Making Your Own Audio Books

As teachers we know that the best way to help beginning readers learn to read fluently is for them to hear fluent reading. And as much as we'd love to sit and read with each of our kids each day, we often do not get the chance to read with them as much as we'd like. Additionally, struggling readers can become overwhelmed by independent reading thus finding other ways to fill their reading time (whether gazing around the room during reading time, or chatting with other kids). This year I decided to use QR codes to help this issue. Here's how.

Every few weeks we have a new class theme (usually based on the current science or social studies unit). During these units, I have a small pull-out library of themed books for kids to read. Currently, we are studying insects. I have chosen about five or six books from each themed pull-out library and recorded myself reading the books. I then attached a QR code to the inside of those books that connects to the audio file of me reading (which you can simply upload to YouTube). Readers can choose to listen to those books during reading time. This helps them hear fluent reading, as well as allows them to explore these themed texts and gain knowledge - even if they're the type of kid to get overwhelmed or intimidated by reading. I spent time explaining to my students that their eyes must be on the words as they listen to reading, as this is one of the best ways to help them become better readers. Who knows what this could become ... I've even thought of letting students record themselves reading some of my class library books and connecting their audio to a QR code that stays in the book. Why not allow other fluent readers to be the narrators of our class books? And it will be a huge help to me! Here are pics of my most recent library and QR codes.