4. Audiobooks are cheating; students should be taught to read
Noland agrees 110 percent that students should be taught to read. However, when struggling students use audiobooks correctly, it can dramatically increase their reading skills. Audiobooks do not replace explicit instruction in reading that scaffolds and models oral reading strategies. Audiobooks should be used to support struggling readers’ reading skill development as they reinforce the development of fluency, hearing, and vocabulary and build comprehensive and cognitive capacity. Human-read audiobooks should be used to support struggling readers when it comes to hearing what is going on in a particular book because it models oral reading skills.
About the Presenter
Terrie Noland’s greatest strengths lie in the ability to motivate, inspire, and create enthusiasm in others to be passionate educators that support the diverse needs of students. She serves as the vice president of educator initiatives for Learning Ally, where she works to develop engagement programs, professional learning services, and communities for educators. Her passions are working with educators to create dynamic classrooms and recognizing educators in their tremendous efforts. Noland has more than 25 years of experience as both a motivational leader and developer of content for educators and administrators. Her focus for the past six years has been on the pedagogical practices needed to create effective environments for struggling readers and students with dyslexia. She has the opportunity to lead and facilitate groups numbering in the thousands, helping to build a better understanding of working with struggling readers and students with dyslexia.
Join the Community
Empowering Struggling Readers is a free professional learning community on edWeb.net that provides educators, administrators, special educators, curriculum leaders, and librarians a place to collaborate on how to turn struggling readers into thriving students.
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