1. Listening Center Proposal Gozaugen Elementary School Media Center

2. What is a listening center? A listening center is comprised of a cd/mp3 player with multiple sets of headphones. It allows several children to simultaneously listen to an audio book.

3. Why do we need a listening center? • Teachers have asked for assistance in developing a program to improve fluency in reading in all content areas. • The National Panel of Reading has identified fluency as a main ingredient in successful reading instruction. • Fluency is important because it effects students’ reading comprehension and efficiency. • Recorded books increase fluency by verbalizing printed words with the correct pace, phrasing, and expression.

4. Why do we need a listening center? • The needs of students with learning disabilities and impaired sight, as well as those that are English Language Learners, are under-served by the media center's current materials collection. • research confirms that listening centers help struggling readers and English-language learners attain higher proficiency. • Listening centers will make it easier to provide accommodations to learning disabled students

5. Why do we need a listening center? • The addition of a media center-based listening center directly addresses the following Ohio Library Guidelines: 02. Collection Development and curriculum 03. Literacy and Reading Support Information Literacy

6. Goal of the Listening Center To create a media center-based listening center that can be utilized by all elementary school students and teachers as a tool for developing competency in listening, reading fluency and comprehension and visual literacy.

7. Objectives • Students in grades K-1 will utilize the listening center as an introduction to literacy, phonics and pre-reading skills. • Students in grades 2-6 will utilize the listening center to reinforce listening and literacy skills. • Frequent use of the listening center in all grades will reinforce grade-level curriculum goals, promote independent reading, and increase reading and comprehension skills, especially among those students reading below grade-level. • The listening center will make the media center more appealing to students with disabilities and to ELL students. Use of the listening center will assist these students in improving fluency, comprehension and literacy.