Resources

All of the children, including my reluctant readers, loved using StoryPhones to read books
Anne Metcalfe, KS1 Teacher, South Stanley Infants

Ideas

Here are some great ideas about how to use StoryPhones in your setting. StoryPhones is a very flexible resource... we are extremely interested in hearing how you use yours! Please get in touch with us, let us know your ideas, and we will upload all the best ones here for others to try and share.

Listen to sound effects in your role play area, either through the Headsets or out loud on the Remote Console. This could include wild animal sounds in your jungle role play, space sound effects in your rocket ship, or Italian music in your role play restaurant!

Record your own minibeast hunt, directing children to look in different places for minibeasts in your outdoor area. There could be a strong focus on positional vocabulary (e.g. "look UNDER the log"). The children could listen to this individually on the Headsets to encourage focused listening and following instructions. Alternatively, the children could listen to them in groups using the loud speaking Remote Console to encourage group work. The children could also record themselves on a minibeast hunt; recording where they are looking and what they have found.

Listen to audio stories with the book, enabling children to reach a higher level of literacy than with only the book.

Listen to audio stories without the book, to develop childrens listening, language and imagination skills. Listening to the story without the pictures will encourage the child to generate their own mental images.

The National Year of Communication is a campaign to increase understanding of how important it is for children and young people to develop good communication skills. It is estimated that one million children and young people in our country have some form of speech, language and communication need. This means we are all working with children who have communication needs.

The campaign is run by The Communications Trust in partnership with Jean Gross, the Communications champion and backed by the Departments for Education and Health.

The campaign will follow a different theme each month to introduce various aspects of communication. Lots of events are planned throughout the year and the web site has advice, information and resources. Click here to follow the link.

How can StoryPhones support The National Year of Communication?

Listening Skills

Children need good listening skills to develop understanding and use of language. Below are some ways you can use StoryPhones to help develop these skills by playing:

  • Environmental Sounds games
  • Auditory memory games
  • Who am I games
  • Listen and do games
  • Treasure hunts
  • Listening to audio stories

Phonological Awareness

Awareness of sounds in spoken language, rhythm and rhyme all help children to develop good spoken language skills. You can use StoryPhones to help develop these skills by:

  • Listing to songs and rhymes
  • Environmental sounds
  • Listening to rhyming stories

Non Verbal Communication Skills

Children also need to develop good non verbal communication skills to be good communicators. This involves skills such as eye contact, turn taking, starting and finishing a conversation, being relevant or not interrupting. You can use StoryPhones to help develop these skills by:

  • Taking turns to record a story or a report
  • Taking turns to turn the pages of a book when listening to a story
  • Planning and then recording a story
  • Recording an interview with someone, by asking relevant questions and waiting for replies

For a few more ideas on using StoryPhones, read these idea sheets:

Curriculum Links - Key Stage 1
Curriculum Links - Early Years Foundation Stage