So, how cool is this?
This is the Easi-Speak USB Microphone the Learning Resources sent me to try out with my kindergarten kiddos. Holy smokes, they are OBSESSED with this baby!
They love to read into the microphone during reader’s workshop and then listen back to themselves again. They BEG me for their turn! I love it because they can hear how they are reading – if they are reading fluently with expression, or are they reading like robots? I love pointing out the strategies that they have used to figure out a challenging word. They are so proud of themselves when they can “hear” themselves figure out the word. It really gives them a boost of confidence – especially for my struggling readers.
The microphone looks like this:
And YES – the USB is right on the end of the microphone – NO searching for missing cords. The cap covers it and is attached with a little string so THAT doesn’t get lost. (Yes, I do have a problem losing misplacing things ;)
You simply plug the computer into your computer and upload the audio. You could send the file to parents or upload to a blog like this:
OR
Note: My husband did have to help me with the upload of the files – there are some tricky steps to go through when uploading the audio file to your blogs. You need to have a hosted website in order to upload audio files to your blogs.
As you can hear from the kiddo that was reading, the sound is GREAT. I was sitting right next to him holding the microphone, he is clear as a bell, but you can still hear the background noise.
He was able to hear his reading instantly because of the playback capabilities on the microphone. There is a little speaker on it too! Cool!
You could use this little fella for lots of learning in the classroom!
What ideas do you have?
Leave a comment below!
Your comment will give you ONE entry to win your very own Easi-Speak! (That’s a $70 value!!!!) For 2 more entries, just follow my blog and like Learning Resources on Facebook.
Use the Rafflecopter Widget below to make your entries! Good Luck!
May the odds be ever in your favor!
:)
a Rafflecopter giveaway
I would absolutely love to win this! Perfect for recording and letting students listen to themselves for fluency! OR...I was thinking about using this to record my own listening centers...inviting specials teachers to be mystery readers and students have to guess who it is reading!
ReplyDeleteKate
dancinqueenks23@aol.com
I've been eyeing them all year. I would love to win! It would be a great tool for building fluency.
ReplyDeleteMichele
Come check out my 10 day giveaway.
www.missnelsonsgotthecamera.blogspot.com
That looks awesome!
ReplyDeleteI think it would be great to have children retell a Bible story or a familiar book we have read.
I just found out about this great tool! I plan on ordering one for my classroom next year...but it would make my day to win one! :) Thanks for sharing!!!
ReplyDeleteI would love to use it in a station where they can interview each other and ask story retelling/recall questions and record their answers. Being able to replay it will allow them to listen to their fluency. The class can also listen to their classmates and celebrate their successes!
ReplyDeleteI have lots of ESL kiddos. (11 of 23) They need to hear themselves and others speak English. I could have my non-ESL students record themselves and the ESL guys could listen. The ESL guys could record and listen to themselves read or repeat vocabulary words. What an awesome item. :)
ReplyDeleteCindy
I would love to have them record their reading and then listen to themselves! Maybe hearing themselves could prove to be helpful for them.
ReplyDeleteStaci
Going Nutty!
misssquirrels@yahoo.com
I think this would be a fantastic tool for fluency. I'd love to win one!
ReplyDeletemgnreynolds@yahoo.com
I would love to use this during centers and then be able to "hear" how they read in my reading tent center. The price seems bait high for a USB recorder so I'd love to win one for my K classroom.
ReplyDeleteIn writing my students create digital books they each write a page. I then scan the page and record them reading it. I put the whole classes together and we have a book!this would be perfect and they could pass it around and not have to come up to my table one at a time!
ReplyDeleteMarkeeta
ATeacherAndABlog.blogspot.com
Markeeta220@yahoo.com
I would use the microphone in my small guided reading groups! Students can use this microphone to listen to themselves read, resell stories, and so much more!
ReplyDeleteGreat Giveaway!
ReplyDeleteMy ones would love this! I could use it as a center tool for students to check fluency and doing assessment checks.
Melanie
I would love to have one of these as part if my classroom I work with the low reading group and it would be great to use this so they can hear themselves read and build fluency.
ReplyDeleteI teach special education so this would be great to increase their reading fluency skills!!!
ReplyDeletebl3982@yahoo.com
What a fun giveaway. This would be great for fluency.
ReplyDeleteCaroline
cgc4au@yahoo.com
I have been eyeing this for a while. I would definitely use it to monitor how the fluency of my students is developing.
ReplyDeleteLisa
fsuteach81@yahoo.com
What fun! I would love to use this in my classroom with my kinder kiddos!
ReplyDeletedbtrout@hotmail.com
This is amazing! I would definitely use these with my ESL kiddos. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteheathernnance@yahoo.com
This is am amazing product that my ones would love!!!
ReplyDeleteI hope that I win ;)
mustluvteaching@gmail.com
I would love to win this! Ann
ReplyDeleteI would use this to have my students reread a story that we have already practiced reading together. They can practice reading for fluency and expression after they have decoded all of the words with me. It looks like a great tool!
ReplyDeleteNicole
nicolerbaldwin@hotmail.com
I'd love to have kids generate their own CDs of familiar stories, poems, and songs to take and enjoy at home.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fab giveaway! It would be incredible to use during Writer's Workshop for students with deficiencies in fine motor control or who get stuck in stretching out words. I could also see using this to allow kinders to create their own listening centers (& have the opportunity to practice reading fluently and with expression)!
ReplyDeleteSharon
http://kindercuriosity.blogspot.com/
I think it'd be great to use for Reader's Theater to practice for the older children!
ReplyDeleteWhat a terrific giveaway! My students love to hear themselves read ~ this is a much better method than the old tape recorder we use! Love the idea of forwarding the sound file to parents also!!
ReplyDeleteMendy
mkschanck@baschools.org
This would be a great tool for my students to use in the classroom to practice fluency, expression, and accuracy when reading - love it!
ReplyDeleteTreasuresforteaching@gmail.com
I would use it for fluency practice. Children could record themselves and then listen to it. My students would flip over this!
ReplyDeleteemfranklin82@gmail.com
First with Franklin
Love this! I would definitely use it for reader's and writer's workshop - what a great tool for students to hear their own reading/writing! And being able to send it to parents - added bonus!
ReplyDeleteAshley
ammascioli@gmail.com
fluency, fluency, fluency! Also would be great at to show parents how their child is reading in class. Hope I win!
ReplyDeleteI would have them use this while reading at station time so I could listen to it later! Awesome!
ReplyDeleteI would use this for the students to practice their fluency. What a great idea!
ReplyDeleteI would love to win this to use during Daily 5 and when I am conferencing with my first graders!!
ReplyDelete❤ Sandra
Sweet Times in First
sweettimesinfirst@gmail.com
Oh these little microphones look wonderful!!! I sometimes let my little ones speak into my mic. and they JUST LOVE IT!! They don't get to use it too often because they are just toooooo pricey and I am wearing it around my neck for most of the day. These would be great, especially for my English learners and struggling readers. I also let my student of the week use mine to lead the class in an activity of choice....lot's of fun!!
ReplyDeleteIt's nice to see technology keeping up with recording. Now I need to catch up!! I would love to use it for independent reading for fluency.
ReplyDeleteLittle Priorities
What a great giveaway! I think this would be SUCH a wonderful product to use with my English language learners! :)
ReplyDeleteLiz
lzamora92@gmail.com
This would help me incorporate that technology component into my classroom and help my struggling readers!
ReplyDeletecstaylor616@gmail.com
I'd use it to monitor students fluency or recording indpendent projects (like a biography).
ReplyDeleteTania
My Second Sense
What a neat tool to have in the classroom - my kiddos would love it!
ReplyDeleteMichele
mlarvidson@yahoo.com
What a cool idea! This could have so many uses in the classroom, reader's theater, read to self, assessments, etc... I know that my kiddos would LOVE to use this.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to use this as a fluency tool for the students! It would also be great for assessments or for keeping students on task!
ReplyDelete❀Bethany❀
Learning is a Journey
Polka Dot Parlor
What a fantastic tool for my tech loving little readers :) It would be fantastic for working on fluency.
ReplyDeleteWendy @ railflyermodel. com
What a great idea to use during read to self and working on fluency. Students could read a poem at the beginning of the week without any prior reading and then practice it throughout the week. Then read it again at the end of the week and see how their fluency improved. It would be great to show the students as a whole group how they improve and what fluent reading sounds like. I love this product. You could also use it for your struggling reader to show them how they improve when rereading. What fun they could have with rereading!
ReplyDeleteThis is SO cool. I'd love one. Hopefully I will have some $ next year.
ReplyDeleteThese look super fun! I hope I win one!!
ReplyDeleteTerri Izatt
tizatt@ecsdnv.net
I can think of so many ways to use this! For fluency of course because the kids would LOVE it! I could use it for Aimsweb/Dibels testing, running records, etc! Great giveaway!
ReplyDeleteWhat an excellent product! A great way to work on fluency and keep up with technology! Even giving the kiddos ownership to pick a piece of their own writing (maybe each quarter) and reading it into the mic during share shop. Then, at the end of the year, it's another great way to show growth! And it gives the kiddos confidence! They just LOVE to have the spotlight and to speak into my pretend microphone! :o) Oh the things I could do!!
ReplyDeleteOMG!!! that is amazing!! I would love to use one of those in my room. I have a ladybug that I use at the end of the year to record my students reading. THis I could use with them all the time.
ReplyDeleteTamara
I would love to have one in my K classroom...to help build fluency, help my ESL students and shy students with oral language, assessments, small group reading, listening centers!
ReplyDeletelorikimball1@aim.com
I would love to win this!!! I would use it to record students' reading fluency. This would allow them to hear themselves read. I would also use it to create audio recordings of books for our listening center.
ReplyDeleteJennifer
The First Grade Dream
I'd love to use this to make audio CD's of stories. The children would love to hear each other reading and being the story teller! Plus, they would think it is so cool to have a real working mic.
ReplyDeleteschewkinder at gmail.com
What a fantastic tool! I would love to use it to record my students fluency. I definitely would share the sound file with the parents.
ReplyDeletelyons.cori@gmail.com
I would use this all the time! I would use it along with a new program we are using for Assessment called Teaching Strategies GOLD. We gather observations on our students and audio of them counting, or reading would be great. Also it would be good to use with my Speech students so they could hear their own articulation errors and corrections!
ReplyDeleteYou could give this to me if you can't find the winner. I would love to use it. I think it is going to be a budget item!
ReplyDeleteTerri Izatt
tizatt@ecsdnv.net
wow--I would love to use this in my classroom. I think it would be great to use not only for fluency and reading practice, but they could read written stories and then we could turn them into a power point. Also, we could record songs we sing.
ReplyDelete