There are a lot of excellent reasons to have students practice reading aloud. The first graders were learning to read with expression, so we had them practice by making Audio Books for the Kindergarten class. The fourth grade class wanted to make Audio Books for Wright To Read in Alexandria VA to help kids on our community become better readers. The amount of help a student needs to make an Audio Book depends on their age and the complexity of the book. Our first grade class focused on reading well and all the working creating the audio book was done by adults. Our fourth grade class created the books from start to finish on their own. NOTE: There are also a lot of benefits for the students who receive and listen to audio books. So this is a great project all around.
STEP 1
After selecting the book you want to use, you need to determine the best format for your audio book. Below you will find some examples of different formats.
After selecting the book you want to use, you need to determine the best format for your audio book. Below you will find some examples of different formats.
1. In this example, you see the book, the person's hand, and hear the narration. You don't see the person, always see the full page and the text might or might not be readable, and you don't follow each word along with the text.
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2. In this example you see the book, the person's hand is pointing at pictures and words, and hear the narration. You can easily adapt this, so the kids are pointing at each word as they read it. You could start with the full page and then zoom into just the text (but that is more work).
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3. In this example, the narrator is as important as the book. You see the person reading, snip-its of the book, and hear the narration. We could adapt it to start with the person introducing the cover and then switching to just the book.
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4. Here is an excerpt of a book I recorded. In this example the words are highlighted as the story is read. This was done using Explain Everything on the iPad.
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Audio Book with Highlighted Text (example 4)
If the students decide to use "example 4" format, remind them that their audience is using the book to learn to read. So they need to make sure the words are easy to see and that they need to read well. Here are the steps to make an Example 4 Audio Book with Highlighting.
STEP 2
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STEP 3
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STEP 4
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STEP 5
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Explain Everything Skills
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Reflections
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