I've been trying to think of new ways to incorporate technology into my classroom and playaways were an excellent idea! The John B. Dey elementary school has 78 playaways for students to check out (very impressive!) for students in fourth and fifth grade. Recently, playaways have included beloved picture books for younger audiences and I was able to borrow 4 from the Chesapeake Library to use in my classroom. All the playaways featured quality literature and I matched the playways with books from my classroom or the school library. We were missing a few books and I just told the kiddos to visualize the story when that story came on because that is what older kids do (they loved that idea). The best part were that many of the stories were familiar because we had watched them on Bookflix or read the books in class. The students who tried the playaways love it! It was simple to set up and use- kindergarteners can certainly do this activity independently. Remember when you were a kid and listened to books on tape? This is listening to books for 21st Century. My first grader also loves to listen to playaways in the car (Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Where the Red Fern Grows, and Treasure Island are a few that have kept him busy listening for hours).
