• Thevocabularyisadaptedtostudents’age,gradelevel,realitiesandinterests.

• Sentencesarestructuredaccordingtostudents’abilitylevelsandwhethertheyarefirst-orsecond-languagelearners.

• Vocabularyisrepeatedacrossseveralbroadcasts,helpingtofacilitatetheacquisitionandconsolidationofnewwords.

• Pronunciationiscarefullymodeledinordertorespectthestudents’environmentaswellasthenormsandrulesofthetargetlanguage.

• Theextensiveuseofstory,songsanddialoguesreinforcesandextendsstudents’orallanguageskills.

Oral Language Skills

1.Instructioniscarefullysequencedanddeliveredviaengaging,minds-onlearningactivities.• Eachprogrambuildsonandextendsskillspresentedinpreviousprograms.

• Withinasingleprogram,eachactivitybuildsonthepreviousones.Activitiesarediversifiedandminds-oninordertomaintainstudentengagementlevels.

2.Instructionisfocusedontheexplicitteachingoffundamentalreadingskills.• Studentscreatenewwordsbysubstitutinglettersandsyllables.

• Decoding,vocabularyandfluencyskillsaretaughtdirectlyandexplicitly.

• Targetvocabularyandexpressionsareusedinmultiplewaysandcontextstobuildstudents’oralvocabulary.

• Studentsdevelopstrategiestosupportandenhancetheircomprehension.

3.Instructionismultichannel.• Besidesactivitiesdirectedbyaudiocharacters,programsuseavarietyofprintmaterials(flashcards,posters,decodabletexts,readaloudbooks,etc.),aswellasstudent-teacherandstudent-studentinteractivity,tosupportlearning.

4.Instructionlinksreadingandwriting.• Studentsareencouragedtotranslatesoundsintowrittensymbolsbywritingwords“astheyhearthem”andtosharetheirwritingwithothers.

Writing Skills• Studentscreatenewwordsbysubstitutinglettersandsyllables.• Studentswritewords“astheyhearthem”.They“pullapart”wordswiththeirvirtualfriends(audiocharacters)toisolateeachofthephonemes(sounds)–andtoassignletterstothesounds.

• Studentslistentoandfollowtheguidanceoftheirvirtualfriends,whomodelavarietyofstrategiesforfiguringouthowtowritenewwords.

• Theeventsintheprogramprovidestudentswithauthentic,meaningfulwritingactivities.Studentsareinvitedtosharetheirwritingwithotherstudents.

Interactive Audio Instruction allows teachers with little or no training in literacy to provide their students with carefully sequenced instruction in the fundamental reading and writing skills.

InteractiveAudioInstructionandLiteracy

Reading Skills

Education Development Center, Inc. | 1025 Thomas Jefferson Street NW, Suite 700, Washington DC, 20007 USA E-mail: iddinfo@edc.org | Web: http://idd.edc.org | Phone: 202-572-3700

Program Structure

AtypicalInteractiveAudioInstructionprogramepisodemightincludethefollowingsegments:

• Opening• Presentationoftextfordecodingandcomprehension

activities(Asong,rhymeorpoem)

• Phonemic,alphabeticandphoneticawarenessactvities, basedonthetextorgames

• Decoding,comprehensionandfluencyactivitiesusingtargetedtext

•Guidedandinventedwritingactivity• Consolidation• Closing

Reaction

Interactive Audio Instruction guides teachers through the use of new reading and writing strategies and allows them to see firsthand the impact on student learning.

Photos by Karl Grobl (front) and Education Development Center. Art by Michele Shortley.

Over320,000MalianstudentscurrentlyparticipateinInteractiveAudioInstruction(IAI)lessonstosupporttheirliteracylearning.AccordingtoMali’sDeputyDirectorforBasicEducation,theprogramhasproventobe“an inescapable positive reality”inMalianclassrooms.PrincipalsandteachersfromschooldistrictsusingIAIbroadcastssharedtheirthoughts:

“Ihavetotellyouaboutthislittleboywhoplayedhookymostoftheyear.Onemorning,hetookhismombythehandandannouncedthatheabsolutelyneededtobeinschoolthatmorning.Verysurprised,hismomaskedwhy.Thelittleboyexplainedthathedidn’t want to miss the radio lessonaboutreadingandwriting.Fromthatdayon, he went to school every daytilltheendoftheyear.”

“Myownchildcamehomeonedayfromhergradeoneclassandsang the alphabet without error and with a beautiful pronunciation.Ijustdidn’tthinkitwaspossible.Iaskedherwhereshehadlearnedit,andsherepliedthatshe was singing along with the radio every morning.Ithenproceededtotestheronthealphabetoutofsequence,andsheknewthe26lettersoftheFrenchalphabet.Iwasstunned.“

“I will never thank you enoughforputtingmusicandsingingbackintoourclassrooms.Ithadbecomeathingofthepast,butthankstotheradiolessons,ourchildrenaresingingagain.”