Polls indicate that in the wake of George Floyd’s tragic death in May 2020, millions of people attended Black Lives Matter or police brutality protests. Estimates suggest that the number participating may have been 4-5 times as many as attended the 2017 Women’s Marches, which held the record previously. This data suggests that more than…
Listenwise is excited to announce our latest contest: PodcastPalooza. To win, all you have to do is have your class listen to podcasts during the month of February! Starting February 1st, Listenwise is challenging teachers to see how many quizzes their students can complete by the end of the month. Prizes will be awarded to…
Educators who teach language arts content and English learners (ELs) are successfully implementing Listenwise podcasts as audio texts that their students use to practice strategies that build literacy skills. Using podcasts as texts provides equitable access to students who struggle to read, as they may be more easily able to acquire information, build vocabulary, and…
When Andi St. John visited the Listenwise booth at the Computer-Using Educators (CUE) spring 2018 conference, she knew right away that Listenwise was what her students needed! St. John is a 6th grade ELA and social studies teacher at Katherine Edwards Middle School in Whittier, California. Eighty-one percent of students at Katherine Edwards are socio-economically…
Listenwise’s design provides equitable educational opportunities for special education students with Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) and 504 accommodations. A Listenwise user from South Carolina said: “I’m a Special Education teacher and I love the easy-to-use audio file and transcript—it has built-in accommodations for all students!” Check out the list below to learn more about Listenwise’s…
We hosted an EdWeb webinar to share how educators can teach listening skills to promote literacy, including five research-based practices for teaching listening that work for all students. Some of the practices are especially effective for English learners and students with learning differences. See below, or watch the webinar here. Pre-teaching vocabulary is critical because…
Listenwise has published seven new collections that explore aspects of people’s identities: Black and African American Stories; Latino and Hispanic American Stories; Asian American and Pacific Islander Stories; Native American Stories; LGBTQ+ Stories; Stories of People with Disabilities; Women Making History. Our content philosophy guides our story curation and the instructional materials we create. Our new collections can be used to…
Many educators who use Listenwise report that they love Weird News! These are less-than-30-second current event podcasts about unusual current events are published every Sunday. They include academic vocabulary words featured in the stories, which are incorporated into the accompanying comprehension and discussion questions. Teachers can focus on one or more of these featured words…
We’ve curated three collections to engage your students in meaningful conversations! Our new Youth Voices Collections feature kids and teens speaking about their perspectives, innovations, and civic action. We are excited about these three collections because they include stories that appeal to elementary listeners as well as stories for secondary listeners. Additionally, we’ve learned from…
During our Teacher Talks webinar series last fall, we spoke with Erin Reaves, an English Language Development (ELD) instructional coach at Taylor Elementary in Santa Maria Bonita, CA about how she leads teachers to use Listenwise, not as a supplement, but as the core of instruction for a week of lessons in ELD classes. Reaves…
Lots will be different (but maybe more familiar) when you return to the classroom for this upcoming school year 2021-22. Listenwise is no exception! We’ve been making Listenwise the best it can be to help accelerate learning for the new school year. Read on to learn about the Top 10 Listenwise enhancements this year! We’ve…