Engaging the Senses with BTSB Audio and Video Previews

When was the first time you were told that the more senses were engaged, the more a student would be able to remember the lesson? Interactive learning still remains challenging in times of strained budgets and overflowing classes. So how do you provide an extra sensory experience for your students without further expense?

It’s easy. Check out the audio and video clips on the Bound to Stay Bound website. Although they were originally put there to give librarians a better sense of whether they wanted to buy a particular title, these clips can also be used in a variety of ways to help kids connect with books on a deeper level. Here are just a few ideas to start your own creative juices flowing:

1. Use the audio clips as a tease. Do you have students who are reading-resistant? Perhaps they have not made that leap in the imagination that gives each character a distinctive voice. An audio clip literally gives a voice to the book that they can hear long after the audio has stopped. Think of it as walking them a few steps down the path that they will eventually travel by themselves.
2. Use the audio clips as models. Reading aloud — kids either love it or hate it. A child may dread reading aloud because they just don’t know how to do it. Start with a familiar book like The Lightning Thief and let them hear the narrator read the story. Discuss the choices the narrator makes regarding a character’s voice or the clues in the text within the attributions such as “he whispers,” or “she laughingly replied.”
3. Make the authors real with the video clips. If you ask city kids where milk comes from, chances are they will answer “the grocery store.” If you ask most kids where books come from, they will probably answer “the library,” or, occasionally “the bookstore.” Demystify the journey of a book by helping kids get to know some of their favorite authors through video clips. Amazing! Christopher Paul Curtis really is a person! And Buxton really is a town!
4. The new “book trailers” can help kids get in the know on the new books. From a 39 Clues take on the evening news to a tantalizing taste of the world of The Book Thief, this relatively new phenomenon can build excitement for new acquisitions or provide a theater-like experience for today’s visually sophisticated students.

Here are just a few of the books with audio clips available on BTSB.com

• The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly
• Fairest by Gail Carson Levine
• Harry Potter series by J.K.Rowling
• The Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell
• Louise, the Adventures of a Chicken by Kate DiCamillo

Check out the clever and intriguing video clips of these titles:

• The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan
• The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
• Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis
• The Emperor’s Clues by Gordon Korman
• The Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne

These are just a few of the hundreds of books that have audio or video clips at BTSB.com. To search available titles, just go to Advanced Search and scroll down to the “Previews” section. Click your preferences and watch the results come in. Narrow your search by any of the other Advanced Search criteria including publication date, publisher, availability in your school’s preferred reading program, grade levels and much more. Once you have some search results, click on each title to see expanded information on the title, including the audio and/or video clips. To create playlists of our audio and video clips please go to the instructions at our website, http://www.btsb.com/btsbplayer. By adding another dimension or two to the book experience to nudge students on their way, you just may create even more lifelong readers.