Twice a year we e-mail out an informative newsletter about teaching with
audiobooks - there is no obligation to buy anything to receive this up-to-date and
friendly communication.
However, when you subscribe, you
will be eligible to receive a 15%
discount on your next order of any Audio Bookshelf productions featured
on our website. Whether you call, fax, mail or e-mail your order, just tell us you
are an online subscriber taking advantage of your 15% discount.
Here is our current newsletter:
Dear Educators!
Welcome to our sixth newsletter to help you teach the love of reading and listening!
Print it out and read it when you get a quiet moment...
One of the best birthdays my husband ever had was the wintery January day in the early
80's that we woke up to a blizzard and I spent much of the day reading The Secret
Garden to him. It was the least expensive gift I've ever given him and
the most remembered. Blackstone's The Secret Garden recording
read by award-winning narrator Wanda McCaddon is a treasure and one of my personal
favorites. It's available also through Audio Bookshelf.
There's a fifth sequel to Hatchet due any minute called Brian's
Hunt and available in unabridged audio in December. It will be in our new
catalog. Other new titles that will be featured in our 2004 catalog distribution
insert and never before available in audio: The Little House in the Big Woods
series - we'll have the first three books available. One CD we're particularly excited
to be featuring is The African-American Audio Experience highlighting
Langston Hughes, Nikki Giovanni, Loraine Hansberry, Richard Wright, ZN Hurston and
Gwendolyn Brooks. Important listening for high schoolers and adults.
A terrific idea to get kids reading was covered in VOYA in the October 2002 (yes 2002!)
issue - an ALL YOU CAN READ BUFFET!! The idea was conceived of and put together to
great success by Kara Falck of the Shaler North Hills Library in Glenshaw, PA. In
a six hour reading marathon, the person who could read the longest would win a $50.
gift certificate to a local mall and there were second and third place cash winners
as well. Everybody got a small prize, pizza and ice-cream sundaes. The reading marathon
was a hit with 59 kids and ran from 11:30 to 7:30. Kara says it was the most rewarding
and inspirational program she has ever coordinated - the kids said that next time
they hope it will run LONGER. Check it out with either Kara or read about it in the
10/02 VOYA.
In USA
TODAY - 12% of our 15 yr. old readers are "poor readers", making US students, as a
whole, just average in reading skills compared with other developed countries. Another
6% are even worse than "poor". No news to our newsletter subscribers. Some teachers
tell us that up to 50% of their kids are struggling with text. Audiobooks are a real
bridge to text for most of these kids. According to the article, family income plays
a bigger role in the literacy rate in the US than elsewhere. There is definitely
funding available for family literacy programs (see funding sources below) - and you
can use these funds to buy audiobooks for your school or public library to help families
read more together. Most 15yr. olds around the world say they don't read for enjoyment...
hmmm, I believe allowing them to take out audiobooks could change that attitude somewhat!
I get calls from
time to time asking about making copies of my productions for school use. It is illegal
to do so, no matter what the reason. All authors' materials are protected by copyright
and all recordings of those materials are protected in the same way. I own those
recordings. As well, you cannot make recordings of picture books, even if no commercial
recording is available, without written permission from the publisher or other rights
holder.
It's said that giving "rewards" for reading devalues the activity, "giving
the impression that reading cannot stand on its own as an enjoyable pursuit"
(SLJ, Betty Carter 10/96). This includes points in reading programs. What
is your experience/response as an educator?
In a recent Reader's Digest: "While teaching Shakespeare's As You Like
It to my freshman English class at the University of Kansas, I was reminded of
how much of our common language is shaped by our best writers.'I can't see why everyone
thinks Shakespeare is such a great writer,' commented one student. ' His plays are
full of cliches.'"
Right now, we're reading out loud Bill Bryson's Made in America - An Informal
History of the English Language in the United States at our house. A
highly entertaining read about the source of today's American English! And yes,
Shakespeare had a huge influence on the phrases we use today...
In the VOYA October 2003 issue just rec'd there's an uplifting article about the success
of using Paul Fleischman's Seedfolks and Bull Run for
student theatre. As well, there are terrific ideas for using Seedfolks to generate
some exciting classroom projects. Our Curriculum Connections for both titles
on our website at audiobookshelf.com will give you even more classroom projects. Teachers
tell me the audios for both of these titles really raise the interest level of students
because they HEAR the different accents and ages of the characters Fleischman so ably
writes about. Seedfolks is the perfect vehicle for motivating your students
to understand each other's differences and find common ground.
In SLJ's
new Curriculum Connections (Oct.03) there is an entire article about state and federal
grants for books and classroom materials. Much of this money would be available
for audiobooks if the right approach is used - disabled children (visually impaired),
family literacy (probably the biggest catchword and the easiest way to build your
audiobook collection), ESL, gender-equity programs and underserved student populations.
Check out The Foundation Center at fdncenter.org to keep up-to-date. From
Starbucks to the US Government, the money is there waiting for you to ask for it.
Get ahold of a copy of this new Curriculum Connections 10/03 issue and
put it to work!
SNEAK PREVIEW:
I'm excited to give you a sneak preview to our five new releases due in January
2004: As a newsletter subscriber I'm giving you a gift of 15% off any and
all of the following - please let us know when you call
or note it on your PO - thanks!
- BLACK LIKE ME
Author - John Howard Griffin
Reader - Ray Childs
Publisher - Audio Bookshelf
Unabridged
Length: 7 hours
ISBN - 0-9741711-0-7 - Cass Price: $39.95
ISBN - 0-9741711-1-5 - CD Price: $49.95
Release Date - January, 2004
Subject - Autobiography/Race Issues (Adult)
- THE FIFTH OF MARCH
Author - Ann Rinaldi
Reader - Melissa Hughes
Publisher - Audio Bookshelf
Unabridged
Length: 8 hours
ISBN - 1-883332-97-4 - Cass Price: $39.95
ISBN - 1-883332-98-2 - CD Price: $49.95
Release Date - January, 2004
Subject - Historical Fiction/Juvenile Ages 12 and up.
- THE THREE DOCUMENTS THAT MADE AMERICA
The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution of the USA and The Bill of Rights
Introduced by Sam Fink
Reader - Terry Bregy
Publisher - Audio Bookshelf
Unabridged
Length: 90 minutes
ISBN - 0-9741711-2-3 - CD only Price: $21.95
Release Date - January, 2004
Subject - American History.
- ASHLEY BRYAN'S BEAUTIFUL BLACKBIRD and Other Folktales
Author/Performer: Ashley Bryan
Publisher - Audio Bookshelf
Unabridged
Length: 80 minutes
ISBN - 1-883332-99-0 - CD only Price: $21.95
Release Date - January, 2004
Subject - Folktales/Juvenile
- PADDLE-TO-THE-SEA
Author - Holling Clancy Holling
Reader - Terry Bregy
Publisher - Audio Bookshelf
Unabridged
Length: 60 minutes
ISBN - 0-9741711-3-1 - Cass Price: $14.95
ISBN - 0-9741711-4-X - CD Price: $16.95
Release Date - January, 2004
Subject - Fiction/Geography/Juvenile.
That's all the news that's fit to print - I hope you have enjoyed and benefited from
this newsletter!
Keep listening!
DAVE DITTMANN
AUDIO BOOKSHELF
1-800-234-1713
401-842-0440 (FAX)
info@audiobookshelf.com
Audio Bookshelf
44 Ocean View Drive
Middletown, Rhode Island 02842
Awarding-winning unabridged audiobooks for listeners of all ages...!
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