One thing I have always been an advocate for is reading to the students. Most days I will set aside 10-15 minutes for this, if not more. With this ‘Listening Post’ so to speak, however, students have texts read to them aloud whenever they want.
Listening Post with my class has been the introduction of headphones and Ministry provided MP3’s on our web server for students to access. With this, I have gathered the selection of Ready to Read texts along with them, and have created boxes in my classes for these books to sit in.
Students choose the book, then look up the MP3 on the web server, and push play. Easy as that.
Listening to reading is supported by various readings around different literacy sites. ‘The power of reading and listening‘ by Warren Ediger says “Scientific research tells that most of our fluency – our ability to use a language – comes from what we read and hear.” In addition to this, ‘Learning through listening‘ states “Supported reading is reading with the support of recorded materials. Individuals read along with the novels or textbooks while they listen to the verbatim recording of the same material. When students are engaged in supported reading, they no longer have to labor over every word. Instead, they can read at a comfortable pace that allows them to acquire the information contained in the text.”, which I think sums up my feelings on the assistance that being able to listen to the text brings for these students.
What I have noticed is that all students engage with this more than they would with just a book on its own. It works regardless of ability, and struggling readers are not only reading with their eyes, but hearing the words decoded for them and the language is being learned on multiple levels.