At this time of the school year, so many of my first graders are beyond phonemic awareness and decoding strategies. They know how to figure out new words, and they're really reading! However, many of them are reading like robots, with very little expression or tone change, and they're often very choppy readers, pausing slightly between each word. One powerful way to improve their prosody and fluency is by having them record themselves reading and listen to their own voice.
You can then discuss how they sounded, compared to how you, the teacher, reads the same text.
There are many voice recording apps available. Some are free and basic, and others are many bells and whistles, but you have to pay for them. ;) I have loved using the free computer program, Audacity, but I wanted to create independence and include our iPads in building fluency, so... a little searching and I found this app.
It's my favorite price: FREE!
Speaking of free...
FREE APP ALERT: Speech Journal ($4, free today only!)
From: iTunes: Speech Journal, by Mobile Education Store, is a customizable voice recorder that lets you pair recorded messages with your own imported images and image sequences.Speech Journal can also function as a basic voice output augmentative communication device for children with limited verbal ability.
Another free voice recorder app I recently discovered is called QuickVoice.
Fotobabble is a fun free app as well! I highly recommend that one for all kinds of student use.
I'd love to add to this list. If you know of a good audio recorder, especially for first graders' independent use, please leave a comment to share with us! Thanks!
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