Kily Carlson (right) and Aide Deborah McCormick are collaborating partners who teach a self-contained 7th & 8th grade program at the Canandaigua Middle School located in the Finger Lakes Region of New York State. The 12:1:1 class is designed to assist students who have learning difficulties due to hardships caused by Attention Deficit Disorder.

They say, "These students are very active, easily distracted and have a difficult time sustaining focus. We have found many strategies that enhance their learning and using audiobooks increases their ability to focus on reading."
 
"Have we had good results with audiobooks? YES! Here's what we've seen happen:

• Students have for the first time, developed positive attitudes towards reading and no longer feel threatened by the text. They become involved in the book and the author's meaning.
   
  
• Writing skills have improved drastically. The students now have the information they need to complete their assignments and no longer rebel against writing assignments.
   
  
• The books become a part of their lives - they share with others the excitement they feel over a book and repeat phrases as the narrator performed them, saying "You've got to get this book - it's so cool!"

IT WORKS!
Because students can listen at a higher level than they can read, audiobooks can enhance assigned texts and curricula. We use supplemental audiobooks available that feature historical documents, short stories, poetry and biography at or above grade level allowing the students a variety of ways to learn more about a given subject, event or person.
 
 
IT WORKS!
Creating a study guide: AUDIOBOOK: BUD, NOT BUDDY: While listening as a group, our students kept up a storyboard with notes on each chapter of the book. Study guides are created to introduce projects, questions, vocabulary, and discussion, etc. so they also drew pictures to represent facts and wrote down "sayings" of the era they didn't understand - like "on the lam".
 
Then they compared the novel to five articles studied in their Social Studies class on the Great Depression and chose three facts to compare Bud's struggle with, writing an essay about it. The unusual sayings were then compared to how a person might say the same thing today - (other examples "the real McCoy" and "public enemy#1"). As well, they were very taken with actor James Avery's narration, giving them a chance to hear Black dialect. They discussed in detail his tone of voice and how he presented the words in context.
  
  
IT WORKS!
Because audiobooks introduce new vocabulary and their pronunciation as well as use, our students gain confidence in dealing with unfamiliar words as they read.
 
 IT WORKS!
Many of our students benefit from repeated readings - audiobooks provide this easily. They can take audiobooks home to reintroduce themselves to the text as needed, or make up missed assignments. Of course, each time they listen, they retain more and more and become more confident with the material.
 
 IT WORKS!
Audiobooks allow our students much more control over their learning- they can stop and replay as they listen, or just listen and read until they lose focus and need to break for a while. They can better monitor and adjust the pace at which information or text is given by either stopping the audio to digest what they've just read, or replay to reiterate. Some slower-read audios work well too - allowing the student to choose which format works best for them. We often chunk the chapters, giving a student the time he/she needs to absorb what has been heard so far and talk about it with others before moving on.
 
 IT WORKS!
Our struggling readers tended to avoid reading outloud. Audiobooks have helped them overcome this fear and show them through modeling how to read with expression and more confidence.
 
 IT WORKS!
It's hard these days to find ways to improve listening skills, but audiobooks have had an impact in this area with our students. In turn, better listening skills help them interpret what they're reading more accurately and evaluate language better.
 

	WHAT DO OUR STUDENTS SAY?
	"Can we cut into our Social Studies time to read more?"
"We want to keep going - can we read the next chapter?"		"We want to know what's going to happen next!"
	"Can you re-wind so we can listen again to that part - it was so good!"

	Allow audiobooks to be checked out for home use - encourage parents to listen on their commutes and discuss the books with their child.
	Encourage the students to take audiobooks home and listen again to the story on their own time.

 
EDUCATORS:
If you make good use of audiobooks in your approach to education and feel you have some good tips and inspiration to pass on to others, would you like to be considered for our Educator of the Month feature?
 
If so, contact Heather Frederick, Publisher at Audio Bookshelf at 1-800-234-1713 or audiobooks@prexar.com
We want to honor you!