I have recently stumbled on a variety of websites that enables one to download audio books for free! These are books that are in the public domain, therefore copyright issues are moot. Users download the audio books in MP3 format and listen to them on their computer or copy them onto an MP3 player or burn them to CDs. Because the books are in the public domain, users may listen to them as many times as they want and share them with others. If your students have access to MP3 players, providing them with audio books is a great way to encourage their appreciation for some fantastic literature.
LibriVox is a teacher's dream -- a fun tool to encourage the reluctant reader or inspire your already-addicted ones to explore even more great literature. You'll find Aesop's Fables and the works of Shakespeare, James Joyce, and Rudyard Kipling -- the list goes on and on. How about some Edgar Allan Poe to listen to on the way home from school each evening?
The Screen Actors Guild Foundation has made Storyline Online available for children. The childrens' books are read with or without captions which helps students develop fluency. The books' illustrations are used in conjunction with the actors shown reading.
Other wonderful, free sites include:
Podiobooks, free serialized audio books delivered on your schedule.
Project Gutenberg Online Book Catalog, with over 25,000 free titles including print, audio, music, digitized sheet music, photos and video clips. This site gives you a variety of download formats to view or play in iTunes, Palm organizers and smartphones, mp3 players and personal computers.
Lit2Go is a free online collection of stories and poems in MP3 format. It is hosted by Florida's Educational Technology Clearinghouse and also gives options as to how to view and/or listen to the stories and poems.
Simply audio books provides 8,000 downloadable titles and a fee-based service if you go beyond that. At the Internet Archive is the
Audio Books and Poetry section where you will find many files and links to books in the public domain. One such link is the Globe Radio Repertory, which houses radio productions dating back to the early 1980s, bringing Don Quixote, Madame Bovary, Flaubert, and stories by Checkhov.
LoudLit.org has plenty of public domain books and many are in audio form. You have the option of downloading just the .mp3 audio or listening to the reading on a Web page that also contains text, perfect for struggling readers needing audio support.
Looking for newer content than the classics?
OpenCulture has an entire selection dedicated to free audio book offerings, sometimes including more recent publications. OpenCulture also has a page with a huge compilation of links for
free book downloads, again offering the classics.
Audible and LearnOutLoud.com offer some free content alongside their priced offerings. On Audible, you have to hunt for the free files, but here's a direct link to free books on LearnOutLoud.com.
Therefore when assigning the classics to students, make sure you offer the option of audio books. Your students who need extra support with the text will thank you and you'll fill up their iPods with great literature.
