Capstone Connect

Pump up the volume!

Everything on the myON platform is growing in volumes: students, schools, and books!

We are excited to announce another publisher to our platform. Adding to our existing publishing partners, Sylvan Dell, Saddleback and Bellwether, Orca adds additional titles from its picture book and high/low collection. The picture book collection will include critically-acclaimed titles: Pierre Le Poof! and Elliot's Fire Truck by Andrea Beck, Mechanimals by Chris Tougas, and Richard Was a Picker by Carolyn Beck. To view the complete press release, click here.

If you have ever been a "picker" or maybe have a nephewthat is a picker (because I do...don't despair he is only 3) you just have to read these titles!  Let's just hope that the volume of "pickers" don't increase!

Sharing myON stories

With the close of the 2012 International Reading Association coming to a close today we have a few great stories to share. Thanks to all of the loyal Capstone fans that visited our booth for the last two days. It was great to meet so many great teachers and educators from across the country! 

With a goal of reaching 1 million students by June is coming more of reality, we are excited to announce the large community wide reading program in Hillsborough County, winners of the New England Reading Grant and a great story from a parent with a struggling reader.

A unique collaboration between Hillsborough County Public Schools, Children’s Board of Hillsborough County,  United Way of Tampa Bay, Hillsborough County Public Library Cooperative, Tampa Bay Housing Authority, Hillsborough County Head Start, Early Learning Coalition of Hillsborough County, and Healthy Start Coalition of Hillsborough County will result in a community wide reading program to encourage all children to read. Learn more about the program here.

The New England Innovation in Reading Grant provides opportunities for schools to apply for grant funds to encourage their students to become confident readers. Capstone Digital would like to annouce the following schools as winners of the 2012 New England Innovation in Reading Grant:

1. Achievement First - Elm City Middle School
2. Achievement First - Bridgeport Elementary School
3. Achievement First - Amistad Elementary School
4. North Providence School District - Stephen Olney Elementary School
5. North Providence School District - Whelan Elementary School
6. North Providence School District - Centredale Elementary School
7. North Providence School District - Greystone Elementary School
8. North Providence School District - McGuire Elementary School
9. North Providence School District - Marieville Elementary School
10. Worcester Public Schools - Lincoln Street School

Congratulations to all schools!

Interested in hearing a tremendous testimonial to myON? A parent of a struggling reader shares her story on how her son is now a reader on myON and loving it!  For a quick glimpse of myON through the eyes of a parent, click here!



Fiction Friday: Teeth.

I have to go to the dentist today, and soon my three-year-old will go for the first time. That got me thinking about books I can share with him to get him ready. Here are a few we've published, perfect for first-time dental patients!

At the Dentist

Teeth

Taking Care of My Teeth

Max Goes to the Dentist

The Tricky Tooth

Going to the Dentist

Max and Zoe at the Dentist

 

 

How to Have a Better Summer? Read!

Happy Memorial Day blog readers! Today is a day to celebrate and remember the men and women who fought and died for our freedom. It also marks the unofficial beginning of summer! 

As children gear up for fun in the sun, let’s try to find ways to keep them reading too. Summer reading doesn’t have to be an endless rotation of books off an assigned list. Books can be a great way to supplement activities that kids are already excited about. Is your child signed up for summer
softball, soccer, or swimming lessons? Reading about these activities can be a great way to get kids geared up and ready to go! Is your family planning a camping trip? Or may you’re driving out to the Grand Canyon or Mount Rushmore. Learning about these places beforehand can get kids even more excited for the trip. And what kid wouldn’t love to spout relevant trivia to his parents while gazing at a national monument?

So here’s to summer barbecues, splashing at the pool, riding bikes on sunny days, and READING! What are some
of your tricks for getting your kids or students to read over the summer?

by Mandy Robbins, Editor

 

Capstone Digital announces $2 million matching grant program

Capstone Digital announces a $2 million matching grant program to help improve literacy rates  and reading growth in schools districts in the US. The CARE (Capstone Assists Remarkable Educators) program will provide an opportunity to have all K-12 public, private, charter and parochial schools to apply for funds that will help to fund myON reader. 

