How to Use Audio Tapes to Teach

Cassette tapes can make learning more interactive.

While audio tapes are not as commonplace as they once were, many schools still use this simple recording medium because of its ease of use and affordability. By integrating audio tapes into your lessons, you can provide students with helpful auditory stimuli and make it easier for them to both learn and retain the information you are teaching. As you work to prepare engaging lessons for your pupils, consider ways in which you could enhance the material through the integration of audio tapes.

Things You'll Need

• Books on tape
• Tape recorder
• Blank cassette tapes
• Tape players
• Earphones (optional)

Instructions

1. Provide books on tape for student use. As Scholastic reports, books on tape build literacy skills. By hearing skilled readers read a text as they follow along, children can easily see how words are pronounced and are given a source to emulate when they begin to read. Purchase or create taped books of both novels and textbooks. Listen to these audio versions as a whole class, or allow students to listen to them independently by setting up audio stations around the classroom.

2. Use music as an educational tool. Music is naturally engaging and, as such, makes a great educational tool. Play educational songs, such as those from the classic series "School House Rock," to provide your students with a musical reminder of lessons. Use contemporary tunes as short story inspirations or poetic pieces for literary exploration.

3. Record lectures for absent students. By recording your lectures, you can ensure you don't have to repeat yourself yet again. Create a tape of all important lectures and allow absent students to check the tape out so they can listen to your instructions as they complete their absent work. Also offer the created tapes to students who struggle academically, as listening to the lessons again my make it easier for them to understand the content material.

4. Allow students to create audio projects. An audio project provides a fun break from standard assignments. Engage your students in the creation of a radio play, using found materials to create sound effects, or instruct them to write and record radio shows about topics germane to the lessons taught in class.

5. Use material created one year in future lessons. While creating audio-tapes to accompany your lessons can be daunting, you can reuse your creations from year to year. Instead of discarding or taping over your tapes, catalog them carefully and pull them out when appropriate during the next school term.

References

• Scholastic: The Literacy Benefits of Listening
• Penguin: Teacher's Guide to Using Audio Cassettes in the Literature Classroom