Objective: Fluency

I recently started a project with a second grade class that involves using iPod Touch devices to improve reading fluency.  The teacher has six iPod Touch in the classroom for student use.  Our first obstacle was to find audiobooks appropriate for second grade students.  We did not have much success in this area, so I decided that we should create our own audiobooks.  Using a digital audio recorder and leveled books from the classroom reading program, I read the books aloud and created digital audio files that I then uploaded to iTunes in a playlist entitled "Audiobooks." I then synced the playlist to the six iPod Touch.  (I must admit that I don't care for the sound of my own voice, but after recording a few books, the teacher was very happy with the content, so I agreed to be the "reader.")

The students' use of the iPod Touch and audiobooks goes something like this...at the beginning of each week, students are assigned a book based on their reading level.  On Monday, students read the book to themselves, and then read it aloud using the Voice Memo utility to record their reading.  The teacher then listens to the recordings on the iTouch and completes a running record evaluation for each student.  On Tuesday students listen to the audiobook recorded in my voice on the iTouch while following along with the actual book in front of them.  Students can listen to the audiobook as many times as they would like.  On Wednesday and Thursday, students again use the Voice Memo utility on the iPod Touch to record and then listen to their own reading.  The final student recording is again evaluated by the teacher using a running record.  The goal is that the running record at the end of the week will show great improvement over the running record done at the beginning of the week.

We have found that the students are highly motivated and engaged in reading when they are using the iPod Touch, and thus far student fluency has improved.  In addition to the gains for students, this project has shown me that it is fairly simple to create my own content for the iPod Touch.