District 197 Kindergarteners 'Take Teachers Home' With Pre-Recorded iPod Shuffles

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For kindergarten students at District 197's five elementary schools, their classroom teacher's reading voice isn't limited to the school day.

Under the "Take My Teacher Home" curriculum, ISD 197 kindergarten teachers program their students' iPod Shuffles to complement take-home packets.

"Each Kindergarten teacher in our district recorded themselves reading 15 different stories," said Somerset kindergarten teacher Kari Redding in a district video. "The students really benefit from hearing their own classroom teacher's voice."

As students listen to the recordings, they follow along in their books and participate in the alphabet activities.

The program was funded by the ISD 197 Educational Foundation.

"We are excited to be able to return funds to the district," Scott Van, the foundation's president, said. "This is exactly the type of project that we love to fund."

Redding said the program has paid dividends.

"We've especially noticed the students that came into kindergarten with very little knowledge of their letters and sounds have gotten a really big boost for using this program."