Using AudioBoom to Improve Reading Fluency

With all that being said, we all agree that no reader is perfect, and no recording will be perfect! Our goal is to rerecord these books again in a few months and compare our recordings. I would bet these recordings will be even more fluent the second time around. We understand that practice makes for better fluency.

Educators, you might be wondering more about how we use the AudioBoom app in our classroom. Here is a brief tutorial on that. 

You will need the AudioBoom app. We use this app solely for recording our books. I have my kids choose a book from my Read Aloud bucket that they think they can read fluently. They read it out loud at least one time before recording it on the iPad. 

When I hand them the iPad, the screen looks like this. Students push record and read the title and author of the book. Then, they begin reading. The "record" button turns into "pause". You can give the option to students to pause after every page, or read the entire book at one time. Please note: the app limits recordings to 10 minutes. 

When students have finished recording, they bring me the iPad. I publish the recording and name it the title of the book by whoever read the book. This way, when you print the recording later, the QR code will say the title of the book and the name of the person who is reading it. After you publish it, go to "My Account" by clicking the hamburger icon (three lines in the top left corner). The recordings take about a minute before it becomes a post. Once you click "My Account", go to "My Posts". This is where the recordings will be. Find the post you want to share and click it. Your screen should now look like this:

Click the share button (the square with the arrow shooting out of it). This will give you several options to share this post. What works for me is making it into a QR code to tape right to the back of the books. To do this, click "Open in Safari". Teachers: the default setting on this app shows the location of the recording. Make sure you turn this off on each recording when you publish it. I found this setting by clicking "Edit" while I have it open in Safari. Then, scroll down to where it says "More" and "QR Code". Then, print the code and tape it to the book.

Here is what a book looks like in our room that has the QR code taped to it. As you can see, this book has already had two students record it. That's okay! These readers might read the book in different ways, and it is good for us to hear different readers read the book. 

The rest is super easy! During Daily 5, my students grab an iPad during Listen to Reading and the book they want to listen to. I keep the books we have recorded in a separate tub. Students use the QR Reader app and scan the code. Then, they follow along in the book and listen to their friends read! To say this daily is a favorite would be a gross understatement! My students love Listen to Reading! Can you say ENGAGED!?!

Parents, here are just some of the links to books your kids have recorded so far! Every student will record multiple books. We are just getting started!



Thanks for taking the time to read this whole post! If you have any questions or want to know more, let me know in the comments below or send me an email! Thanks!