As my daughter and I were listening to The Education of Nicholas Benedict by Trenton Lee Stewart while we
were driving home from school the other day, I thought about how much she has
benefitted from listening to audiobooks through her emergent literacy years
and the role that audiobooks can play in a literacy-rich classroom.
Although my daughter has always loved books, learning to
read did not come easily to her. She spent her kindergarten year learning to
write and identify each letter along with sound-letter correspondences, and she
spent the bulk of her first grade year laboriously sounding out words and
gradually developing her sight word vocabulary. So, how did she maintain her
love for literature through this difficult decoding phase? One way was certainly through audiobooks.
Because of audiobooks, my daughter could enjoy literature
that she had no chance of being able to read at age 5 or 6. Not only did this
keep her love for literature alive, it also enhanced her listening skills, increased
her vocabulary, and made it possible for her to absorb and think about much
more complex and involved stories than she could read on her own. When her
decoding skills were advanced enough so that reading became easier and more enjoyable,
she had a more developed vocabulary and greater comprehension skills due to the
time she spent listening to audiobooks.
In looking for some validation about my esteem for audiobooks, I found this title: Listening to Learn: Audiobooks Supporting Literacy by Sharon Grover and Lisette
Hannegan.
This book argues for the value of audiobooks, includes suggestions of audiobooks for different age groups, and discusses specific
ideas of how to use these books in class. The authors point out that audiobooks
can be used for listening by a whole class, by small groups or individually in classroom listening centers, or at home (especially in the car!). The authors
also emphasize that audiobooks can be especially useful for English language
learners and can act as a “scaffold that allows students to experience
literature above their actual reading level,” and therefore allow English
language learners to participate more fully in class discussions about
literature (p.12). Along these lines, audiobooks can also play a
role in differentiating instruction for learners of different abilities or strengths,
supporting students with reading difficulties and developing students’ listening
skills.
On a personal note, listening to these stories with my
daughter has made for some pretty interesting conversations. Since I am not
reading the books to her, we are equals in listening to the books, so we are both
free to make predictions, discuss a character’s motivation, or just share a
laugh.
So, if you are not yet a fan of audiobooks, I encourage you
and your students to give them a try.
