Nickita Gilmete

IRA Newsletter Project: Effective Literacy Website #1

 

StoryPlace

 

https://www.storyplace.org/about-storyplace

 

            StoryPlace was originally developed with support and contributions from Smart Start of Mecklenburg County. The 2015 redesign of StoryPlace was supported by grant funds from the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the federal Library Services and Technology Act as administered by the State Library of North Carolina, a division of the Department of Cultural Resources. For years children and their families have enjoyed attending story times, checking out materials and participating in a variety of other programs at the various Charlotte Mecklenburg Library locations. StoryPlace came about to provide children with the virtual experience of going to the Library and participating in the same types of activities the Library offers at its physical locations. First launched in 2000, StoryPlace has been newly redesigned to present favorite stories and activities in a format compatible with desktop and mobile devices. The site also now includes early literacy information for parents and caregivers. 

            StoryPlace provides free audio reading materials that are easy to read for kids and even sound effects goes along with the stories. The narrator reads the story and children can read along with the narrator. Children will have fun reading along with the narrator and they can also make the sound effects that are in the stories. In the stories in StoryPlace, when there is a dialogue in the stories, the sound of the characters changes.

            Activities are also provided in the websites. The activities consists of multiple choice pictures to choose from. When clicking on the multiple choice pictures, it will tell you what is in the picture. Children will learn the names of many things by clicking on the pictures. There are videos in the websites that will help children in learning action songs. The videos shows children how to sing and act out the song.

 

            The website is well designed and the stories in the website are well animated. StoryPlace is an effective literacy website because it provided many animated reading materials and activities. The theme of the website will catch the attention of preschoolers.