QUALITY TEXT FOR BLACK HISTORY MONTH: EBOOK COLLECTIONS FROM INFOHIO

February is Black History Month. Quality text from eBook collections provided by INFOhio supports knowledge building and vocabulary development while increasing awareness and understanding of the contributions of African Americans.

The text used for reading instruction is important. Quality text meets the needs of readers and the task, develops background knowledge and vocabulary, and stretches readers with complexity to prepare them for college and career. As readers learn through the systematic and explicit instruction of structured literacy, it is important that authentic, grade-level, and content-area specific text be used for the development of language comprehension. 

When choosing quality text, educators should consider the components of the graphic below.

INFOhio offers quality text to supplement the text found in curricula. These eBooks can help engage, empower, elevate, and extend readers. The vetted eBook collections provided by INFOhio for all students, educators, and families offer ease in finding the best grade-level or complex text for reader task and purpose. Browse the collections below to support Black History Month and find the text that is right for your students.  

BookFlix—Grades PreK-3

BookFlix offers unlimited use fiction and nonfiction paired titles. Popular fiction picture books are presented as Weston Woods films with the text on the screen. Nonfiction titles appear as traditional eBooks, but both give readers the option to turn the read-aloud function on or off. Many titles are also available in Spanish. Educators can use the Resources and Tools Feature to search for quality text for their students.

Use the filters to find titles to help students in grades PreK-3 learn more about African Americans in the history of our country. You can also narrow results to Lexile or grade level to find quality text for classroom instruction. 

Popular titles in BookFlix include:

• Martin’s Big Words, 410L
• Ruby Bridges, NC680L
• Rosa, 570L
• Show Way, AD720L
• Harriet Tubman, 360L

Learn more about using BookFlix in the classroom in the Teach With INFOhio Blog post Simple Strategies to Supplement Instruction with BookFlix. 

Capstone Interactive eBooks—Grades 3-5

The eBooks from Capstone Interactive are standards-aligned and support science and social studies. More than 800 unlimited-use titles offer quality text to support student comprehension. Educators can search by topic or use filters to find the right text for students. Capstone Connect makes it easy to search by standard to find eBooks that give students in grades 3-5 access to primary documents, biographies, and fictional retellings of African Americans, the Civil Rights Movement, or the Underground Railroad.

Titles to consider using as quality text in the classroom include:

• John Lewis, 820L
• Face of Freedom, 1040L
• Birmingham 1963, 980L
• Wilma Rudolph, GN560L
• Martin Luther King Wore Roller Skates, 660L

Learn more about using Capstone Interactive eBooks in the classroom by reading Simple Strategies to Supplement Instruction with Capstone Interactive eBooks. View a demonstration on how to use Capstone Connect in the Learn With INFOhio Webinar Through the Capstone Lens: Focus on Standards-Aligned Content.

World Book eBooks—Grades 6-8

For middle-grade students, the eBooks in the World Book collection gives readers information about how African Americans made history and changed the world. The collection’s unlimited use and quality text provide opportunities for readers to develop background knowledge on a topic and improve comprehension. 

This collection can easily be browsed using the horizontal topics menu above the eBooks. Choose titles from Biographies, History, and Sports and Recreation that provide information on important historical figures and events from America’s history. 

You can also search for these titles in the eBook collection

• Jackie Robinson: with Profiles of Satchel Paige and Branch Rickey, 1140L
• African American Civil Rights Movement, 1270L
• LeBron James, 960L
• Amar’e Stoudemire, 980L

EBSCO High School eBook Collection—Grades 9-12

More than 12,000 titles, including classic literary works, important historical documents, and general reference materials, can provide high school students with a variety of supplemental texts to support reading to prep for college and career readiness. Extend high school students with complex text about topics essential for understanding the history of African Americans in the United States. The EBSCO High School eBook Collection titles are unlimited use, perfect to implement for whole group reading.

It is easy to search by topic or title in the EBSCO interface. Authentic texts in a variety of genres will engage and empower teens. Unlike the other eBook collections featured, not all the texts have a Lexile level. However, educators can find the quantitative level to ensure the text is grade-level or higher for whole-class instruction. 

Consider using these texts from the collection if they meet your readers and their needs:

• Riot by Walter Dean Myers
• W.E.B. Dubois: A Life in American History by Charisse Burden-Stelly and Gerard Home
• Greatness in the Shadows: Larry Doby and the Integration of the America League by Douglas M. Branson
• The African American Experience by Sandy Donovan