Posted by Jamie Watson
Throughout the day,I’ll be posting highlights live from the YALSA Preconference entitled Reading with your Ears. Comment if you have any questions, or send me an email at watson@hcplonline.info.
Curriculum Connections
Presented by Sharon Grover, Hedberg Public Library, Janesville, WI and Mary Stump, Arlington County, VA Public Schools.
Why Listen?
Most important point: Listening is not cheating!
A good way to enhance literacy is NOT to try to read along : the narrator can read faster than you can keep up. Rather listen first and then read, or read first and then listen.
Listening can add to the reading experience just like a movie version does.
Preponderence of mp3 players is giving an extra motivation to try listening.
What’s the best reason to listen to audiobooks? It’s fun! The quality of narration is superior and often provided by well-known actors. It’s also a wonderful family activity. It’s a great way to give parents the opportunity to share books with their teens. You can stop the book manually and talk about the story.
How to Listen?
Is the book appropriate for audio presentation? Is the book or story one that lends itself to being read aloud?
And yes, correct pronunciation of all text is REQUIRED for a good audiobook!
An audio edition may make the material more accessible to a wider audience.
Several audiobooks were shared, complete with clips, and then linked to specifics from a variety of statewide curriculum standards. In many cases, the audio demonstrates the selected standard in an even stronger manner than the print version does.
