Week 14: New Adventures with Novel Effect

Demo of Using Novel Effect in your Classroom

Intro: Have you ever wanted to jump into the pages of your favorite book and bring the story to life? You can with Novel Effect! Novel Effect is an interactive library that adds sound effects and music when you read stories aloud. The app responds to your voice, and can help you be a great storyteller. Novel Effect is an AASL-award winning tool that's proven to increase student engagement and get kids excited about reading!

Cost: Novel Effect does not come cheap. Individual teacher plans are around $50 and school plans range from $500-$1,000 depending on how long you want to have it for. There is also a $1,200 community plan that gives unlimited access to all staff, students, and families so parents can use it with their children at home. 

Audience: Novel Effect is ideal for all ages, grades k-12. It is probably most applicable/relevant to the library curriculum for the younger grades, as that lends itself to more read-alouds and storytimes. Most of the books in the Soundscape library are picture, board, and early reader books so the ideal audience is ages pre-k to 5th grade.

Features: Novel Effect has thousands of books to choose from and almost every one has soundscapes and correlating activities. There's a great mix of fiction and nonfiction and the books come in all different genres and formats for varied ages. Novel Effect uses smart technology. When you record your voice reading a book aloud, Novel Effect will automatically generate corresponding music and sound effects that work with your voice. The interactive soundscapes utilize similar technology as video games to make an immersive experience. For example, as you enter new environments, the music and sounds change, and when a character jumps, you hear a corresponding sound. Actors also record character voices and make sure the music/noises/voices all fit the story's tone.

There are also a plethora of activities available if you buy Novel Effect premium. These activities are worksheets that will enhance the user's experience and help them attain new skills.

Accessibility: Novel Effect soundscapes can help students of all different learning styles and abilities. This tool helps make books a sensory experience. Where traditional storytimes might require a student to sit down and listen, Novel Effect is more interactive and allows room for creative freedom. 

Use in a School Library: Novel Effect can be used in a school library to help practice literary skills and to get students to be more confident readers. Reading books aloud will help them learn difficult words and move up within reading levels. The soundscapes can also help students detect tone. For example, in a sad book, why might the music sound different than a happy book? You could play students various sounds and ask them to describe the moods, and have them read pages from a book and create their own sounds. Students can swap roles with Novel Effect and create a similar effect all by themselves. 

Conclusion: If you're looking to increase literacy and make reading a more interactive experience, Novel Effect is a fantastic option! Ideal for elementary learners, it is a highly immersive platform that will help your students feel comfortable reading aloud and bringing stories to life!