WA School Uses Grant to Buy Audiobooks for Struggling Readers
- By Dian Schaffhauser
- 02/13/20
A reading interventionist at
a Washington state school recently received a grant to acquire
audiobooks for her elementary students. Pasadena
Park Elementary School's
Learning Assistance Program Interventionist Erin Maier will use the
$10,500 grant from the Hagan
Foundation
to buy 120 audiobooks and devices from Playaway,
specifically to help struggling readers take part in class
discussions.
"With
the financing from the Hagan Foundation, we will be able to create a
section in the school library for media checkout of Playaway
Audiobooks,
by teachers and students for student use," the school announced
on its website. "This project will touch and impact all 360
students at Pasadena."
According
to local
reporting,
Maier initially worked with the local public library to set up usage
of Overdrive,
which provides downloadable audio books, for fifth graders. But
sometimes there's a waitlist for certain titles, and once the title
expires, it's not always renewable. As she began seeking
alternatives, that's when she discovered Playaway.
The
Playaway audiobook is preloaded on a small device that's simple to
operate and allows the student to listen at five different narration
speeds. It runs on AAA batteries that provide about 30 hours of
playtime, according to the company. To listen, the student plugs in
earbuds and presses the play button.
Both
the audiobooks and accompanying print books will be available for use
at the school, in the classroom and for checkout so that students can
take them home and listen to stories.
About the Author
Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.