Free Resources from the Net for EVERY Learner

Today’s post is about another exceptional resource that meets a huge need.  This one’s a tremendously  valuable resource for ALL beginning readers.  Sam Sennnott let me know about this one several months ago, so this post is long overdue!

Tar Heel Reader offers a large (more than 1000) and growing collection of…

…free, easy-to-read, and accessible books on a wide range of topics. Each book can be speech enabled and accessed using multiple interfaces (i.e. switches, alternative keyboards, touch screens, and dedicated AAC devices). The books may be downloaded as slide shows in PowerPoint, Impress, or Flash format.

The image below shows the format of books in the Tar Heel Reader collection.

Books hosted by Tar Heel Reader are created with images from Flickr or from the author’s computer.  Added text is appropriate for beginning readers.  This is a community effort that leverages the power of the internet, with contributions from many authors.  I see great potential for teachers of more advanced readers to empower learners in their classrooms to become authors for Tar Heel Reader.  (Quality control, of course,  needs to be monitored.)

The collection is searchable, and it has been categorized in a helpful manner.  Tar Heel Reader makes it possible for teachers or parents to set up collections of “Favorites” with particular value and appeal for specific individuals.  The interface for searching and choosing books is shown below.