Post date: Feb 22, 2014 9:7:17 PM
My experience with audiobooks has been positive. I have been listening to them for about 5 years on my iPhone or iPod. I like reading books and ebooks but audiobooks are a nice relaxing alternative. I also enjoy being able to listen to a book while cooking, driving, working out or just to block out noise.
Children enjoy listening to audiobooks too. Audiobooks are a great way to enrich their multi-sensory experience with books. And, they can be very motivating. Audiobooks for young readers usually have music and sound effects. When I was a classroom teacher, the reading book publisher provided books on tape and I had a listening center. It was a great resource for students who struggled with reading, had missed reading class or just wanted to listen for pleasure. Audiobooks can also benefit individual's with learning disabilities and physical restraints. Some of the benefits of audiobooks for all students is listed below:
Introduce students to books above their reading level
Model good interpretive reading
Teach critical listening
Highlight the humor in books
Introduce new genres that students might not otherwise consider
Introduce new vocabulary or difficult proper names or locales
Sidestep unfamiliar dialects or accents, Old English, and old-fashioned literary styles
Provide a read-aloud model
Provide a bridge to important topics of discussion for parents and children who can listen together while commuting to sporting events, music lessons, or on vacations
Recapture "the essence and the delights of hearing stories beautifully told by extraordinarily talented storytellers" (Baskin & Harris, 1995, p. 376)
Reference
“Heard any good books lately?” by Barbara H. Baskin and Karen Harris was originally published in the Journal of Reading (vol. 38, no. 5, Feb. 1995). Copyright © 1995 by the International Reading Association.