iPods and Fluency
~ Julie Santello

I am currently using iPods in my classroom. If you can get ahold of some of these through your IT dept., they can be used for fluency. You need to have the mic that attaches and you can then have kids use them to read into. I have them do a pre-reading and then assess themselves with a rubric. Then they practice and use them again to post assess. The last reading is then saved and burnt to cd. The final step (haven't started this yet, is to save them as an mp3 (through iTunes) and post online with a picture of the book so that kids in their classrooms can click on the book and hear it read to them. They are LOVING this!!!!

If you can't get ahold of iPods, this can be done with a program on the computer or laptop. It is called Audacity (free download, you also need to find lame lib for transferring the product to mp3. An IT person can help you with this if your district provides them.) and is rather easy to use. If you are running Apples, you have a built in mic on the computer. I think you need a plug in mic on a Windows based. These cost about $10.00 at Walmart. I suggest one even for the Mac for better sound quality.

Another thing I just started this week was in my nonfiction groups is to justify a fact they found in the book. They chose a fact that they want to prove is correct and then they go online or use the World book on the laptop to find the fact. One girl, on her own, made a t-chart and showed how they were the same and how they were different. She then stated that the fact was correct, but needed to have more information to explain it better. This was guided with my help(the tech/searching part), but they LOVED it as well! Research is another key part that they can be working on. We often put research in the Sc./SS range, but it is pure reading/writing. Can they be researching something as a task once they are trained? If they are reading a fiction book about, say, an adventure in space, could they, during worksho time support the facts found in the text in a similar style to the nonfiction piece (hum - new book club job!!!!!) This may not work for every story, but for some it will!!!

~ Get the Student Oral Reading rubric here ~ (.pdf)