At Listenwise, we watched how the outbreak of the coronavirus caused many schools to close temporarily and rely on remote and hybrid learning for the rest of the 2020 school year. As a result, we opened up access to Listenwise Premium and we found that Listenwise is a great tool to use in any learning environment to keep all learners on grade-level rigor:
“Students can become absorbed in Listenwise stories immediately because their listening skills outpace their reading skills by at least a few years. In this pandemic era of fear and stress, Listenwise offers an opportunity for student agency in choosing reports that interest them. As a teacher I can monitor their progress quickly and easily. Listenwise also offers a place for meaningful, robust partner or small group work with kids who are in the classroom and those learning remotely. I am so grateful to have this wonderful tool and I talk it up whenever I meet new educators.”
One educator even used our current event podcasts about the Coronavirus to inform and engage their students while also providing a space for reflection – explore these powerful student responses.
Now that we are years deep into a global pandemic we have reverted back to easy access to our free trial of Listenwise Premium along with opening up a Free School Trial of Listenwise Premium (activate from your teacher dashboard & easily share with colleagues). Please reach out to us below if you need support setting yours up.
In the meantime be sure to check out these helpful resources to teach listening & speaking skills with your students:
- 3 Ways to Use Weird News
- 5 Research-Based Practices for Teaching Listening
- Integrating Content & Language Instruction with Podcast Lessons
- Watch more “how-to” videos on our YouTube channel
If you are interested in chatting with us about flexible plans for your flexible needs, schedule a call with us here.
Please let us know if there is anything else we can do to support you and your students. We wish you all good health!
Monica Brady-Myerov
Founder and CEO, Listenwise
Monica@Listenwise.com
About Listenwise:
Listenwise curates engaging and relevant non-fiction podcast lessons for grades 2-12. Pre-made podcast lessons & quizzes can be differentiated and scaffolded for all learners in grades 2-12 for grade-level rigor. Expose students to authentic vocabulary and spark academic conversations using compelling real-world stories.
This blog was originally published on March 13, 2020 and has been updated in 2022.
Lisa Rutledge says
I requested free premium access yesterday and it’s still not live.
chelsea says
We are a small team dealing with a large influx of requests- thank you for your patience! You should have access now, but if not please email us at support@listenwise.com and we’ll be sure to get you set up today!
Jenn Bilodeau says
Thank you!
Geovanni says
I can’t wait to try out the Listenwise premium! Thank you for making this service available.
Eva Medina says
I can’t wait to try out the Listenwise premium! Thank you for making this service available
christine santerre says
Tried to sign up for the free premium account but haven’t received anything back yet.
chelsea says
Hi Christine, we are a small team dealing with a large influx of requests that have to be manually set up currently (we are working on honing our system) – thank you for your patience! Make sure you are signed up for the free trial- since that will extend past 30-days and you’ll have Premium access.
Linda C Hulen says
I’m interested in the materials you are offering, particularly your curated list of stories about Coronavirus. Your March 17 story “Coronavirus Explained for Kids” contains understandable explanation of the virus.
What grade level is this story aimed for? I couldn’t find the level when I listened to it from your searchable library, but I would peg it for primary students.
The story is lacking immediacy and discounts the way COVID is affecting students. They might not get sick, granted, but how many kids in this nation are facing a new version of school because of COVID-19 closures. Suddenly no more school as they knew it. They are confined to their homes, learning from alternate worksites.
And then there’s this weekend’s exponential growth of COVID-19 cases in New York and New Orleans and the lock down of communities all over the nation as health authorities and state/local governments attempt to contain the virus and keep the medical system from collapsing. No elective surgeries, pleas for swabs and masks and personal protective gear, and confusion at every level of government about how many breathing machines can be found or manufactured.
Not to mention the new addition to our vocabulary — social distancing.
This story needs to be undated. Children know this virus is affecting them, even if they aren’t as threaten by serious illness as grandparents or even older parents might be.
I realize you are a small organization with a big job, and I appreciate what you are doing to give young people a handle on current events. I also appreciate that you are including one of the fastest-breaking stories ever in your line-up of offerings. For proof, just look at the quickly changing websites of most any news organization (i.e, NY Times, Washington Post, Anchorage Daily News). You are brave!
My suggestion (short of recording an updated story): Include a critical thinking question for students: What could you add to this story, based on what is happening now in your community?
Thanks and keep up the good work.
Igsa Tack says
Hi, my name is Igsa, I’m a high school teacher in Panama city, Panama, I assigned one of your podcasts to my class so they can reinforce their listening skills through this excellent tool, however when they try to sign up, it’s asking for a code, I’m not sure what’s this code, can you please help? The podcast is “Drive-Through Coronavirus Testing.”
chelsea says
Hi Igsa,
Students can access the podcast when you click on the button “share audio” at the top right of the podcast lesson and you copy and paste that link for them to access- the link for the lesson “drive-through coronavirus testing” is https://listenwise.com/students/events/1598-drive-through-coronavirus-testing
In order to get your students set up with class codes- you can start a free trial of Listenwise Premium and add classes to get your students set up with student accounts in order to do more with our resources and assign lessons individually. If you need help we have video tutorials here- https://support.listenwise.com/video-tutorials/
Amanda Lauzon says
Glad you guys are letting parents use this site for free because of this virus. Being out of work and now having to help my son with school is a very challenging thing.