Audio Books for Struggling Readers

Celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month

This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.

I teach a wonderful group of third through sixth grade students with a wide range of disabilities. Most of my students cannot read books written at a Kindergarten level, yet their interests and understanding is closer to their actual age and their love for books and read aloud is undeniable! As part of our school-wide literacy block, every student is expected to read independently; however, my students reading abilities are similar to those of preschoolers, kindergarteners and first graders. Books written on their independent reading level are generally 4-5 pages long with 3-7 words on each page and are nothing close to literature. My students LOVE literature and are able to comprehend books that are much closer to their actual ages, yet they cannot read them independently. Current research supports the use of recorded books to improve reading comprehension and fluency. Furthermore, audio recordings paired with print books allow students to make the letter/word connections for decoding. In other words, audio books are a very valuable resource for struggling readers! Audio books or books on tape, will give my students the opportunity to "read" literature and non-fiction that is more age-appropriate and engaging as well as continue to expose them to more complex language structures, plot and information. In addition, my students would finally have the opportunity to interact with each other in literature circles and book clubs to discuss literature and engage in the higher level thinking they are capable of, yet their reading levels preclude. My students would be thrilled to walk in and find a new library of recorded books paired with print books to read along! I would be ecstatic to see them finally get excited to pick up a book and journey to far away places and make new discoveries. Audio books and their print counterparts purchased through your kind donations today will benefit students for many, many years! I am confident the audio books can and will benefit my students' reading skills and provide them with the opportunity to feel the excitement of a good book. The audio books will not take the place of independent reading, but will instead be another exciting option available for students as a wonderful motivator to increase their stamina and willingness for independent reading. Thank you for your kind consideration of this proposal and I look forward to sharing our exciting discoveries!