Is this a bad idea?

hcausey · Post by **hcausey** » January 24th, 2007, 10:14 am

I am a teacher with several high level 5th grade readers that I thought might enjoy taking on a real life project and of course learn about reading fluency, intonation etc... Has anyone done this with students? Could you make a reccomendation of a younger level reading that needs to be done? Or am I off my rocker?

Post by **hugh** » January 24th, 2007, 10:18 am

tried, yes... I am not sure of successful projects yet! anyone know?

DSayers · Post by **DSayers** » January 24th, 2007, 10:31 am

This is a wonderful idea, and one that is well researched. Usually it's called "modeled reading" in the research literature. I recently gave a presentation on using LibriVox public-domain audiobooks to improve reading fluency and comprehension at an international conference in Hawaii. If you would like the PowerPoint file, PM me with your email.

Personally, I know of an ESL teacher who is using LibriVox to work with a Korean international student here on my campus to improve her vocabulary and fluency in English, her second language.

-denny (DSayers)

Ponyfeathers · Post by **Ponyfeathers** » January 24th, 2007, 11:10 am

I think it would be a really fun project, and since Libravox welcomes multiple versions of any reading, I wouldn't worry about picking something that "needs" to be done. You should just select something that is age-appropriate. Maybe Black Beauty? I am not real up on what a ten year old can read, so my suggestions might not be the best.

Cori · Post by **Cori** » January 24th, 2007, 11:22 am

10 year olds might well have some sugestions of their own -- I don't know if it's appropriate or possible, but I reckon an interesting discussion could be had around looking for favourite books that are "old enough" and perhaps Public Doman and Copyright considerations.

I don't know how much stamina they'll have for recording ... so perhaps some shorter poems (or our Weekly Poem, as a group project..?) I did just stumble across Nathaniel Hawthorne's Tanglewood Tales -- extremely inoffensive retellings of Greek Myths. The 'prequel' is The Wonder Book which seems to be bittier and might be easier to record. But there are *lots* of classics out there too ...

kri · Post by **kri** » January 24th, 2007, 11:37 am

hcausey wrote: I am a teacher with several high level 5th grade readers that I thought might enjoy taking on a real life project and of course learn about reading fluency, intonation etc... Has anyone done this with students? Could you make a reccomendation of a younger level reading that needs to be done? Or am I off my rocker?

Go for it! You never know until you try, and from what I've learned great teachers are the ones that take risks. Some of the best teachers I've had or watched were risk takers, and have had their fair share of successes and failures.

As far as I know this hasn't been done yet, but some talk has been done about it. I started a wiki page for information (woefully bare though) for when people do come up with ideas or use LV in the classroom.

Teachers and LibriVox

I am definitely for creating real world experiences for children, and students I think have a tendency to care more about their work when they know it's not just going to sit on their teacher's desk. I've read a bit about this and using wikis/blogs/etc in the classroom, but I'm sure it would be a success with audio recordings too!