TeachersFirst's Audio Books with Text
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These educator-reviewed resources from TeachersFirst offer audio books with accompanying text so all students, including emerging readers and ESL/ELL learners, can experience literature and other reading selections in audio form as they reinforce and inspire literacy skills and enjoyment. Be sure to explore each site, as many include multiple types of activities, including the audio books and texts. The helpful reviews suggest ideas for ways to use the books in the classroom or outside of school to reinforce literacy skills, improve English skills, or study literature in new ways. See TeachersFirst's full collection of audio book resources and interactive audio book resources for other options.
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Unite for Literacy Library - Unite for Literacy
Grades
K to 8tag(s): audio books (28), independent reading (129), preK (288)
In the Classroom
This site is one you must bookmark if you work with young readers! Create a link to the site on classroom computers for students to explore and listen to books on their own. Unite for Literacy is perfect for use with ESL/ELL students for reading and hearing books in both English and their native language. Share a link to the site on your website or newsletter for use at home. World language teachers can use this site to have students listen to books in the language they are learning.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Mighty Book - Mighty Book
Grades
K to 3This site includes advertising.
tag(s): alphabet (86), independent reading (129), preK (288), sight words (36), songs (53)
In the Classroom
Use this site for learning as a whole group, learning centers, or individual laptops for reinforcement or enrichment. First, introduce Mighty Book on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Since there are extensive ads, you may want to bookmark or create shortcuts directly to the activity you want children to use and avoid having them get "lost" in the many links that take you off the site. Share the songs and discuss the lyrics and what they are teaching. Use this site in art class to introduce famous artists to even the youngest of learners. After listening to the jokes, have students make up their own jokes. Poems with activities offer a kinesthetic approach to poetry. Songs about colors and the days of the week catch your auditory learners. Share this link on your class website for students to explore (and enjoy) both in and out of the classroom.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Open Culture - Open Culture
Grades
4 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): audio books (28), independent reading (129)
In the Classroom
Students could download independent reading books onto their portable devices. This is perfect for a BYOD or 1:1 classroom. Remind students of this great collection before breaks and summer vacations! Provide this link on your class website. Begin a classroom review magazine. Have students create mindmaps about characters or the plot. Challenge students to write summaries and other types of responses to the books they read. Have the students use a tool like Zoho Show (similar to Powerpoint, but easier and free) - reviewed here. ESL and special education students may find it useful to listen to books they are reading in class, if those titles are available.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Listen and Read: Reading Activities for Early Learners - Scholastic
Grades
K to 3tag(s): audio books (28), guided reading (47), preK (288), vocabulary development (124)
In the Classroom
Use this site in early elementary grades to help students begin to read and interpret informational text (a key piece of Common Core). Because of its multiple levels, you can easily use this site to differentiate. Share the stories on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Assign each student a different community worker to learn about. Have the students learn three new facts about their community worker to share with the class during a social studies lesson on communities. Have your ESL/ELL or learning support students write their own comprehension questions and answers based on the information to check their own comprehension and to exchange with their classmates.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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We Do Listen Foundation - We Do Listen Foundation
Grades
K to 3This site includes advertising.
tag(s): bullying (51), ebooks (43), preK (288), social skills (21)
In the Classroom
All primary classrooms should take advantage of this wonderful tool. Share the interactive books and songs on your projector and interactive whiteboard. Use the songs, stories, and lesson plans to teach about various character traits: honesty, anti-bullying, good sportsmanship, courage, and more. Use these stories during class meetings to discuss issues happening in your own classroom. Share a link to the site with parents as a resource for use at home. Shera the songs with your PE teacher to reinforce the concepts during movement activities.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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SMART Technology Sites - Arlys Peterson
Grades
K to 8tag(s): alphabet (86), audio books (28), grammar (212), human body (132), iwb (32), manipulatives (36), maps (298), money (185), order of operations (40), poetry (219), preK (288), probability (141), problem solving (294), resources (107), rounding (19), states (165)
In the Classroom
These lessons are great for the new SMART Board user or the seasoned pro. Stop and think before you start about how to use them in a student centered lesson, trying some of the lesson formats that help you avoid being "Vanna." View the lessons as is or use them to help you create your own lesson. Use the training videos to help your teaching peers and new SMART Board users learn how to use the SMART Board. Many of these tools could be used on any brand of Interactive Whiteboard.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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MeeGenius - David Park
Grades
K to 6Be aware: There are books for sale at this site. This review is for the "Free Books" only.
