Listen to Reading

Listening activities are very important in a Balanced Literacy Program. They provide a fluent model for students to hear and learn from. When listening activities are made available, students can listen to examples of fluent readers and then understand what goes into being a fluent or prosodic reader. (i.e.; phrasing, intonation, expression, & rate)

All levels of learners can benefit from the practice of Listening to Reading. By developing good fluency, they will be able to recognize a vast majority of words instantly and effortlessly, thus leaving more cognitive capacity for comprehension. (Rasinski & Kuhn, 2007, P. 205) In addition, they may be exposed to a text they otherwise would not be able to read independently, thereby increasing exposure to higher level vocabulary.


Here are FREE resources that you can use for "Listen to Reading":

Barnes & Noble has an online storytime that is free. Click here.

The Screen Actors Guild has a free online video streaming program where famous actors read popular children's books. Click here.

Read to Me is a online youth reading program. Watch online streaming of videos of children's books read aloud by celebrities. Click here.

Robert Munsch is a great author who has recorded himself reading his wonderful children's books. Click here.

Mem Fox is an award winning author who has many read alouds available on her website. Click here.

Kizclub has a variety of books read aloud for beginning readers. Click here.

Starfall is a great site that isn't just for phonics practice. It also has read alongs for a variety of primary readers. Click here.

Don't forget the power of Youtube. Here is a blogger who has posted great read alouds she found on youtube. Click here.

You can also search for your own on the following sites:

Youtube.com

Teachertube.com

Schooltube.com




Here are resources for "Listen to Reading" that require a fee:

Scholastic's new online literacy resource. Click here.

Educational and fun animated children's books. Click here.




Raz-kids is a compilation of hundreds of interactive ebooks for students grades K-6. Click here.

Tumblebooks is an online collection of animated talking picture books. Click here.


Happy Reading!


Gambrell, L.(2007).Best Practices in Literacy Instruction: Third Edition. New York: Guilford Press.