Educators
Love of Reading
Story Cove is dedicated to making supplemental reading more engaging for young, emerging readers in Kindergarten through 2nd grade. This collection of folktales combined with online resources was designed to help kids discover the joy of reading as they improve their core reading skills and learn about other cultures. All of the stories have been carefully selected from the world’s great oral traditions and edited to make them more engaging for kids. Each leveled picture book is supported by online supplemental resources including: animations, audio read-along programs, read-to-me narratives, and differentiated lesson plans. If you haven’t explored a sample story, learning activities, and the lesson plans, please view the Sample Story: How Tiger Got His Stripes.
Learning Outcomes
Teachers, librarians, and parents use Story Cove supplemental reading resources to help children:
- Strengthen their core reading skills
- Learn to integrate background knowledge
- Increase vocabulary by using high frequency words in context
- Strengthen comprehension by actively exploring the text
- Enhance fluency readiness with exposure to multiple forms of a story
- Reinforce phonics techniques with the use of audio and highlighted text
Additional Benefits
We've also found that these supplemental resources help kids:
- Develop a greater affinity for reading
- Expand their world view
- Reinforce character traits and values
- Appreciate other cultural traditions from around the world
- Internalize decision-making as it is modeled by the characters
While Story Cove can be used to support a wide range of supplemental reading applications, the best reason to choose Story Cove is that kids simply love these stories. To see the full collection of our books and free educational resources, please go to: https://www.augusthouse.com/.
Common Core Standards
All of the stories and lesson plans have been correlated to match specific requirements defined by the Common Core Standards in Kindergarten through 2nd grade (and in some cases 3rd grade). The development team worked closely with educators to align the assignments and activities with specific strands.
Applied Research
Researchers have found that children who spend more time reading are more likely to become stronger readers, score higher on standardized tests, and become better all-around students. It also follows that children who enjoy experiencing a story in different ways are more likely to read for pleasure (one of the fundamental predictors of student achievement).
Folktales are frequently incorporated into standardized tests because of their value in assessing comprehension while also providing exposure to diverse cultures. Children who have experience with folktales often become more confident in working with increasingly complex texts.
We found that combining the picture books with different media formats and active lesson plans makes the stories more engaging. Using these different strategies also allows children to explore these stories at a deeper and more meaningful level. When kids make personal connections with a story, they tend to comprehend and recall more of the content. As a result, they become more confident with their ability to read, enjoy reading more, and spend more time reading. All of these factors contribute to helping kids become more proficient readers.
Field Tests
Our development team wanted to address the challenge of creating a supplemental reading offering that made the learning experience more enjoyable while helping young children improve their critical reading skills (Phonics, Fluency, Vocabulary, and Comprehension). So we followed an iterative process to validate and improve the effectiveness of the Story Cove supplemental resources. A series of pilot field tests were conducted that covered 9 states, 19 school districts, and 22 pilot schools, with over 400 students participating.
The results of these pilot field tests are highlighted below:
- 92% of teachers said they would recommend the Story Cove product line
- 91% of teachers reported that the students enjoyed the animations
- 89% of teachers reported that the students were able to easily apply the character traits
- 93% of teachers liked the lesson plans a lot and found them very useful
Sample Comments from Teachers
- “I think that these are wonderful materials.”
- “I would not add or change anything.”
- “They (students) were spellbound.”
- “Loved the animation. They wanted to watch it over and over.”
- “Some of my students found it easier to view the story and then read it because they had heard the words.”
- "There were so many things that would suit all children’s needs.”
- “Very detailed - I did not need anything else to use the materials."
- "I especially liked the illustrations and the fact that you can view these on the web.”
- “I love the diversity of cultures.”
- “Older students who are having trouble with reading can use these materials and not feel dumb.”
Summary
These field tests and other pilot programs we’ve conducted in classrooms and in afterschool programs indicate that students not only enjoyed using these stories, they also wanted to participate more actively in their learning. One of the strongest endorsements of the program’s effectiveness was that in every pilot test, both the teachers and the children wanted to continue using Story Cove after the formal measurement phase was complete. To see the full collection of our books and free educational resources, please go to: https://www.augusthouse.com/.
If you haven’t looked at a sample story and the lesson plans, please view the Sample Story: How Tiger Got His Stripes.
You can purchase the entire Story Cove book collection.
If you would like to learn more about using Story Cove in your classroom, please contact:
