Audioboo in the Library

Over the past week, I've been playing around with all different kinds of apps. Audioboo was one of those, and I'm excited about the possibilities.

I love using songs to teach library skills. Since our school doesn't have music class, that makes sing-alongs all the more meaningful for my students. I started using songs the first day on the job as a librarian, and it has never gotten old. I've had these songs so long that I don't even know the sources any more, but I'm sure I could find them if I needed to.

What's different about the songs this year is that I've started using Audioboo. Now I can record the library songs onto the Internet and share with others. I was so excited about this new tool that, when I tried to sing about autumn that I wanted to teach to my Pre-K and Kindergarten students, I uploaded it to Audioboo without a second thought. Later I realized that, unfortunately, I hit a flat note and immediately regretted my decision to upload. Thankfully Audioboo lets you delete a boo as long as its your own and isn't assigned to a channel.

Here's one of the songs I use at the beginning of the school year to teach my younger students about the roles of the author and illustrator. You can listen to ‘1st Graders singing Hi Ho Librario’ on Audioboo.

I can see more uses for Audioboo than just recording and listening to library songs. For example, earlier tonight I typed up a list of clues I'll use for a library scavenger hunt after the Thanksgiving break. It's mostly geared toward upper elementary grades, but it's possible GT students in lower grades could use it, too, if they are skilled OPAC users. 

Another way I plan to use Audioboo this year is book talks, like this one: listen to ‘Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein’ on Audioboo.

Finally, I think Audioboo would be a great way to do reader interviews by pairing up students to generate interview questions about one another's reading habits. The interviews can be recorded and uploaded to the library website. Parents would love to hear what their children are doing in the library.

The best thing about Audioboo is that I can store the songs as long as I need. That means I can reuse this year's recordings to teach next year's students the songs which will save me (and my students) from any more solos!