At Noel Booth, we’ve found an engaging addition to our strategies tin promoting reading. Our school has purchased class accounts with Raz Kids. Our principal, Carol Osborne, organized the set-up for the primary classes and I also use the site with some of my intermediate students with exceptionalities.
Raz Kids is an interactive levelled, audiobook website where students can read and listen to books as many times as they want before taking a quick eight to ten question test. Both reading and test taking earn them stars that they can redeem to build characters in their account. The students enjoy using the site, using it at school and at home.
Raz Kids has become one part of our overall reading strategy. If you are considering Raz Kids, remember this: while students are engaged by the interactive and sound-filled experience, there is much research to support that reading engagement comes from being able to choose the books you want to read based on interests. Students need opportunities to share their passion by discussing the books and making recommendations to others. Playing with the language of the book by making a voice “sound like” the character or flipping back a few pages to read a funny part to your friend is a big part of a balanced reading approach.