(GREAT NECK, NEW YORK) October 1, 2015 – StarWalk Kids Media, a digital learning company that is setting new standards in the creation and delivery of quality EdTech software to Schools and Libraries, has premiered its exclusive bilingual eBook collection, designed to support English Language Learners in acquiring academic vocabulary in both English and Spanish. The new subscription offers 93 of the company’s most popular, narrated eBooks from leading authors—44 paired English/Spanish, 2 Bilingual titles and 3 Spanish-only. “Our customers have been asking for Spanish language versions of our award-winning eBooks to enable both English- and Spanish-speaking children to learn the same, Standards-aligned content together,” said Publisher Liz Nealon. “As of October 1, we’ve delivered a premier collection that meets this pressing need.”
“The timing of the release of this collection is exceptional,” said Dr. Linda M. Espinosa, a member of the StarWalk Kids Media Educational Advisory Board, and currently Co-PI for the Getting on Track for Early School Success: Effective Teaching in Preschool Classrooms project at the University of Chicago. Dr. Espinosa’s research and policy work has focused on young children from low-income families who are dual language learners. She was recently appointed to the National Academies Committee on Fostering School Success for English Language Learners. Espinosa added, “The need for materials to support dual language is great as we work to foster bilingualism and bi-literacy in young children.” According to Dr. Espinosa, English Language Learners should ideally read a selected book in Spanish first (so that s/he understands the content), and then will read the same book in English.
The translations feature the same illustrations and graphic design as the original eBooks, and are narrated by native language speakers. The collection is focused on grades K—3, and primarily covers high demand informational subjects such as science, engineering, biography, nonfiction poetry and historical fiction. It includes mentor texts from respected authors such as Pat Mora, David Adler, Kathleen Krull, Kathryn Lasky, Pamela Muñoz Ryan and Seymour Simon.
Nealon explained, "To help bilingual students locate these dual language books within the larger StarWalk Kids collection, the company has upgraded its platform with several new features, such as enabling a child (or teacher) to tick a box on their search dashboard to limit their search to bilingual books."
Students can quickly and easily find the English-language version of a book after they’ve read it in Spanish via a bilingual book information page that offers both languages simultaneously, with buttons that allow a student to “Read in English” or “Leer en español” with a single click.
Interested Schools and Libraries can add the collection to their existing StarWalk Kids eBook subscription, or simply subscribe to the Spanish Bilingual Collection on its own. Find more information and request a subscription quote by visiting the company's website.
ABOUT StarWalk Kids Media: StarWalk Kids Media is a digital learning company, setting new standards in the creation and delivery of quality EdTech software to Schools and Libraries in the U.S. and abroad. Our cloud-based, streaming platform delivers more than 500 exclusive, best-in-class, professionally narrated children’s eBooks, including a Bilingual Collection published and narrated in both English and Spanish. The company's proprietary StarWalk Writer™ tool, being developed with funding from the National Science Foundation, will empower teachers to deliver personalized instruction, engaging students of varying literacy levels in collaborative reading, research and writing…in real time. There is no other software currently available to deliver a single-platform, comprehensive, literacy learning environment for elementary and middle school children. The StarWalk Kids platform, which currently serves more than 2.4-million students, has been awarded the QED seal, signifying “Quality. Excellence. Design.” by the Digital Book Awards, as well as the Parents’ Choice® Award.
Website: www.StarWalkKids.com
Twitter: @StarWalkKids
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