Skyview Elementary School’s Success Story

Read-aloud Audio Means All Students Can Learn

Skyview Elementary is a large PreK - 3rd grade school in Yukon, OK serving around 600 students. They strive to instill a love for learning in each and every child. Serving the youngest students can present unique challenges, but as Library Media Specialist, Mary Moore, explains how PebbleGo has played a huge part in overcoming some of the biggest hurdles their students may face.

What are some of the challenges you and the team of teachers at Skyview Elementary face working with students in PreK-3?

“As you might imagine, our youngest students are still in early reading stages, so finding any appropriate content for them can be a challenge, let alone online nonfiction resources. Even when, or if, we find properly levelled texts for most students, many of them aren’t yet quite up to speed.”

What resources had you tried to address these challenges?

“Honestly, there was nothing before PebbleGo that was the right fit. We had given Encyclopedia Britannica a try, but unfortunately it was at too high a reading level for our students. I had gotten to a point where I was creating my own recordings of books, so that all students could participate in lessons. It’s that important that no child misses out on learning just because they are unable read the words. Unfortunately, it’s not a scalable solution to do this for every text.”

How has PebbleGo helped you address this challenge?

“PebbleGo is the only option we’ve found that can get a wealth of information to students with read-aloud audio for each and every text. Not only that, but it is actually a person reading it, which is crucial fore modeling pronunciation for our students. This is especially helpful with our special ed students, helping them to develop language skills alongside reading skills. With the entire mix of scaffolding supports like text highlighting, glossary terms, and audio and video, we are able to introduce students to various types of media as sources of information.”

What was the experience like for teachers adopting PebbleGo?

“A number of teachers are apprehensive about adopting new technologies. But with PebbleGo, it was so easy to show them how simple and intuitive it was, and they were off and running like pros in no time. Now they use it almost every day to enhance their curriculum in a way that really engages their students.”

What other impacts have you seen as a result of using PebbleGo?

“Seeing teachers take ownership of PebbleGo as a tool and utilizing it in creative ways with their students has been rewarding for me personally. I also know that our upper elementary and middle school teachers have felt supported knowing that students are learning important research skills at a young age meaning they aren’t having to teach research and digital citizenship basics. The teachers can focus on building on what the students have learned here at Skyview Elementary, helping them take the next step.”

What would you tell someone considering PebbleGo?

“PebbleGo is the best resource for your elementary students. It is a trustworthy source of factual information for your students to explore in a completely safe online environment. I couldn’t recommend it more!”

Thank you, Mary, for sharing about your experience with PebbleGo!