Administrators

Audiobooks are a proven resource for teaching reading, at all reading levels, which is why they've been used in classrooms for decades. Among many the benefits, listening builds critical vocabulary, comprehension, fluency and listening skills; in fact, adding a listening component to reading instruction has been shown to improve student achievement. Instructional methods such as The Daily 5 do just that, and the Common Core Standards spell out specific listening requirements by grade level. Tales2Go leverages your school's investment in 1:1 and BYOD technology to make the process of accessing and playing audio books easier and more economical.

Audiobooks are also an effective tool to reach and motivate struggling readers who are not reading at grade level.  The use of audiobooks is a creative and inexpensive way to help bridge the achievement gap for students with learning differences, those who are learning English as Second Language, and those who lack the background knowledge to succeed in many content areas.

Tales2Go provides teachers with learning resources, which include classroom activities for use with titles on Tales2Go. Media Specialists can purchase subscriptions for as many school devices as needed, simplifying the process of team teaching and collaboration. There's even opportunity to include Tales2Go within your school's book fair, and earn commissions on subscriptions sold to parents within the school community.

Students using Tales2Go may find that as they are building their vocabulary and developing fluency, they are becoming more motivated to read every time they listen.

Collaboration. Comprehension. Motivation. Get your school started today.

Rosenberg, Tina. "The Power of Talking to Your Baby." The New York Times, April 10, 2013. Web.

Available online at nytimes.com

New York Times Reporter, Tina Rosenberg writes about the importance of surrounding children with sophisticated, spoken vocabulary. A poor child is likely to hear millions fewer words at home than a child from a professional family. And the disparity matters. The article references research by Betty Hart and Todd R. Risley at the University of Kansas, suggesting a key to early learning is talking — specifically, a child’s exposure to language spoken by parents and caretakers from birth to age 3, the more the better.

Cooper, Brett. "Listen up - using audio books to help improve reading." The Literacy Lens, Volume 4 Issue 1. Web.

Available online at The Literacy Lens

Brett Cooper teaches fifth grade at Lewiston Elementary School in Columbia County, GA. The white paper demonstrates marked student improvement in reading scores as a result of introducing audio books to a classroom reading period each day.

Pondiscio, Robert. "Reading and Language Growth: What It Really Takes." Washington Post, March 14, 2012. Web.

Available online at WashingtonPost.com

A Washington Post guest blogger, Robert Pondiscio of the Core Knowledge Foundation writes about what teachers already understand- That "a child’s ability to take in information through reading typically doesn’t catch up to his or her ability to do so by listening until the 8th grade." The piece explores how oral language develops before written language, and how the study in which his students participated made a case for a learning and listening approach to literacy instruction to increase student achievement and build background knowledge.

Core Knowledge Foundation. "Listening & Learning Strand," The Core Knowledge Language Arts Program, K-2. 2012. Web.

Available online at Core Knowledge Foundation

The study that is described in the Washington Post piece by Pondiscio addresses how read-alouds expose student to rich, content-specific vocabulary.  The allows them to " experience written language without the burden of decoding, granting them access to content they might not be able to read and understand by themselves."  This overview also includes suggestions for instructors using read-aloud as an instructional strategy, activities for students to extend their learning, and an assessment chart.

Dahlgren, Dr. Mary E. "Oral Language and Vocabulary Development." Reading First National Conference (2008).

Downloadable PDF: www2.ed.gov/programs/readingfirst/2008conferences/language.pdf

A presentation given at the 2008 Reading First National Conference on the importance of oral language instruction.  Listening builds critical fluency, comprehension, vocabulary, and of course, listening skills.  Listening comprehension (i.e. a large vocabulary in terms of language ability and background knowledge) is key to reading comprehension and written composition.  In fact, the greater a student's vocabulary in the younger grades, the greater their reading comprehension in the later grades.  Sites various research including Gough and Tumner (1986), Tabors (2001) and Cunningham and Stanovich (1997).

Beers, Kylene. “Listen While You Read: Struggling Readers and Audiobooks.” School Library Journal 44.4 (1998): 30-35. Web.

Available online at: http://interactivereadalouds.pbworks.com/f/Listen+While+You+Read.pdf

Children who were struggling with reading share how audiobooks motivated them to read, and contributed to their classroom success.  Characteristics of classrooms that excel in integrating audiobooks into their instruction are described. 

Bomar, Linda. "iPods as Reading Tools." Principal 85.5 (2006): 52-53. Web.

Available online through NAESP: www.naesp.org/resources/2/Principal/2006/M-Jp52.pdf

This resource teacher explains how transitioning her listening center into an iPod-based media center with audiobooks encouraged struggling students to read more during independent reading time.  The practical aspects of teaching with digital media in the classroom and/or school library are discussed. 

Goldsmith, Francisca. "Earphone English." School Library Journal 48.5 (2002): 50-53. Web.

Available online through SLJ: www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA213882.html

The article describes how she created an audiobook collection that inspired English as Second Language (ESL) learners to take on material in English with more demanding vocabulary and syntax than what they were reading in print.  The author describes how she designed an exceptional program, using resources similar to those, which are readily available on Tales2Go. 

Wellner, Molly. "How an audiobook library program influences book interactions of three ESL kindergarteners." MA Capstone. Hamline U, 2010. Web.

Available online through Hamline University: www.hamline.edu/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=id&ItemID=2147491053

This author explores the influence an audiobook program had on the ability of preschools to re-tell a story, as well as their home-reading program’s progress, particularly among Kindergarteners who are learning English As A Second Language.