There are lots of ways that you can use audiobooks in the classroom. With no need for wifi connectivity or a log in, Voxblock players can be a great resource for teachers and students. Here are some of our favourite ways for Voxblocks to be used in schools:
1. Listening corner
Set up a cosy corner with bean bags, a pile of pillows on a rug, an old sofa, perhaps with some soft toys as reading buddies; anything you can do to make it cosy will help get your first listeners over to your audiobook listening corner! The simplicity of Voxblock players and the fact they do not need any adults to log in or set up allow children from as young as 3 years old to use them independently.
2. Relaxation
Connect the audiobook player to the class whiteboard via an AUX cable and have a chapter of a book to help calm students down after breaktime, why not listen at the same time as having class milk or snacks to build a daily class routine.
3. An incentive
Instead of using wall charts with stars or points, children could earn turns to choose a story for the class to listen to. If your class has a ‘class hero’ they could choose the story for the week.
4. Read along
Have printed copies of the audiobook available and students can read along at the same time. When students hear new words, they can connect that word's pronunciation to the written word and meaning, increasing their ability to read that word later.
5. Vocabulary notebook
A higher-level of vocabulary is gained through listening to audiobooks; students could have a vocabulary notebook on hand, and they can pick out their favourite words as they listen to the story. These words then become part of a student's knowledge base.
6. Time to draw
Students could draw scenes from the story or create word clouds to illustrate ideas, characters and events from the audiobook.
7. Teaser time…
Start a new book by listening to the first few pages or first chapter to get the children hooked onto the story.
8. What happens next?
As a class listen to part of the story and then independently or in small groups, students decide on what happens next in the story. This could be done either as a written exercise or students could illustrate their ideas.
9. Strictly Come Reading!
Have students evaluate different narrators based on their expression and emotion. Then challenge students to employ the same criteria as they read aloud themselves.
10. Create an audiobook
Using a class tablet, get students to narrate their favourite novels. They could each narrate their own stories or be split into groups to cover different characters and the main narrator.
We hope that gives you inspiration for using Voxblock in your classroom! Voxblock school packages start from £275 ex VAT and include audiobook players, protective bumpers, a selection of audiobooks of your own choice, charging station, aux cable and a resource folder. To find out more, click here.
Thank you to Canongate Primary School for sharing their audio Treasure Trove.
