In my lesson plan this week, I incorporated the use of tape players/CD players with headphones and paired them with books on tape/CD. I also used the three available computers I had in my room and combined it with online stories to create part of my Reading Centers. Because I feel that you can reach more students using small groups rather than whole group, I use a lot of centers or stations during reading time. Well, in one of my stations, called the "Listening Center", I have books on tape, Cd's on tape, and online stories available. Right now in my classroom, I only have 5 handheld tape players and 3 computers. That lets me only have at the most 8 kids in a reading group at a time. That is usually not a problem. The problem I have is when it comes time to either share the headphones or the tape players breaking because too many students are passing them incorrectly. Ideally, if I could, I would love to have a class set of either tape players with headphones, CD player with headphones, or if I am really wishing, iPODS with headphones! :)
After doing some research, I found that a classroom set (around 25) of tape players with headphones would run me about $250 ($10 apiece). CD Players with headphones would cost me around $875 ($35 a piece), and iPODS would cost around $2,500 ($100 apiece). Without a grant from PTA or school board, the only one I could afford on a teacher's salary would be the tape players. However, I would like to have a mixture because I can get Cd's and tapes for free at the local library! This would also solve the guessing game of "Who broke it?" I could assign each kid his or her own discman or tape player and they would be responsible for it. Also, with each student having his or her own headphone, it could help with the lice problem that hits elementary classrooms each year!
Books on tape/CD are great to have in the classroom, because it gives readers of all ages a chance to read a book they might not normally get to read. My high readers have a chance to read a chapter book that they might not yet be ready for, but still have that desire. It also gives my lower readers a chance to have their sight words repeated and read over and over again! I also found that because they don't have to feel the pressure of knowing all the words, their attention span will last longer. Now I just have to find a way to raise that money..... any suggestions??
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Ashley, I did my audio review on the same subject. I really think I want to get portable tape recorders for my classroom this fall. You said the students could listen to their sight words over and over. Obviously, you recorded these. Did it keep them engaged better than just reading them off the page? Aslo, did you ever try letting them record themselves reading? That's what I want to try this fall and I'd love to hear from a teacher who already does this.
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