Audiobook Activities Encourage students to become better listeners and readers through audiobooks.

There are many benefits to incorporating audiobooks into the classroom, including the following: Audiobooks allow children and young adults to enjoy a book that's at their interest level, but that might be above their reading level (such as Charlotte's Web or The Incredible Journey). Audiobooks allow children who read slowly to still participate in class activities. For very young children and people learning English as a second language, audiobooks provide a way to learn the patterns of language and to learn expressions. Audiobooks provide good examples of fluent reading for children and young adults. Audiobooks can take the "read aloud" burden off the teacher and parent. For example, if you have a hard time getting through Where the Red Fern Grows without crying, let Richard Thomas read it aloud to the class!

Strategies for using audiobooks with children vary. Some teachers encourage their students to read the book along with the tape during the first reading in order to familiarize students with the story. During subsequent readings, students concentrate on the words. REFERENCES

Notable Children's Recordings (Association for Library Services to Children) Audiobooks Too Good to Miss (Capitol Choices) Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults (ALA's Young Adult Library Services Association) Audio of the Week (School Library Journal)

10 Activities for Listening and Reading Fun These activities have been developed by students of Universidad Del Atlntico for Colegio Distrital La Salle to use with their students of Grade 9. The activities are meant to be used in addition to listening with children daily routine. In implementing these activities, our main goal is to develop the improvement in the students for listening and reading skills. We will be the students supporter. It is a little bit important for the listener to get every word exactly right. It is more important for the child to learn to love listening and reading itself. If the listener finishes one audiobook and requests for another, we know we are succeeding.

Activity 1: Poesy in motion When students listen to a good poem, they learn to love its rhyme, rhythm, and the pictures it paints with a few well-chosen words. They grow as listeners by connecting feelings with the written word. What its needed: My Parents Sent Me to the Store By Kenn Nesbitt Worksheet # 10

What to do:

Listen to My Parents Sent Me to the Store poem. If there is a part that any student likes, suggest acting out a favorite line. Be sure to award such efforts with delighted enthusiasm. Suggest acting out a verse, a stanza, or the entire poem. Ask students to make a face the way the character in the poem is feeling. Remember that facial expressions bring emotion into the performer's voice. If there is any mistake, so ignore it.

Poems are often short with lots of white space on the page. This makes them manageable for new readers and helps to build their confidence. Activity 2: Story listen Talking about what you read is another way to help children develop language and thinking skills. You won't need to plan the talk, discuss every story, or expect an answer. What you'll need: A dog and his image The Book of Fables and Folk Stories (Yesterday's Classics) By Horace Scudder. Worksheet # 11

What to do:

Play and pause occasionally to think aloud about the story. We can say: "I wonder what's going to happen next!" Or point out: "Look where the dog is now." Answer our students questions, and if we think they don't understand something, we stop and ask them.

Activity 3: Listen to them It's important to listen to our students, but equally important they listen to us. What you'll need: Songs at our students learning level What to do:

Listen carefully to the song. Take turns. We read a part of the song and have our students read the next one or we read half of the song and they read the other half. If our students have trouble reading words after they listen to the song, we can help them in several ways:
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Guide the student to use what he or she knows about letter sounds. Supply the correct word.