In the Classroom
Expand your classroom library with MeeGenius digital books. Make a shortcut to MeeGenius on classroom computers and use the site as a listening and reading center. Let students practice reading independently while simultaneously building fluency skills. If you teach a world language, have your class listen to a story and then translate it into the language they are learning. Ask your students to visit the site and create their own personal versions of these classic tales. Be sure to include this site on your class web page for students to access both in and outside of class for further practice and enjoyment.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Little Animation for Kids - Kids' Stories International
Grades
K to 2tag(s): audio books (28), conservation (128), earth day (105), environment (325), preK (288), recycling (60)
In the Classroom
Use the story section to model how to write a story. Have students create their own environmental stories and submit them to the website. Using an interactive whiteboard, have students play one of many games. Bookmark the site on your classroom computer, and use it as a center during language arts time. Be sure to click Guide for additional classroom activities.Comments
Magic Town is no longer available, as of 5 May 2013 when I looked. There is a new App called My Story World for ipad.Donna, IN, Grades: 0 - 8
Note from the editor: we checked this site on May 6, 2013 and it appears to be working fine. Thank you for your comment and we will keep our eyes on this site to make sure all is working properly.
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Zoodles - Mark Williamson & Rich Humphrey
Grades
K to 3There is a parent play-along mode that helps guide learning experiences in a more personal way. Zoodles has been created to work on virtually any type of computer, including tablets and smart phones. Games are searchable by age (toddler to 8 yrs old), and subject. Many games will also have parent ratings with the educational and fun value of the activity. Creating an account is easy and requires simple user information including email and the child's age. This is used to populate age-appropriate games. There is a premium membership with more features.
This site includes advertising.
tag(s): addition (227), body systems (56), constitution (88), counting (113), grammar (212), numbers (197), operations (123), phonics (70), preK (288), subtraction (187)
In the Classroom
Create 2 or 3 (or more, as needed) classroom accounts with different age levels to provide diversity for students. Each account then be bookmarked on classroom computers for student use. Share this site through your classroom blog or newsletter as a resource for learning games at home. Use activities from the site on your interactive whiteboard or projector as a classroom activity. Provide this link to parents to use on rainy days or during the summer.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Cookie - Cookie.com
Grades
K to 3tag(s): alphabet (86), audio books (28), colors (80), geometric shapes (173), matching (24), numbers (197), preK (288), puzzles (203), songs (53), worksheets (63)
In the Classroom
These interactives make great center activities to support learning. Or if individual computers aren't available, use your interactive whiteboard or projector. Consider using the IWB as a student-run center for pairs to take turns. There are numerous activities to choose from and differentiate for your students' needs. This is definitely one to save in your favorites (or bookmark). Be sure to share this link via your newsletter or list it on your class website, blog, or wiki. Use your TeachersFirst public page (part of free membership) to share with a single click!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Highlights Kids Story Player - Highlights Magazine
Grades
1 to 5tag(s): audio books (28), holidays (142), martin luther king (36), reading comprehension (124)
In the Classroom
Share the stories on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Build oral reading expression with these examples, as well. Following this model, have your students select a favorite story or poem. After they make original pictures and/or graphics to go with the stories, have them record themselves reading the story page by page. Have students create an online book using a tool such as Bookemon reviewed here. Another options, have groups create videos and share them on a site such as TeacherTube reviewed here. Share the Bookemon books or videos on your class website. (Be sure to get parent permission.) Share the Highlights site on your class webpage for families to read together.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Reep World - Arlilngton Education and Employment Program
Grades
1 to 5This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
To help your weaker readers and ESL/ELL students, share the vocabulary words prior to reading, either on a handout or by projecting on an interactive whiteboard. Highlight the words in the text as you come to them. Use this site when teaching health issues to newly arrived ESL/ELL students and special education students. Use the personal stories, story cards, and photos on this site as models for projects your students may do about their family members.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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My Young Child - Early Parenting Foundation
Grades
K to 3tag(s): bullying (51), child development (26), literacy (106), parent conferences (23), parents (57)
In the Classroom
These short videos/audio books are perfect to share on your interactive whiteboard or projector during class meeting or lesson on honesty or other character values. Share this site on your classroom website or newsletters for students to access at home and to share reading tips with parents. Videos can be embedded on your website or blog for review. This is a winner to share at parent conferences in primary grades!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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ABCya - ABCYA.com, l.l.c,
Grades
K to 5This site includes advertising.
