how important

geography is and it tends to be omitted. The purpose of "Where are We in the World?"

is to bring geography content to a book that strengthens students word recognition,

fluency, vocabulary and comprehension.

The reader population of the e-book, "Where are We in the World" is meant for

an audience of second and third graders. The specific groups of students this book will

be read with come from low-socio, economic homes. Therefore, they have not been

exposed to much outside of their home city or even within it. The topic of this book is

geography. The purpose of the book is for students to have a broad and focused

understanding of where they live. Too often, my students confuse the country, state and

city they live in. This book provides students a better understanding of where Colorado

Springs is in relation to the rest of the world.

Common Core Standards

Where are We in the World? addresses various Common Core Standards in

multiple areas. In the area of Key Ideas and Details, students will be able to identify the

main topic and make connections. From Craft and Structure, students will be able to

identify the main purpose of a text, including what the author wants to answer, explain

or describe. Finally, the foundational skills of fluency, phonics and word recognition are

addressed. In regards to phonics and word recognition, students will be able to know

and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words. With fluency,
students will read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.

Print Features

The various text features displayed throughout the text enhance various

concepts and skills offered for struggling readers. Though it is not common, there is

purposely no glossary at the end of the text. Instead, there is an interactive section on

vocabulary. Throughout the text, any sight word featured on Fry's third and fourth

hundred lists is bolded for easy identification. Vocabulary words that need further

explanation are underlined for readers to reference after completing the book. The last

text feature is each new concept heading is underlined for better organization. To help

the reader with understanding the various features, there is a brief explanation at the

start of the book (Dalton).

Word Recognition

Throughout "Where are We in the World?", words from Fry's third and fourth

hundred list are used. Each word is related to the theme of geograph. Providing these

words will build up students sight word recognition without having to decode.

The word phase these students are at is decoding new words and blending them

back together. One of the coaches will emphasize phonics on new words and look for

similarities throughout that page. For example, one page there is a few words that end

in y. The coach discusses the rule of what y says when it's at the end of the word. This

process will help students recognize other y-ending words and how to properly say

them. Another example of this decoding and new phonic process is with words ending in

e. Students will learn that if there is an e at the end of the word, the vowel says its
name and the e becomes silent. The coach providing the phonics rule allows students

to apply these skills when reading new words outside of this e-book.

Fluency

My students have difficulty with multi-syllabic words. When reading new multi-

syllabic words, my students tend to mumble the sounds because it becomes too

overwhelming. On each page, coaches have students clap out the longer words. The

clapping out new words is an interactive process to help students build fluency and read

new words (Ehri & McCormick). My ultimate goal with activities like "Clapping it Out", is

for students to read new words on various passages by breaking apart longer words

into syllables.

Vocabulary

Choosing what vocabulary words to feature in the e-book was difficult. The words

needed to emphasize the content of the text, but also be words second and third grade

students would frequently use. The selected words for "Where are We in the World"

were objects, revolves, surrounding, located and abbreviation, which identified by being

underlined.

At the end of the book, there is a vocabulary section. This vocabulary section

allows readers and teachers to open the vocabulary floodgates. Also, a coach is

available for each word to provide a kid-friendly meaning, examples with a picture and a

discussion question allowing students to provide their own examples (Brabham, Buskist,

Henderson, Paleologos & Baugh). This process will give the audience an in depth

understanding of the vocabulary words.

Comprehension

Throughout the text, there are stop and think questions for students and teachers

to use for discussion. Questions are asked by coaches on the page to provide the

accommodation for struggling readers. By providing constant questions during the

reading of "Where are We in the World?", will allow students to constantly think. These

questions give students opportunities to acquire knowledge, but also to apply it. At the

end of the book, there are 7 questions that use teacher language. The 7 questions

start off lower level and increase in difficulty. As the questions advance, the rigor of

thinking increases (Harvey & Goudvis). The last three questions can really provide for

excellent dialogue between students, which increases students relations and richness

in the content.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the e-book, Where are We in the World? is a comprehensive

book that focuses on reading development and geography. Since the book is

interactive, students should be able to guide themselves through the book with ease

and the coaches will see this through. The goal of this book is to have students learn

where they are in relation to others, while increasing reading fluency and

comprehension skills.
 References

Brabham, E., Buskist, C., Henderson, S. C., Paleologos, T., & Baugh, N. (2012).

Flooding vocabulary gaps to accelerate word learning. The Reading Teacher,

65(8), 523-533.

Dalton, B. (2014). DIY E-books: Designing enhanced E-texts. The Reading Teacher,

67(7), 543-546.

Ehri, L. C., & McCormick, S. (1998). Phases of word learning: Implications for
instruction with delayed and disabled readers. Reading & Writing Quarterly:
Overcoming Learning Difficulties, 14(2), 135-163.

Harvey, S., & Goudvis, A. (2013). Comprehension at the core. The Reading Teacher,
66(6), 432-439.