The Capstone Digital’s CARE matching grant program will allow school districts to apply to purchase myON reader to provide students, teachers, librarians, administrator’s access to the largest online digital library with reading supports and will help monitor, track and forecast reading growth by student, grade, building and district. A minimum purchase of $4250, Capstone Digital will provide $4250 which will provide a school building a one year subscription of myON reader with one session of Professional Development.  

For more information on the CARE grant visit our website! All applications must be received by May 31, 2011 by 12:00 pm CST. (We will only accept online applications!) Winners will be announced on June 3, 2011!

ON the last day of #IRAOrlando, we want to thank the teachers of Eagles Nest Elementary School from Orange County Public Schools in Orlando for attending the conference and demonstrating myON reader! Thank you Eddie, Beth, Maria & Abby!

  

Another BIG THANK YOU to Leo H. and Lars B. for helping us demonstrate myON reader at IRA! The attendees loved having students present what they like to read on myON and helping them pick out books that their students would like!  They were a huge  hit with the attendees and were "Tripe A Awesome"...code phrase of the boys of the booth!

CEC Update and IRA Preview

Prior to coming to CEC, I didn't have a clue of the scope of services that this organization provided to students. Well, I am here to tell you this is one very dedicated group of educators and companies providing resources to our children to help create new opportunities for them! We have met a great number of teachers and special education instructors that have shared great stories with us! The event ends tomorrow but we will look forward to attending next year and sharing great stories of our own on the impact of myON reader.

A GREAT BIG THANK YOU goes out to our very own TEAM DEMOS for helping out at the conference.

We may need to call it the Maryellen show - they were great! Can you tell they were not having any fun?

ARE YOU GOING TO IRA?

Visit Capstone Digital and Heinemenn Raintree Classroom at IRA May 9-11th at Booth #533 and register to win a full conference registration to the 2012 IRA Conference in Chicago. We will have student demos of myON reader, Michael Dahl signing books (yes you get a free book), teacher demonstrations and much more!  

Don't miss out on following Capstone Digital product reviews by following on our Facebook and Twitter accounts! We have lots of great PR - thanks C.Blohm & Associates!

 

 

The myON Momentum

 

Catch the myON momentum!

Join us in celebrating our first award for myON reader, the BESSIE in the Early Elementary Reading Website category!

We are even more excited about the information that we are receiving from schools. Information ranging from total time students are reading, the books that they are reading and of course some great reviews from students.  Here are some fun facts about myON reader!

• As of March 2011–students have read a total of 42,639:42:22 (which is 1,776 days or 4.8 years) worth of reading
• 309,707 books have been read on myON
• 450 schools are currently using myON reader
• 250,000 students have logged in to myON reader
• myON reader has  1178 books - just released 75 new books including William & Kate A Royal Romance
• eSchool News compared myON to NetFlix

One of the most important momentum "builders" are from the reviews students are posting. Please note teachers approved reviews and we kept the misspellings for some "character."

Advice About Family: Claudia Cristina Cortez Uncomplicated Your Life - I love this book im want to do a book almost like this

Animals with No Eyes: Cave Adaptation - It was a very cool book but it got kinda boring after the fifth page

Jimmy Sniffles vs the Mummy - HA! HA! HA! That was sooo funny!!!! 

Big Predators - I think alot of peopole should read this book so they can learn facts about big predators

To learn more about myON – follow us on Facebook, Twitter and our You Tube Channel and our website.

 

TEAMWORK

 

 

It goes without saying that being part of a successful team is an opportunity of a lifetime. Many people have become famous because of the teams that they coached with one of the most famous and top of mind is that of the late, great John Wooden whose famous quote, "It is amazing how much can be accomplished if no one cares who gets the credit.” personifies Capstone Digital.

Capstone Digital is part of a much larger team that includes a great group of internal partners like our Capstone Publishers: Compass Point, Stone Arch Books, Picture Window Books, Capstone Press, Heinmann-Raintree; and external partners including our customers (Library, Classroom, Trade and Digital), our PR partner, C. Blohm & Associates, our interactive white board partner, Polyvision and our assessment partner, MetaMetrics.

It just so happens that part of the Capstone Digital team just completed a great day of meetings with MetaMetrics to discuss our successful partnership, how to continue to build awareness of The Lexile® Framework for Reading among our customers,  and how myON reader is a valuable tool for administrators to use to help promote literacy in schools.

