Have you ever had one of those epiphanies where you realize you didn’t do something you thought you did? Yeah… you know… one of THOSE moments.

I am sad to say, I have…and in fact, I had one just this morning. I honestly thought I had created a blog post about a very cool product, and realized I hadn’t. *sigh* But, I’m going to rectify that situation right now…and trust me! You WANT to keep reading. These apps are unlike any other you’ve seen…and you have the opportunity to help them get even better (meaning expanding product not bettering product, because frankly it’s pretty darn good…but don’t take my word for it…look for yourself)!

Mobile Education Store has many apps, a few I’ve already reviewed here. However, they have ventured into the digital textbooks field and I have to say I am VERY impressed. When I say very I mean, after I played with it for a while I immediately went to my principal and showed her and we went to the superintendent and showed him…that sort of very impressed. 

The first (and currently only although I hope to change that soon  donated so I know I’ll get a couple more!) book that I have is the Pines to Vines book. This book looks like it’s everything we could possibly need to know about forests for an earth science class.

What’s very cool about these books, is that the same curriculum can be presented to ALL students regardless of reading level because of how the reading level can be customized. So…let’s say we’re in a 5th grade classroom, but some of the students have a 4th grade level, or a 2nd grade reading level (don’t shake your head you know it happens)… In times past, the student with the 2nd grade level would have to have an alternate curriculum, or some other accommodation. But, with the Crack the Books series, he is going to get the exact same curriculum as those reading at grade level – but in his reading level so he can comprehend it.

Just as importantly, the built-in tests (did I forget to mention those???) are ALSO able to be leveled so they are at his reading level but still have the same content as the others.

(can you tell how impressed I am?)

I’m going to throw up some screen shots here…and then get to the good stuff.

 as you can see, the colors are beautiful, the graphics are great, and the information looks interesting. The books are interactive – so there are areas in the picture that have a little + sign…when those areas are tapped, the picture “zooms” in and displays what else is there. The little red frogs are in the undergrowth of a particular forest (I didn’t know that…did you?).

The icing on the cake? The books are aligned to Common Core Standards!

Really…go check out the video.

Now to the other good stuff. Mobile Education Store has some great plans and needs your help!

Go here…look at the kickstarter page and see if there’s something you can do. The books are typically $40 (which is cheap by text book standards)…but for just a $25 donation, you can get one. It’s worth checking out.

So…let me know what you think. Have you heard of these books before? Would you find them useful for some of the kids on your caseload? Drop me a line, and let me know.

Until then…Adventure on!

Mary