Listening Center

In 2007 we started using iPods for our listening center.  You can read all about it on the iPod page.

Pictured above you can see one of our individual cassette players.  I used to have a traditional listening center with a tape recorder and a junction box with several sets of headphones, but I found that it was both difficult for the children to use independently and expensive to find multiple copies of books.  Also, the children could never agree on what they wanted to listen to so they were either fighting over the book and ripping it, or there was only one child there all alone.  After weighing my options carefully I decided to make the switch to individual cassette players, it worked very well!  I found the cassette players at Wal Mart for only $5, although I don’t know if they are available any more.

The cassette players are housed in a tub near the pocket chart.  This pocket chart is a great organizational tool.  I put a book and cassette in each pocket of the chart and when a student wants to listen to a story they get a cassette player out of the tub, and then get the book and cassette out of the pocket chart.

Listening Center Resources: