This needs to be emphasized once again due to how critical it is. Only 35% of students are competent readers by the end of grade 4, and reading test scores are at their lowest points in decades, according to the most recent NAEP Report Card.
As a result of the wide range of abilities among kids, it can be challenging to support literacy skills, which include speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Students have varied levels of reading readiness when they first start school, and they often spend the first few years of school learning to read. Studies have shown that pupils seldom catch up to their peers to become fluent readers if reading abilities are not acquired by the fourth grade, when education starts to focus on more sophisticated and higher-order thinking skills.
Support can make the difference between a child learning from reading and experiencing persistent scholastic failure as they get older and their learning transitions from learning to read to reading to learn. A comprehensive strategy that provides intensive care for the most at-risk pupils and specialized attention for those with moderate literacy requirements is essential if we want to help students become readers who also like to read.
The Learning Ally Audiobook Solution is made up of top-notch, human-read audiobooks and a collection of instructor materials to track and assist student development. It is intended to turn reluctant readers into enthusiastic learners. Our Audiobook Solution features a collection of more than 80,000 culturally relevant, curriculum-aligned audiobooks that includes both the works that students must read and the books they will want to read for enjoyment.
The Learning Ally Audiobook Solution helps students improve their vocabulary, fluency, and understanding while also boosting their confidence and involvement in class. Additionally, they display enhanced evaluation and high stakes test results.
Audiobooks have long been regarded as an alternative method of content access, especially for readers with physical and cognitive challenges, but they have the potential to support every reader in their journey through reading. There is a ton of academic research on the effectiveness of audiobooks in enhancing literacy skills.
For instance, one study found that reading aloud or listening to audiobooks can help youngsters learn new words and concepts, provide them with an effective role model to imitate, and offer them access to literature they are unable to read on their own. Additionally, many studies have shown how helpful audiobooks are in rekindling pupils’ interest in reading.
Additionally, reading aloud to oneself can be advantageous to readers of all ages in a variety of ways. The word gap that many beginning readers experience, especially those from low-income homes, can be lessened for younger children by hearing new vocabulary read aloud since it exposes them to more spoken advanced terminology.
For older pupils, researchers discovered that during the second grade, when students start to grasp decoding skills, the association between listening and reading comprehension intensifies. Studies on readers in middle and high school have shown that the impact of listening comprehension on reading comprehension variation only gets stronger over time. According to additional studies, audiobooks can help adolescent readers raise their motivation to engage with books, increase their reading fluency, increase their vocabulary, and build their understanding.
One urban district’s more than 800 students in grades three through eight participated in a recent study by the Zarlengo Foundation, and those who engaged with the Learning Ally Audiobook Solution faithfully outgrew their peers in terms of reading growth on the STAR Assessment of Reading by a factor of two. Students who received instructional support read texts using the solution for around four times per week for a total of 12 weeks, for a total of 30 minutes each time, and this resulted in fidelity of reading.
Expanding instructor capacity, fostering classroom unity, offering learning scaffolds, and empowering student success can all be accomplished with the use of audio technology.
The Learning Ally Audiobook Solution is more than just audiobooks; it is a resource for today’s classrooms that is supported by research. It has a variety of student-centric programs to ensure engagement and a suite of reporting and progress monitoring tools for teachers to help manage assignments, track student reading, and provide updates to parents and administrators.
Alexis Boutilier is from Vancouver, British Columbia. She has a high interest in all things tech and loves to stay engaged on all the latest appliances and accessories.