tag(s): alphabet (86), decimals (125), drawing (78), fractions (228), game based learning (139), geometric shapes (173), keyboarding (40), latitude (15), literacy (106), longitude (15), number sense (96), numbers (197), operations (123), preK (288)
In the Classroom
Share this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector, demonstration how to use the specific tool/activity. Create a learning center AT the whiteboard or on individual laptops and allow students to try it out on their own. List this as a student and parent resource on your classroom website. Use this site to informally assess skills to tell you which students to allow to do alternative work or go ahead. Allow your gifted students to explore new concepts while providing necessary reinforcement for those learners that need a technology-inspired method to help master learning goals. This is an excellent tool for differentiating. Provide as an anticipatory guide for new units.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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News English Lessons - Sean Banville
Grades
4 to 12This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
The articles are short and interesting, a perfect match for non-fiction reading comprehension. With so many different activities to choose from, it will be easy for the classroom teacher to differentiate. There is an mp3 audio version of each article so students can listen as they read. Assign small groups of students to present the news each week, using the interactive whiteboard to show others the country and city from which the article originated. Make the newscasting experience even more real by having students read scripts of these news stories or their own original stories using a Easyprompter, reviewed here. Students can then go to another news source such as 4 News Wall, reviewed here, to see what else is happening in the news. For a project, have the small groups create a "talking map" using a site such as Zeemaps, reviewed here. This site allows students to create audio recordings AND choose a location (where their article/story took place). What a fabulous way to share the article with the rest of the class!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Little Lilly Polka Dot - Wendy Grimm
Grades
K to 1In the Classroom
Share the book on your interactive whiteboard or projector during a health unit for students to learn that going to the doctor isn't scary. Create links to the alphabet and number activities on classroom computers for students to practice. Write (and decorate) your own Lilly Polka Dot stories. Provide this link on your class website for students (and parents) to easily access at home.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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22Frames.com - 22frames.com
Grades
5 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): hearing impaired (6), news (262)
In the Classroom
If filtering blocks your at-school access, use a tool such as KeepVid reviewed here to convert online videos such as the ones you find on YouTube into a portable format you can play at school. World language students will enjoy hearing the news in other languages, but also seeing the English translations. If you have students in your classroom who are reading below grade level, have them watch the video twice: once to listen to the words, and the second time to read along with the dialog. Have students view these sample videos and then work in cooperative learning groups to create their own videos on topics they are currently learning in science, current events, or nearly any other subject area. Share the videos using a site such as TeacherTube reviewed here. High school social studies classes can compare news coverage from different countries/cultures about the same event to analyze the "spin" or bias.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Audio Stories - Beenleigh State School
Grades
K to 5tag(s): listening (87)
In the Classroom
Share these audio stories on your interactive whiteboard or projector(with speakers!). Allow students to explore this site during reading centers. (Don't forget the headsets.) Offer this link on your class website for students to visit at home. Use this site to share stories from around the world as listening activities or as tie-ins to geography study.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Just Free Books - justfreebooks.info
Grades
2 to 12tag(s): literature (272)
In the Classroom
Offer this site to students who wish to use digital devices to read. Keep in mind that many of the selections are older, in the public domain due to the expiration of copyright. ESL and SPED students may benefit from being able to hear or see books in a different way. Use these texts as language to analyze or manipulate on your interactive whiteboard to teach reading comprehension skills, parts of speech, transition words, vocabulary study, and writing style. Allow students to copy/paste text into the whiteboard software so they can "work with words" from literary works instead of worksheets.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Interactive Folio-Romeo and Juliet - Daniel Fischlin-Canadian Adaptations of Shakespeare Project
Grades
9 to 12tag(s): elizabethan (16), romeo and juliet (6), shakespeare (110)
In the Classroom
Students could work independently or in pairs on a set of class computers while having everything right at their fingertips for reading, visualizing, and fully understanding the dialogue, stage directions, plot, and setting of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Provide a direct link to the Interactive Folio on your class web page or wiki for students to complete independent reading assignments. Project this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector for a whole class look at specific lines; everything is organized and easily navigated and retrieved by act, scene, or page number. After students' initial reading, use the Resource section, as a study guide and teaching tool. Create a class wiki for students to use to discuss various acts or scenes. To learn more about wikis, check out the TeachersFirst's Wiki Walk-Through.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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