Listen Up! The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri

Listen Up! The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri. Using Audio Books for English Teaching for advanced Learners with free audiobook.

Listen Up! The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri

Listen Up! The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri

Why Use Audio Books?

Exposure to patterns, intonation, expressions, different accents & dialects, and pronunciation of a language
Provides example of fluent reading
Dramatized audio books can increase students interest in the text
Allows “readers” to enjoy a book at their interest level, even if it is above their reading level
Students can work at the same pace
With text & audio: a multisensory approach to reading
Supports auditory learners
Helps with literacy development
Improves comprehension of text

Ways to Use Audio Books inthe Classroom and Beyond

Whole Class
Reading Centers (In Groups)
Classroom Management
Independently

Listen Up! The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri

Classroom Management

Rewards
Warm-ups, closings, transitions
During “boring” tasks
Ex: clean-up

Independently

Commuting/Traveling to
and from school
While doing daily chores
An incentive program

Reading & Listening Skills

Vocaulary Building
Listening/Reading Comprehension
Listening/Reading for Details
Summarizing & Sequencing
Prediction
Analysis

Vocabulary Building

Listening for Vocabulary
High frequency words (articles, forms of “to be”, question words, etc.)
New vocabulary (places in a town, emotions, etc.)
Highlighting a specific grammar point (example: present perfect verbs, going to)
Activities
Raise hand
Stand up
Tally
Categorizing

Activity 1: Listening for Vocabulary

Assign each student (or groups of students depending on class size) one word that they will hear.
Have students stand up (raise their hand or tally) each time they hear their assigned word. If the word is an action word, they can stand upand do the action.

Example

Activity 2: Categorizing

Example:

In chapter 1 of The Autobiography of Mark Twain, students will hear Mark Twain describe his hometown. Have students make a list of the places they hear. Next, have students listen again and make a list of all of the descriptions of the places they hear.

What are some words or phrases that your students might not understand?
What are some concept checking questions you might ask?
Was there a palace in the town?
Do you think Mark Twain’s house was big or small? How do you know?
The streets were “a couple of hundred yards”? What unit of measurement (used in our country) is similar to yards (used in America)?

Activity 3: Sequencing & Summarizing

Have students listen to a segment of a story (preferably with a lot of action) 2-3 times and quickly write down what happens in the story. Next, have students rewrite what happens in complete sentences.

In pairs, have students compare their stories. In pairs, have students select 4-6 of the most important parts write their sentences on strips of paper.

Have each pair mix their sequence and trade with another group. Each group should try to sequence the other group’s cards.

Activity 4: Character Comparison

Example:

In chapter 1 of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, students will hear Aunt Polly and Tom interact. Have students describe each character based on their interactions.

Activity 5: Predicting

Example:

In the beginning of The Gift of the Magi (0:24-0:55), students will listen to the very beginning. Then they will make a prediction (or creative story) of what they think will happen.

Have students listen to a piece of the story 2-3 times.
Put students in pairs or groups and have students create a scenario to finish the story
Have students perform act 2 of the story or have students write part 2 of the story
Other Activities:
Chain story
Writing a prequel