Audiobooks

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Audiobooks

• HOW and WHY
• Teri Lesesne
• Sam Houston State University
• Department of Library Science
• tsl_at_consolidated.net

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WHY Listen?

• Because this is not the problem

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People are so desperate to raise test scores that
we could well end up with a nation of kids who
can pass tests but can neither read critically
nor enjoy the act of reading itself.

• P. David Pearson
• NEA Today, 2004

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Losing Readers

• High school literary canon
• Seventh grade slump
• Fourth grade
• BECAUSE

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So how can we get kids here?
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Evolution of Audiobooksin School Settings

• Ancillary materials akin to accompany filmstrips,
  mostly content area related
• Part of IEPs for learning disabilities
• Now, audio can help kids find time to read more

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The importance offinding time to read
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Why Listen?

• Listening comprehension precedes reading
  comprehension
• Dialects are made easier
• Can help start the movie in the head
• Serves as model for oral fluency

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Audio Books

• ESL/ELL students along with books in unabridged
  formats
• For reluctant readers paired or not but still
  unabridged
• For dyslexic or learning disabled readers paired
  with text

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Its all about results

• So What?

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Just the FactsReplicable Research

• Kids often lack verbal endurance because they
  do not read enough. Listening to audio helps
  develop verbal endurance.
• Vocabulary
• comprehension

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Kylene Beers

• Kids who were struggling at the beginning of the
  year were on level on tests by the end of the
  year
• Kids read more books if they were permitted the
  audiobook option
• SLJ, 1998

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Mitchell Levine

• 15 middle and high schools in Boston, San Diego,
  Florida
• 34 edge over control group in comprehension
  scores
• 65 fluency gain
• 77 more pages read
• Special ed gained almost 20 from pre to post
  assessments

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My research

• Started with ESL class
• Kids read more and more often
• Parents began reading as well
• Post assessments indicate comprehension was same
  as kids who did traditional reading
• State test scores verified observation

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survey

• Demographic data
• How long did the reading take?
• Did you follow along?
• Did you enjoy the book?
• Would you listen again?
• When did you listen?
• Do you know as much as someone who read the book
  without the audio?
• What was your favorite part of the book?

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Recommendations

• Start small and work with reading department
• Purchase required reading titles initially then
  others
• Shelve with the rest of the collection
• Play snips for kids when they enter the library
• Develop the collection for the staff as well

My hope is we can do away with this scenario
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