How often should I plan to use Listenwise?

We recommend incorporating Listenwise into your routine by doing a weekly listening activity. Assigning students a weekly podcast can help students further develop their listening skills, build their vocabulary and background knowledge, and learn about a variety of engaging topics that are relevant to their lives and to the world beyond school.

Here are some ideas from teachers:

• Listenwise has now become a weekly routine for my students. They can expect that every Friday, there will be a Listenwise assignment that aligns with the work that we have done that week. It’s a great way to end the week and to reinforce our current unit of study.
• I teach ESL and assign one story per week (students listen to the story once or twice per day) with different assignments throughout the week:. Monday–vocabulary, Wednesday–comprehension questions, Friday–quiz.
• Listenwise is a great way to engage students in both current events and topics related to curriculum. It’s easy to implement as part of a regular schedule; I assign one each Monday, so students can anticipate it. I also like how the questions are broken down by skill. For example, I was able to see that my students were struggling to identify the main idea of the interviews and respond by re-teaching this concept. I love having Listenwise as part of my weekly curriculum!

Here are some additional instructional ideas:

• Listenwise Current Events feature themes like Weird News and Debate stories. Learn more here.
• Incorporate a standards-aligned lesson into each unit. The Lesson Planning Worksheets can help you set up your whole group listening activity.
• For more ideas, check out the Instructional Strategies section of the Support Center.