Learners can use the Sebezaphone anytime they practice reading independent. Daily reading is critical to building reading skills. Reading into the phone focuses learners more closely on exactly what they are reading.
- Provide learners with level appropriate reading material and remind them that they need only whisper into the mouthpiece of their phones, and they will hear themselves read! Learners will quickly adjust their voice levels if they speak too loudly.
- Provide guidelines for self-monitoring and working out words they do not know. One key strategy is “Cross Checking” where the reader checks that what is read (and said) makes sense, looks right (letters match sounds spoken), and sounds right (like the way we speak). The beginning reader learners to check one source of information at a time. Hearing themselves speak the words of the text assists readers in working out the words and meaning of the text for themselves.
- Remind learners that good readers have a mental dialogue between their thoughts and the author’s words while they read. Encourage learners to pause every now and then in their reading, change hands holding the Sebezaphone, and speak their thoughts out loud. This is called Think Alouds. Changing the phone from one hand to another assists learners in acting out the process of having a conversation between their thoughts and the words on the page. This can assist learners in developing metacognitive awareness, so that they can better monitor their comprehension and apply fix-up strategies when their minds get ‘stuck’ or wander. Metacognitive awareness enables learners to develop their ability to think and talk about their thinking and improve the effectiveness of their thinking. See below: Direct Teaching of Metacognition
Sebezaphone Leaflet