Lisa West at Stephenville’s Hook Elementary School received a teacher grant from Stephenville Education Foundation for 4D Interactive Books. The grant was requested with the purpose that 570 students will have access through the library to 4D books that are a variety of content and reading level ranges. Most of the books were purchased in sets since students tend to enjoy reading books in a series, therefore giving them multiple opportunities to develop vocabulary and knowledge of concepts in the subjects areas of science, social studies, and math. Upon purchase of the books, students utilized the multiple learning styles embedded in the books to further their knowledge of the topic. Broadening the curriculum of a given topic provides students multiple levels and avenues to enhance the scope of their learning.

All of the 4D Interactive Books purchased have Accelerated Reader test connected to them. This allows teachers to actively monitor students’ progress. The usage of the 4D Interactive Books is recorded using the library management system which collects a variety of data, including frequency of use.

The objectives and goals were met for the 4D Interactive Books project. Students were informed through morning announcements when the books were first available in the library. Since most books were in series, that in itself drove the motivation for reading. Quickly students began sharing the books through word of mouth, so they became high demand books. The engagement of non-fiction reading increased in the Accelerated Reading program since the books were newly published, high interest, multi-leveled, and had the ability for students to expand their learning through multiple websites and videos.

4D Interactive Books will continue to grow in popularity. Lisa West shares, “currently, the publishers are branching out into augmented reality books for students in our campus age group. As more titles become available, we will continue to develop our collection of these multi-sensory books.” She comments that she would like to do this project again, asking teacher input for the selection of books and for greater funding to develop a larger selection of books for students.

4D Interactive books allow students to experience text in multiple ways. Students can experience content through reading and further expand it with videos, sound clips, maps, and additional forms of information. Lisa states, “As a Future Ready Library, we want to encourage our students to become self-directed using multiple intelligences as they construct knowledge of a specific topic using both digital and non-digital products.”

According to West, the third and fourth graders were very grateful for the grant assistance that Stephenville Education Foundation provided. It is the goal of the Stephenville Education Foundation to encourage all students to work to their highest potential through an innovative curriculum.

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