It goes without saying that without a great team in place including the entire Capstone organization (Including our corporate IT, product development, accounting, customer service, sales and support, and marketing communications teams), Capstone Digital would not have been awarded the 2011 Bessie Awards for myON reader and PebbleGo in the Early Elementary Reading and Science Website category respectively.

 
Congratulations Team Capstone!

 

Customer Service anyone?

Have you called customer service and received a recording that gives you a bunch of prompts to choose from before you actually hear a person’s voice…that is if you are lucky enough to get someone live?

With Capstone Digital’s Customer Service team you can be guaranteed a live voice 99.9% of the time. (They do attend corporate meetings after all!) They answer questions, process orders, provide support, answer more questions, process more orders, and provide support…and so on and so on. But what are the top 10 questions they receive?

1. Can I get a free trial? PebbleGo and Capstone Interactive Library have trials available through their websites. myON trials need to be requested through their sales representatives.

2. How much does a subscription cost? All products have standard pricing that is available either on the web, customer service or a sales representative. Factors that help provide an adequate pricing quote would include number of classrooms/libraries/buildings and the number of years of the subscription/license.

3. Can I change my username and/or password? Yes, through the administrator login and password.

4. Can I check our usage and if so, how? Depending on the product, standard reports are available through the administrative function. Customer Service can walk you through the process.

5. How many titles do you have on Capstone Interactive Library? Over 450 titles are available

6. If I purchase a Capstone Interactive Library subscription, will I get the new titles automatically as they are made available? Yes

7. How do I order PebbleGo/Capstone Interactive Library/myON? PebbleGo and Capstone Interactive Library can be purchase through a sales representative or via the website. myON can only be purchased through a sales representative.

8. Are there shipping charges for digital products? No there is no shipping charges.

9. When is the next version of PebbleGo available? We are coming out with a new PebbleGo database but you have to stay tuned to our blog for more information…but it will be announced soon!

10. How do I setup a new student or teacher within myON? Through a unique log in and password teachers add a new student through their own dashboard.

Hats off to the best Customer Service Team in the industry!

And just in case you forgot their number 1.888.728.1266!

 

 

 

The Future in Reading - starts today!

As Lynn has mentioned in several blog posts, Capstone Digital has been extremely busy these last few months. I’m Gail Lewis, Senior Product Manager at Capstone Digital, and I’m excited to finally get to share news with everyone about what our team has been hard at work on for the past year. Capstone Digital is launching our latest product – myON reader!

 

 

Well, that’s all the time I have toda…. Oh. You’d like to hear more? Well, let me start by saying that when we asked our customers to find out what you needed in your libraries and schools, you answered. And, we listened. myON reader is a growing collection of over 1,000 enhanced digital books available 24x7 anytime, anywhere over the Internet. More than a virtual library, myON reader personalizes reading for students and recommends books based on each student’s interest and reading level. Each book includes recorded audio, highlighting, and online dictionary support. 

And, with scientifically-based research from our development partner, MetaMetrics®, myON reader highlights student reading ability today, and predicts future reading performance so educators can intervene and assist low performing students. Even if you don’t use Lexiles® in your school, you can still check the reading comprehension and skills of your students. 

As a librarian, I’m most excited about the opportunity to use myON reader as a bridge between the media center and the classroom. Sure, there are lesson plans and other resources to help schools use myON reader effectively, but we’ve learnt from the over 400 schools that have already implemented myON that the program can help librarians collaborate with their classroom teachers. For example, one of the optional features of the program is the safe social networking, where students are prompted to write a review of the book they just read. This links the librarian to the teacher while discussing 21^st Century Skills, and prepares students for sharing (safely) over the Internet in the future. 

There is a lot to see in the program, and I encourage you to visit www.TheFutureinReading.com to learn more. myON reader helps solve the problem of reluctant and remedial readers by motivating students to read more, and providing the scaffolds that they may need to grow their reading abilities. And, being able to measure reading improvement shows the difference you can make in your students’ education. Expand your library to reach digital natives, and provide the very best resources anytime, anywhere. 

If you’re attending FETC (Booth #423), or if you’ll be at TCEA (Booth #1242, please drop by our new Capstone Digital booth and introduce yourself. I’d love to connect. And, the first visitor who tells me about this blog post will win a very cool prize! For those who can’t attend in person, you can win a prize too – just leave a comment on today’s post and I’ll draw a winner.