Help me give my students a listening center to go along with our other small group literacy centers. Children take great pleasure in listening to stories, and there are some terrific books on tape!
My students are incredible! They love to listen to me read stories to them so I think a listening center would be wonderful to have! My students are creative, thoughtful and full of questions! They absolutely love hands-on, active, engaging activities.
They come to school each day ready to try new things and take brave chances in order to grow both personally and academically.
They are eager to learn and will hang onto every word said! Truly, they are my inspiration!
My Project
"A listening center is a designated spot in the classroom with a CD and multiple headphones, where students typically listen to recordings of books and follow along in hard copies" (Wright, 2010, page 167). Hearing a book read on tape can help children focus on the sounds of words read without interruption and provides a model of fluent reading. Many books on tape have interesting sound effects, music, and multiple narrators that are especially motivating and fun for young children.
"When children regularly listen to the sophisticated language of stories, poetry, and nonfiction language that they may not have access to in any other way, they slowly assimilate the tools for critical thought and effective cognition" (Mooney, 2013, page 90).
When children hear literature read aloud, they see how printed words can be closely connected with spoken words. In order for students to become successful readers, they need not only stronger vocabularies but they also need the ability to explore different genres and writing styles. By sharing a wide variety of genres and writing styles with children, teachers will prepare students with important experiences and knowledge for making sense of different texts when they encounter them on their own.
The benefits of listening centers:
Models fluent reading
Helps students decode unfamiliar words
Teaches critical listening
Introduces new vocabulary
Provides a read-aloud model
Introduces new genres that students might not otherwise consider
Introduces students to books above their reading level
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